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Fedora 9 Preview Cleared for Launch

According to a post made yesterday to the Fedora announce mailing list, a Fedora 9 preview has been cleared for launch. "This is a Preview release, it is fairly close to what the final product will be like. This is the most critical release for the Fedora community to use and test and report bugs on. This is the last major public release before the final GOLD Fedora 9 release on May 13th (we hope). [...] Live images, KDE Live images, CDs and DVD options are available. http://torrent.fedoraproject.org has a section marked 'F9-Preview.'"

35 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Fedora 9 Not Ready by nmb3000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I dunno. I hear that Fedora 9 is really lacking in important functionality. Why would I want to install something so obviously half-baked like this?

    With serious issues like this, obviously 2008 won't be The Year of the Linux Desktop (Really This Time, We Mean It).

    --
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    /)
  2. Re:Differences by Phisbut · · Score: 2, Informative

    Anyone have a link, or know off-hand, the major differences between this and the latest Ubuntu release? I realize there's the APT/RPM difference, but aside from that, what is notable?

    KDE 4, among other things.

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  3. Re:Differences by zedlander · · Score: 5, Informative
  4. Re:Differences by pembo13 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Major difference? Well I can't enumerate them, but I can generalize things you'll see in Fedora compared to Ubuntu

    • Continued work SELinux
    • Continued work NetworkManager
    • Continued work on PulseAudio
    • Some other stuff that will make its way to Ubuntu once the bugs get worked out within Fedora (and upstream)
    • Less specialization (ie. as a desktop) just a general operating system with utils and applications
    • Work towards upstart (something Ubuntu already has I believe)
    • Think I saw a few threads about ext4
    • Think I saw a few threads about full disk encryption
    • Jigdo support for sucking down images
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  5. Re:Differences by QuantumRiff · · Score: 3, Interesting

    the Apt/RPM is a huge difference. I used to love Fedora, and (still) run RHEL at the office on our servers. RHEL is fine, as I don't play and experement and try new things on it, but Fedora got to be a real pain in the ass with RPM Dependancies. I would find an RPM of something I wanted to install, it required me to first find and install another RPM, etc. Sometimes one of the dependant RPM's would not install, because I had a newer/older version for another program. Apt-get has worked flawlessly for me, and the HUGE pool of apps that just work has made it so I almost never have to search for .DEB files. I think the only change I had to do was add google's APT repository to Ubuntu, and it keeps picasa and google-earth up to date.

    If the RPM system gets a huge makeover, I would probably play with Fedora again. It may have already been done, I switched to Ubuntu at 6.04.

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  6. like it, but by thermian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This issue of not having media codecs other then the free ones is a real deal breaker for me.

    Yes I know, they aren't 'free as in freedom'. Sad, but true. However, when I install desktop linux I don't want to fart about trying to find media codecs. They should be there, in the install, or immediately available via an obvious link once installation is complete. It should be a one click and done experience, has to be really.

    Yes I could find them myself, but I'm not really the problem, since I'm pretty much addicted to linux for everything but desktop. I'll remain a fan, and live in hope of a decent out of the box desktop experience.

    No, the problem is the vast numbers of techno numpties who won't use linux as long as it has this glaring hole in its out of the box state.

    Mark me as troll if you wish, but this is a serious issue that the purists don't want to confront. In spite of what they beleive, ogg is not enough...

    --
    A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
    1. Re:like it, but by fyrie · · Score: 4, Informative

      Most of that stuff is available in the livna repository. Standard procedure is to install the livna repo immediately and download the non free packages.

    2. Re:like it, but by fyrie · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I do need to add that I do agree with the OP in the sense that it would be great if there was a way right out of the box to automatically go and download this type of stuff, maybe with a disclaimer saying that they aren't sanctioned as free that would be a CYA for Fedora.

    3. Re:like it, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As a fedora user, I'll bite.

      First, blame those that made the codecs non-free, not those who suffer because of it. There is nothing that they can do about non-free codecs and there's no use complaining.

      Beyond that, it's not exactly hard to add non-free codecs. Add the livna repository and you'll be able to get them off your package manager. There may not be any flashing banners telling you how and where to download non-free codecs, but it's not hard to do either.

      Finally, you shouldn't need non-free codecs as soon as you install the operating system.

    4. Re:like it, but by jd · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think conventional wisdom is that in Microsoft's case, it is a chair of smiting. It's not simply a Microsoft problem, however. It has a lot to do with software patents, price gouging and dodgy attitudes towards reverse engineering throughout the industry. Yes, it costs money to develop high-end codecs, and it is entirely reasonable for corporations to try to make a profit from their work, but that argument only goes so far and current practices go way beyond reasonable.

      --
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    5. Re:like it, but by thermian · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm sorry, but I highly doubt that a person "new to linux and uninformed of such things" would install linux.

      Yes, and they never will until it becomes so simple that a person with little or no knowledge can do it.

      This is what I'm getting at. Those people are in microsofts pocket, and will be until a fully media capable linux distro can be installed easily, without detailed knowledge.

      People can, and do, install newer verions of windows who fall into this catagory. It's them, the ones who want to upgrade, that we should be attracting.

      --
      A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
    6. Re:like it, but by the+COW+OF+DOOM+(tm) · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yeah. It'd be great, if it wasn't illegal.

      Here's the thing: it's not solely a matter of principle. Fedora has to play by a harder set of rules than Ubuntu. Fedora is backed by a public company, based in the US, so they answer to US law and Red Hat stockholders. And under US law, CYA just isn't enough, especially when there's multi-billion-dollar global megacorps who will take any opportunity they can find to sue you into oblivion.

      Everyone would dearly love to be able to include mp3 codecs and ffmpeg and all that non-Free stuff. But they can't. So Red Hat and Fedora keep fighting the good fight - lobbying against software patents, pushing for open standards - and still people give them shit because they have to click two places instead of one to get MP3 support.

      Way to focus on the big problems, people.

    7. Re:like it, but by techno-vampire · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The aforementionned person new to linux will get Ubuntu.


      I've been using Fedora along with Windows for a number of years now. My sister has an older machine (800mhz) and Win2K was getting slower and slower, even with all the firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware stuph. In fact, it was the anti-virus that was slowing it down more than anything else; the daily scans took forever and made it almost unresponsive. Then, she tried a Live CD of Ubuntu. In less than 15 minutes she knew it was for her. The next morning, she installed it. The first time it rebooted, it let her know she needed proprietary drivers for her nVidia Geoforce video card and got them. It's now her main OS, and Win2K is the Dark Side to her. I'm happy with Fedora, and will be moving from 8 to 9 when the time comes, but I'd never have suggested it to her. Fedora's a geeky, bleeding edge test bed of a distro, and all she wants or needs is something that Just Works. That's why there are so many Linux distros: different people need and/or want different things, and no matter what you want in the way of Linux, there's at least one distro that's right for you.

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    8. Re:like it, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not because of them being purists. The relevant codecs in fact are free software and all that.

      Fedora is based in the US. In the US, we are blessed with these lovely things called patent laws. In particular, it is legally iffy for Fedora to distribute things like MP3 codecs and such. Really, the way to fix this is to get rid of the stupid things altogether... software patents are ridiculous.

      (And a lot of the non-free stuff isn't re-distributable anyway, so they can't package it. Ubuntu's flash "package" is just a script that downloads and installs it. Might as well use the rpm Adobe provides.)

    9. Re:like it, but by techno-vampire · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't know. I have no idea if you're capable of asking her out. However, I seriously doubt that any AC would meet her standards, or that you're old enough to interest her. (Hint, here: I'm a 'Nam vet and she's my older sister.)

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    10. Re:like it, but by Richard+W.M.+Jones · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem is that the desktop experience has become, thanks to the almighty Microsoft, (whose name we speak in hushed tones, lest they smite us with their stick of smiting), have defined the desktop as being a place where even a moron can get a decent experience with minimal work, or none, in some cases.

      Last time I checked, Windows out of the box couldn't create PDF files, display DivX movies, open tarballs, can display but not edit DOC, PPT, can't display web pages properly, can't create ZIP files [maybe it can do this one now?] etc. It doesn't have a system where you can install one of 1000s of programs just with a few clicks from a menu (and for free). It doesn't have virtualization or a SQL database or any programming languages at all.

      Rich.

  7. what about youtube ? is it working ? by C0vardeAn0nim0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    if it doesn't work tove may end up killing linus... and since she's 5 time finnish karate champion, that'll be pretty damn easy for her.

    like he said: youtube no workee, wife no happy.

    --
    What ? Me, worry ?
    1. Re:what about youtube ? is it working ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      YouTube functionality works just fine once you add the adobe-linux repo and install flash-plugin-9.0.124.0. It does on occasion flip out, but thats been the case with the adobe linux port for quite some time.

      What is broken in Fedora x86_64 variants is Java plugin support from Sun. The icedtea plugin works great in most circumstances for small stuff, however larger java applets wont run without the Sun JRE. That JRE works fine in i386 but breaks because Sun has not released a 64 bit port for it yet.

  8. Re:Differences by fyrie · · Score: 2, Informative

    First huge difference between the two is that Ubuntu has professional support if you want it. Another huge difference between the two is that Ubuntu typically only gets security updates and major bug fixes during a version lifespan whereas Fedora continually gets application updates over its version lifespan as new versions of individual apps are released.

    So you could say that Fedora stays a little more bleeding edge throughout the version lifespan, and Ubuntu stays a bit more stable throughout the lifespan of a version.

  9. Re:Differences by QuantumRiff · · Score: 2, Informative

    after looking at the reply above to Fedora vs. Ubuntu it appears that the package management has been drastically improved with Apt-Yum. I will have to play with Fedora again.

    --

    What are we going to do tonight Brain?
  10. selinux by Crispy+Critters · · Score: 4, Funny
    I really like selinux. The best part about it is this: Whenever something is broken, I uninstall selinux, and then whatever-it-is works again. I wouldn't know how to fix the system if I couldn't uninstall selinux.

    (I am not denying that it is important or useful. I just can't understand how to make it work.)

    1. Re:selinux by init100 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Please run SELinux in permissive mode instead of disabling or even uninstalling it. If you ever would like to activate it again, running in permissive mode ensures that the proper security labels are maintained, while disabling or uninstalling SELinux causes the system to perform a time-consuming relabeling of all filesystems if/when SELinux is re-enabled.

      Besides, if an application is giving you troubles, why not file a bug report in the Red hat Bugzilla? Post the output of setroubleshoot (the GUI application that explains what went wrong and why) in the report, and the Fedora developers can probably determine how to best change the security policy.

  11. 'looks' good by linuxbeta · · Score: 2, Interesting

    some screenshots over at The Coding Studio

  12. Re:Differences by Phisbut · · Score: 5, Informative

    I would find an RPM of something I wanted to install, it required me to first find and install another RPM, etc. Sometimes one of the dependant RPM's would not install, because I had a newer/older version for another program. Apt-get has worked flawlessly for me, and the HUGE pool of apps that just work has made it so I almost never have to search for .DEB files.

    Comparing RPM to apt-get is apples to oranges. Either compare RPM to DEB, or yum to apt-get. I never had to bother with dependencies when using yum, just as you've never had to bother with dependencies using apt-get.

    --
    After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
    - The Tao of Programming
  13. Re:SELinux is a pain in the ass. by thule · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... thus the "continued work". Fedora has been trying to strike a balance and get rid of the separate 'strict' and 'targeted' by making better rules. It takes time, but I can tell you targeted works pretty good for me right now. It was easy for me to add an extended rule for an exception I needed. The 'continued work' is making good progress.

  14. Re:calling 2005 by cbart387 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Now I have even lesser problems with a single huge repository and a couple of extra repos for proprietary codecs and drivers. It's been *really* smooth for me. I agree. The only issue I've had was with a livna package overriding a package from an 'official' repository and causing yum to not complete an update. If you use the extra repositories I'd recommend the protectbase plugin. It provides a way to give precedence over certain repos so that you don't make yum mad.
    --
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  15. Re:Did the yum-based upgrade make it into the tag? by the+COW+OF+DOOM+(tm) · · Score: 4, Informative

    There was never any talk about yum-based upgrades. Upgrading a live system is total insanity.

    You're probably thinking of PreUpgrade, which is like a yum-based upgrade but without the insanity.

    See the interview here for more info:
    http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2008/04/15/interview-fedora-developers-seth-vidal-and-will-woods/

  16. Release Candidate? by IBBoard · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I'm a bit confused about the "final release" thing at the moment. I was going to wait for the RC ("22 April 2008 - Release Candidate 1" according to the schedule) and possibly install that, but now they're saying

    This is the last major public release before the final GOLD Fedora 9 release on May 13th

    which implies the Release Candidate might not be a 'release' as such, just a specially tagged nightly build.

    Oh well, I guess at least it'll get the spit-and-polish it deserves. I just need to wait until May to install it now.
    1. Re:Release Candidate? by the+COW+OF+DOOM+(tm) · · Score: 4, Informative

      Correct: RC builds are not announced or mirrored worldwide. They're candidate images for testers to work with. They are publically available, though - anyone who's interested in helping can be a tester.

      http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA is a good place to start if you're interested in testing Fedora.

      Otherwise, the next major public release is F9 final, scheduled for May 13.

  17. Re:Differences by proxima · · Score: 4, Informative

    Comparing RPM to apt-get is apples to oranges. Either compare RPM to DEB, or yum to apt-get. I never had to bother with dependencies when using yum, just as you've never had to bother with dependencies using apt-get.

    I completely agree. Since my distros of choice over the last 5 years have been Fedora and Debian/Ubuntu, I've had a fair bit of experience with both yum and apt-get. Yum, at least as of the Fedora 8 install on my desktop, is simply not as good (IMO) as apt-get in Debian or Ubuntu for two reasons:

    1.) yum is slow, horribly horribly slow. I think it may have gotten a little better in Fedora 8, and I've heard that they're putting serious work into it. Hopefully Fedora 9 will be better, but it never ceases to amaze me how long it takes to do a "yum search" to look for a package compared to "apt-cache search".

    2.) The package repositories for Ubuntu (which is derived from the huge repository from Debian) are larger and more complete, at least for the random software I tend to look for. Again, Fedora is gaining in this regard, the community-supported package setup is starting to rival Ubuntu's universe, making this a huge step up over the old RedHat 7/8/9 days compared to Debian at that time. When it comes to software outside of either repository, RPMs tend to be more common than debs, which is an advantage for Fedora.

    So yum (and the standard underlying repositories) are behind in those respects compared to apt-get, but the difference is shrinking. In yum's defense, I think they implemented package signing as a default requirement before Debian did, but I could be wrong on that.

    I've run Fedora on my desktop for a while, but Kubuntu on my laptop. I honestly don't know what I'll install on my desktop next. I usually skip every other release, and since I'm on FC 8, that means waiting until FC10. This might be good anyway; I'm a KDE user, and KDE 4.0 just doesn't look feature complete. Best to wait until KDE 4.1 polishes everything a bit more, perhaps. I'm debating whether to try out the latest Kubuntu on my laptop when it's released this month to try out KDE 4.0.
    --
    "The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
  18. Re:Differences by Znork · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "dependancy hell" issues

    Dependency hell isn't really a function of the package format, the issue is intrinsic to reasonably complex software dependency environments, and the hell is what you get for not using an automatic depsolver. Of course, as there originally wasn't one that handled RPM's (like apt for debs), it's tended to get the blame.

    When I used Fedora back in the Core 3 days I used Apt4RPM and Synaptic

    These days you'd probably use yum and yumex. Using yum-priorites for repos and you'll have very little trouble even with several third party repos active.

  19. Re:Debian/Ubuntu User asks: What's the big deal? by 427_ci_505 · · Score: 2, Informative

    >Does Fedora have a neat zero-fuss hardware recognition and will it install and run out of the box just as >fritionless as Ubuntu or Knoppix?

    Multiple monitor setups are problematic, but other stuff works well.

    >Will multi-source audio work out of the box? (wether with esound demon or whatever ... gosh, just asking this >question brings back those memories ... )

    If by this you mean multiple programs can output sound at the same time, then yes.

    >What about generic wireless stuff and extra function keys and all that? Especially on those new sub 1000 Euro >laptops popping up everywhere? If I get a fairly cheap generic laptop with all of todays bells and wistles, will >I be able to scrap Windows Fister and slap Fedore over it and utilize all the extra features or will it take a >week of expert-tweaking (which I don't have time and nerve for anymore) to get those things running?

    On F8, with a Broadcom wireless card, I needed to cut the firmware out of the windows driver. That was annoying. After that it works well. I wish I had an intel card.

    >>What's with Flash?

    On an i386 it works fine. Just make sure to install an extra package that allows the sound to work with Pulse Audio. With that said, at least one of the versions of Adobe's plugin isn't too stable...

    >>Java?

    Seems to be doing ok.

    >>Zero fuss install/uninstall/upgrade/dependancy tracking and resolution?

    Yum does seem slower than apt-get, but I haven't had any problems with it besides.

    >>What's with DVDs? Will I have to install 6 players of which only two kinda-sorta-maybe work 75% of the time or >>will there be *ONE* (1) DVD player that actually plays DVDs without getting into a hissy fit over CSS (I'm >>willing to install a Fedora DeCSS package by hand from a 'non-offical' source for that or do any other >>documented non-hacky actions in order to prepare for that)

    mplayer or vlc should handle it, after installing the necessary pkgs.

    >>What's with Video? What's with 3D?

    The open source radeon driver seems to be working well with my older hardware.

    >>Fedore Fan Crew - here's your chance to get a Debian/Ubuntu guy to give Fedora a try next time around. I'd like >>to read your thought on the issues above. Thanks.

    I'd try a livecd. Just be aware that most of the software won't be there, since there is only so much that can fit on a livecd. I use debian on my other computer. So far, I'm liking fedora better. But debian is still pretty good.

  20. Re:Differences by nzeer · · Score: 2

    Comparing rpm to apt is just wrong. rpm is a packaging format, while apt is a package management system. Comparing rpm to deb would be fine. Comparing yum to apt would be fine. As a side note... yum is a very capable package management system nowadays.

  21. That's a similarily, not a difference. by SEMW · · Score: 3, Informative

    Anyone have a link, or know off-hand, the major differences between this and the latest Ubuntu release? KDE 4, among other things. Both Kubuntu 8.04 RC and Fedora 9 Preview are available with KDE4.
    --
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