Slashdot Mirror
Red Hat 7.2 Released
Spirit writes "Red Hat has anounced the release of Version 7.2 distribution with Gnome 1.4 and Nautilus, default ext3 fliesystem and according to ZDnet migration from LILO to GRUB"
Updated by HeUnique:There are some issues to note before upgrading: The kernel that comes with the RH 7.2 is heavily patched 2.4.7 and has been tested quite heavily on fully loaded Linux boxes - so the recommendation is to use it
If you're upgrading from the previous Red Hat 7.1 and you're using Ximian GNOME, then you might want to erase all Ximian GNOME RPMS (use the command: rpm -e `rpm -qa | grep -i ximian` --nodeps to erase the RPMS). Red Hat's GNOME RPMS has been more tested then Ximian's one and there is a conflict between them. You cannot use Red-Carpet on Redhat 7.2 as it will fail with the RPM libraries.
These are the most critical notes about Redhat 7.2. You might want to read the README & the Release-notes which appears on the 1st ISO image.
Oh, and if you already installed it - then have some fun with the new un-official RPMS from Enigma's section of FreshRPMS
To forestall the inevitable questions
-- why not reiserfs, xfs, jfs, etc.
First look at the total feature
list of ext3 and compare, in particular the
compatibility (forwards AND backwards) with ext2.
There may or may not be better candidates for
a fs, but there are certainly none better for
a default install.
I have been playing with the 7.2 betas (roswell) since it came out, and with the 7.2 release for about a week now.
I am very pleased with Redhat 7.2, it has given me very few problems, and it was the first Linux distribution that installed into my laptop without any tweaks.
The main enhancements (as visible by the user):
Grub instead of lilo (but you can still use lilo if you want to ..).
Grub is a great boot loader, similar to the "boot monitor" of real
Unix hardware. Grub understands the file system, so you do not need
to reinstall Grub every time you update your kernel (like you have to
with lilo). Once you are in the grub boot promt, you can boot any OS on
your system (eg. from a floppy)
Mozilla and Nautilus: (I am a gnome user)
Mozilla 0.9.2.1 is a rather old release, but it was the release chosen by Netscape for NS6.1 so it is quite good. Nautilus is 1.0.4 + a lot of patches from RH (Alan Cox ?) to speed things up. Natilus is still somewhat slow, but I don't use file managers so much, so I don't care. I think that you should have at least 128 MB ram to run it, is was slow on one of my test machines with 64MB ram and a sub optimal disk system. Seeing the speed and stability improvements of Mozilla in the last 6 months, I am quite confident that Nutilus will be a great file manager (++) in a short time frame. It is a very good "eye candy", and impresses every Windows user seeing it. If you for one reason or another, don't like Nautilus, use the good old GNU Midnight Commander instead (yes it is on the CD).
Kernel, gcc, ptyhon, etc
The kernel is 2.4.7 + a lot of patches. Since RedHat 7.1 is at kernel 2.4.9-6 already, I believe that we will see an updated kernel soon. The main compiler is RedHats own 2.96 + modifications, and python is at 1.5.2-35. You will find gcc 3.01 and python 2.1.1 on the CD which can be installed separately. RedHat 8.0 will probably use these as default.
Postfix, Apache:
Redhat has dropped support for Postfix (a sendmail replacement), which used to be on the Powertools CD. I really don't know why, but I hope that the next RedHat release will fix this major bug. Apache is the rock solid 1.3.20.
Executive Summary:
RH7.2 is a polished good distribution. Since it is a .2 version, RedHat
is going to support it for a looong time, and it will become the first
choice for many system administrators for serious linux servers (that is,
until 8.2 is released).
RFC1925
Everytime I download a distro, within a week a new one comes out. I just finished downloading all 3 CD ISOs for Red Hat 7.1 and Tools and now they release 7.2
I'm switching to FreeBSD. Those guys update MUCH more slowly...
Why do users with IDs under 100,000 or over 700,000 usually have the most worthwhile comments?
FAT? Hardly! ext3 uses is built on extension hooks designed into ext2, allowing you to mount ext3 partitions with an ext2-only kernel (of course no journalling in that case). Also, it takes a few seconds to "convert" ext2 to ext3, can't get easier than that! :-)
Personally I find it impressive that the foresight in the ext2 design allowed for ext3 to evolve the way it did with the backwords compatibility
And hey, it just works. Performance is like ext2, except you never have to fsck anymore when the machine doesn't shut down properly. And your ext2 bootfloppies still work, you don't have to reformat your partitions first, and did I mention it just works? :-)
So why not? ReiserFS would be more suited for news spool and squid cache partitions, but if you just want your same old system except for the fsck's, ext3 is the way to go.
gcc 2.96-RH is all open , always has been. Gcc 3 is not quite compatible so wouldnt be appropriate for the base tools for a new release. It is on the CD though if you want it
The only nonfree stuff on the RH distro should be netscape, and we recommend mozilla 8)
This message is provided under the terms outlined at http://www.bero.org/terms.html
GNU GRUB != GRUB. I don't know which version this is, but RMS will be annoyed if they've left off a GNU... :D
/sbin/grub, it supports Logical Block Address (LBA) mode that solves the 1024 cylinders problem, and TAB completes a filename when it's unique. Of course, many bug fixes are done as well, so it is recommended to use GNU GRUB.
From the GNU GRUB Faq:
1. How does GNU GRUB differ from Erich's original GRUB?
GNU GRUB is the successor of Erich's great GRUB. He couldn't work on GRUB because of some other tasks, so the current maintainer Gordon Matzigkeit took over the maintainership, and opened the development in order for everybody to participate it.
Technically speaking, GNU GRUB has many features that are not seen in the original GRUB. For example, GNU GRUB can be installed on UNIX-like operating system (i.e. GNU/Linux) via the grub shell
http://freshrpms.net/misc/enigma.html
Also, don't forget to go get all the "missing" goodies (xine, lame, nessus...) from http://enigma.freshrpms.net/
Happy download! :-)
Matthias
UK folks should findu ti ons/redhat/7.2
ftp://zeniiib.linux.theplanet.co.uk/pub/distrib
nice and fast (its the new linux.org.uk test box)
Alan
Uh, wait. Without wishing to troll, have you read the list of "things you should know" above? At the retail / desktop/ even OEM level, this is not what people want to hear. They want to hear "Put the CD in the drive. Switch on the machine. Select your language and time zone. Wait."
I think that WinXP has goofed big time with its registration requirements. Now is a great opportunity for GNU/Linux distros to make a big play for the desktop, but they'll gain share only by being idiot proof, because (let's be honest) if we're talking about "knifing the heart" of the Windows market, we're really talking about people who are terrified of anything that comes with a README.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Such as?
LILO has been replaced with GRUB. Why?
Because it has a load of advantages we consider more important than staying with what we've shipped forever.
Sometimes switching one working part with another for only minimal gains is NOT a good idea
You are right about this - and since lilo->grub is not minimal, it doesn't apply to this particular thing.
This message is provided under the terms outlined at http://www.bero.org/terms.html
My God, I just finished downloading 5.1, and now they're already up to 7.2? Great. Just great. Next you're going to tell me they've gone past the 2.2.14 kernel...
--------
Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
I just upgraded my home machine to Mandrake 8.1, which comes with the same general software packages that RedHat ships. While I (of course) haven't tried the new RH yet, I'll make a general observation based on KDE, Gnome and all the other little goodies which ship on a modern Linux distribution: Usability of Linux (on a well-setup machine) is no longer an argument against it's use.
...
Let me explain: when people talk about usabuility, they typically mean "it is (or it isn't) like on Windows" and maybe "it is (or it isn't) like on a Mac". This is not what I would call usability, but rather something like "environment inertia"; people don't like change even if it is for the (long term) better.
After seeing my mom (aged 60+, bought her first computer 1 year ago, never used a computer before that) struggle with Windows when needing to do rather simple/basic things, I've grown convinced that a (well set up) KDE desktop is just as usable as Windows and that the so often touted Windows usability is nothing more than a myth. Windows is usable once you're used to it; otherwise is't as difficult (or easy) than any other decent windowing system (yes, KDE certainly fits this description, GNOME probably does; this is *not* meant as flamebait but just an abservation of the way these Desktops are configured in the newest Mandrake 8.1 release; your milage may vary). These don't work quite the same way as Windows, but it basically do the same things, provides you with menus, with end-user friendly software (KOffice is pretty cool & looks nice, KMail is quite user friendly, etc) and nice GUI configuration tools. If you have a chance sometime, watch someone who's never used a computer try to figure out Windows; it's very instructive to see that Windows itself is not more or less intuitive than any other windowing
system; once you've mastered the concepts and abstractions, it becomes easy. The so called usability advantange of Windows is mostly imprinting, inertia and FUD; the functional differences are starting to disappear or become neglegible.
The biggest obstacle at this point is device/drive support and the need to recompile kernels to get some stuff to work. Usability is (generally speaking) just fine, provided you're working on a well-setup & installed box
That's a very good question, AC. Since there really is no distribution that fits your criteria, I've decided to create a new distribution, which will be called "l33t L1|\|ux", of course, although its internal codename will be "Poser Linux" because that's easier to spell and means the same thing.
I plan to replace all messages in the source code with their l33t_5p34k equivalents, for starters. It'll have an Enlightenment desktop, with a Matrix theme, of course - gotta stick to stuff that everyone recognizes as cool, even your parents, otherwise someone might not realize that you're cool. Best of all, this distribution is going to be 100% free - I'll even fedex you the CDs 2-day, for free! I figure the daemon I install to email me your parent's credit card numbers when you buy something online will more than make up for any distribution costs!
This message is provided under the terms outlined at http://www.bero.org/terms.html
We now have RedHat 7.2 up and running in the Compaq Test Drive Program, so you can try it on our systems before you put it on yours. It's running on a couple of dual-processor x86 systems, and using the ext3 file system. Sign up for a free account and give it a try.
Ximian GNOME for Red Hat Linux 7.2 has been released. Please don't follow the instructions in the article for removing Ximian GNOME, as that will break your rpm dependency tree pretty badly.
The recommended procedure for upgrading to Red Hat Linux 7.2 with Ximian GNOME is to perform the Red Hat upgrade, then immediately reinstall Ximian GNOME.
lynx -source http://go-gnome.com/ |sh
The mirrors will pick it up shortly.
Share and enjoy,
The Ximian release team
Just to re-emphasize, Hemos's instructions for 'cleaning' Ximian will seriously break your system- it'll remove glib (among other things) which will remove a large number of RH's system tools. So... don't.
Luis Villa [Ximian Bugmaster, who doesn't want to have to deal with 'Hemos broke my system' bugs all day]
IAAL,BIANLY