First look at Fedora 12

Distrowatch ^ | November 23rd | Jesse Smith

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

Conclusion

After spending several days with Fedora, I find that I'm happy with this release. The live CD by itself was a bit underwhelming, but the distribution as a whole has been excellent. This is probably the most stable and most polished release the Fedora team has put together to date. Security is strong over most of the system, though the hole introduced in the software management system is a concern. Package management is fast and KDE feels like it's getting the attention it deserves. The system is responsive and I have yet to run into any serious problems. Due to the distribution's cutting-edge nature and fast support cycles, I probably won't recommend Fedora to Linux newcomers. Fedora is for those who have some Linux experience and want to explore what the future holds. For distro hoppers, this is a solid release and well worth experiencing.

* * * * * A quick note about the graphical package manager issue. In the above review, I mentioned an on-going concern with the graphical package manager which would allow regular users to install software from the Fedora repositories without knowing the root password. My review represents the situation as I saw it up until Friday or Saturday, depending on your time zone. Realizing that things would continue to progress after that point, I asked Adam Williamson to keep me informed as things changed. He kindly did, and by the weekend the developer in question had made the choice to require regular users to input the root password in order to install packages. Shortly afterwards, an update was made available to implement this new behavior. In total, the time from the official release of Fedora, to the time the issue was brought forward, to the time the software was patched was less than a week.

[pctech]

I'm going to try something, but I want to ensure it's a good Linux product (except for Red Hat) and I have to wait until I get a spare PC up and running.

Right now, I need another screen for my Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop (it has a 1 inch area of the screen from top to botom that shows nothing whatsoever, it's completely white), and I hope to be able to finally upgrade to a dual-core system (I'm running 3.4 P4 right now).

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

-————Interestingly enough...the one thing I have with Linux distros is the ‘push’ to upgrade the kernel as soon as a new version comes out. So what?——————

Many distros have adopted 6 month cycles. Red hat(fedora) for example has chosen that because of the GNOME UI. Not because of the kernel.

Browse distrowatch. There are many distros which have the same version kernel in two revisions.

(though just so it’s said, I’m sure that many do elect to release with every new kernel)

-————I mean, isn’t this the most irritating thing about Windows? Push, push, push.—————

Yes and no. It depends on how you’re being pushed and more importantly, where.

-————If the bloody thing works, why upgrade it?—————

I don’t think anybody’s forcing you to upgrade from mint 6.

I don’t upgrade every fedora. I usually go with the even numbers.(I had 10, I’ll be going with 12 soon, I’ll most likely skip 13 for 14)

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

Why the disdain for redhat?

In addition to Ubuntu(mint is an offshoot of ubuntu IIRC) there’s also live cd offerings from suse.

Many smaller distros offer live cds as well, such as sabayon.(which is tailored towards gamers)

Good luck with your portable.

[pctech]

Red Hat seems to have outgrown it's once "free distro with no strings attached" image. I could be mistaken but last I heard you have to pay for support now.

Everyone seems like Ubuntu/Kubuntu and a few others, so I hope to be to try one of those, or Fedora 12 of course, soon.

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

Fedora has always been free. You could probably pay for extended support, but I’m not aware of it. But being a free product, support cycles are very short.

RHEL is the pay for product. I’m not even sure it qualifies as a traditional distribution. It’s an enterprise product.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux. With 7 year support.

The strings are clearly there with fedora. You use the free product, you are a guinea pig of sorts.(which bothers me not one bit)

If anything, that’s a good thing in my book. They are willing to sink money(programming time) into fixing bugs.

These may help clear some things up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_(operating_system)

I rarely trust Wiki, but for software I’m sure they’ve gotten it largely correct. Seems so at first glance.

But in any case, nothing wrong with the many others recommended. No worries.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I just can't put it on something that I use all the time. It needs to be on a spare PC so I can play with it.

Au contraire mon frere. I am currently typing this via the Linux Mint 6.0 OS I have installed on my main PC that boots to either WinXP Pro or Linux Mint. The Linux OS was installed next to Win XP and the boot.ini file modified to allow a choice when turning on the computer.

All done via instructions easily found by Googling.
Like here.

A fairly straightforward process but it can be a tad daunting for someone not comfortable using partitioning tools. But it is mostly goof proof if you understand the steps and follow them properly.

The first step, of course, is to make an image backup of your Windows partition....just in case.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Perhaps using the concpt of being 'pushed' was a bit strong. It just seems that there are a great many Linux folks out there who are keen on upgrading when the latest version of their favorite distro comes out.

I feel that if it ain't broke, I ain't fixin' to upgrade. Others may have different needs, reasons or desires.

[pctech]

I've done dual-booting in the past, and I suppose I could do it now, but I really don't want to do anything to my main computer. It's the only functioning one I have at the present time and I'm hesitant about doing like that to it.

Another thing that has slowed my implementation of Linux is my affinity and constant use of programs like Photoshop and Acrobat 8. There are just too many things I do with these programs that I can't do with a Linux product, and though I know there are programs similar to those that can run on Linux, I can't take the time to learn them while I am doing my normal routine.

But never fear, I will tackle the beast soon. Right after I get my fuel pump changed in my car. oy vey..............

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

There are just too many things I do with these programs that I can't do with a Linux product

I heard that. There are programs like this that I use for which there3 are no comfortable replacements in Linux. Which is why I use the dual boot and haven't made the 100% switch to Linux.

I've been working up to experimenting with Sun's Virtual Box to run Windows from within Linux but haven't had time to get into it. One day perhaps. After I scape down and re-stain my deck and do the same to all the railings. You ain't kidding 'oy vey iz mir'.

[goldstategop]

Fedora uses the Red Hat Package or RPM system also found in Mandriva. "Dependency hell" is probably the great drawback which is why newbies are better off using APT. Fedora's package manager is YUM represented by Gnomepackagekit's GUI. You can also install Synaptic and APT if you want a more familiar Debian-based package management tool, although PCLOS through Synaptic is the best way to run RPM if you're a Linux newbie.