Red Hat 8.0 Released

I_am_Rambi writes "RedHat has released their latest OS, 8.0. Here is Red Hat's ftp site for download and some mirrors. If you need help there's a Howto." Jeet81 adds: "Red Hat is out with a new release, Red Hat 8.0. Looks like Red Hat is moving towards the windows XP style using its new Bluecurve graphical interface (the new default email client 'Ximian Evolution' looks a lot like MS Outlook)." So what's the verdict on Null or Bluecurve or whatever it's called? Good idea, bad idea?

Comments

Whatever floats your boat

[ck42]

If it gets more people using Linux....who cares if it looks like a pink elephant.

RH 8 on nvidia?

[(H)elix1]

Anyone know if the nvidia chipsets are supported out of the box, or is it still a post install patch with the laptop version?

Re:Get it right

[_|()|\|]

And Red Hat code names are usually related to each other, as chronicled here: valhalla -> limbo -> null -> psyche.

Re:Yay...

[Your_Mom]

Slackware users will probably dislike what they've done.

Hi, Slackware Zealot here. Just to prove you wrong, I like the idea of a nice perty interface. I think it is needed. However, I won't use it. I am downloading it for one of my roomates who wants to try Linux though, I think this is a real nice starting point for most users.

That being said, I have one complaint. FIVE fscking-disks?! Hello!?!? Some people still are too cheap to buy stuff! Hell Slack is just recently toying with the idea for possibly going to 2, and even they postponed it for another release. Sheesh!

Re:Yay...

[garcia]

as an ex-Slackware, ex-RedHat, and current Debian user I don't care what they have done.

I would dump KDE and/or GNOME and run what I have run since however many years ago.

While I think that it looks nice (except for PACKED menus) for people that want that sort of thing, Linux is still great b/c we can run whatever the hell we like instead of whatever the default is.

I have tried Gnone and KDE once before each. I wasn't impressed w/the speed of the UI on this machine. I suppose once I get older and less annoyed with attempts to make Linux more of a desktop OS and I become lazy and want to stop having to move files with commands I will switch.

Until then, if I were to upgrade to a distribution that offered this sort of UI, I would disable it and go back to what I have been used to.

Ahh, the wonders of freedom! Just my worthless .02 for today.

Redhat-logos

[Alan Cox]

At least I assume it is the redhat-logos that he means. If you sell a Red Hat 8.0 based distribution you need to replace the logos with your own logos so that people know it isnt the genuine Red Hat article.

So you swap the logo package for 'emporium linux' or whatever. Logo rules are there for the obvious trademark reasons, and helping to ensure people know if they are getting Red Hat or not.

In terms of non free packages - netscape is gone and the flash type stuff is on the extra app cds or available from the vendor rather than lurking in with the free stuff.

I'm not sure quite how the logos fit in with each persons individual definition of free. What we do is basically the same as for example Debian
(http://www.debian.org/logos/)

Alan

RPM hanging problems

[vorwerk]

For years, I've been compiling the software on my system and tweaking everything by hand. Lately, I've been spending way too long doing this [my computer is slooow], so I decided to nuke my linux install and put on Psyche.

And I love it. It looks great, and RedHat has done a terrific job. Hurray. ;)

EXCEPT ...

Imagine my surprise when, on my fresh Psyche box, I tried to install xmms MP3 plugins and found that RPM was hanging. No matter what I tried (deleting stale __db locks, rebuilding the rpm database, etc.), I continually had to 'kill -9' to remove the rpm zombie process. I can't upgrade or install new packages without rpm dying.

It turns out that there is very likely a race condition in the signal handling code in rpm 4.1, which ships with Psyche. You may or may not experience this problem, but you can follow the status of the bug at the following URLs:

bug 74726
bug 73097
bug 73134

cheers

Thank God

[ceswiedler]

Thank god at least one Linux company is actually acting like a company and trying to make a profit in a realistic way.

The important thing about Open Source and Linux isn't that Red Hat has to give away their product, nor that they be "nice" to the community by keeping KDE and Gnome separate. The important thing is that no matter what, you know that you can get the source to every (important) piece of the Red Hat operating system. You can replace the kernel, the GUI, the web server. You can examine the code and recompile it yourself.

Red Hat is a company. If you want completely free, volunteer-based stuff, go to Debian. If you want a corporate-style OS, with actual help, support, integration, and consistency, then for christ's sake YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY FOR IT.

Red Hat could really care less if Slashdot readers think that BlueCurve sucks, or that the new licensing scheme sucks, or that the mirrors suck, or whatever. They're in the business of selling copies and support of their Operating System, which is the Red Hat Operating System based on the Linux Kernel and the GNU tools and the X Windows GUI and the Gnome and KDE toolkits / environments.

Personally I think Red Hat should abandon the idea of giving away copies entirely. Sell the damn things. That's what companies DO. The support idea is hogwash. Support is good cash but it won't replace copies sold. Red Hat needed to win acceptance and dominance, and so it gave away binary copies of their OS.

The GPL, thank god, means that Red Hat DOES have to give away their SRPMS, at least to any code in their OS that is GPL'd. Their installer doesn't have to be GPL'd. Their makefiles and build scripts don't have to be GPL'd. They could legally give away nothing but the actual source code they used to build the finished product. That satisifes the GPL, both in letter and spirit.

Personally I think the Open Source community should applaud Red Hat for acting like a company and proving that Open Source doesn't mean amateur, or broke.

Re:A users perspective of Red Hat 8 and KDE

[Pii]

For perspective, I'm not a RedHet user. I prefer Debian on servers, and have been utilizing Mandrake on Desktop/EyeCandy machines.

Having said that, I read the summary that you've written about RedHat, and their KDE modifications. I think it's very well written, and very comprehensive. I would have a hard time disagreeing with any of the conclusions that you've drawn.

I hope that some of the complainers take the time to read it as well.

RedHat is simply trying to put forward the best that Linux has to offer, which will invariably result in the subjective assessment of various competing applications. Some applications are simply more refined than others, and as a result, they've been elevated to "default" status. The alternatives are still present.

As for trying to unify the appearance of the completing desktop environments, that too is a step that most people see as inevitable. It certainly makes life easier for the new users, and OS converts. I know that from an aesthetic perspective, I'd like my KDE and GNOME apps to have a similar appearance, regardless of which desktop I happen to be running.

These are for the most part cosmetic changes, and the end result is a better overall distribution.

Good for RedHat, and good for Linux.