Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 Released (lwn.net)

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 Released (lwn.net)

Posted by BeauHD on Tuesday October 30, 2018 @11:20AM from the latest-and-greatest dept.

Etcetera writes: Fresh on the heels of the IBM purchase announcement, Red Hat released RHEL 7.6 today. Business press release is here and full release notes are here. It's been a busy week for Red Hat, as Fedora 29 also released earlier this morning. No doubt CentOS and various other rebuilds will begin their build cycles shortly. The release offers improved security, such as support for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 specification for security authentication. It also provides enhanced support for the open-source nftables firewall technology.

"TPM 2.0 support has been added incrementally over recent releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, as the technology has matured," Steve Almy, principal product manager, Red Hat Enterprise Linux at Red Hat, told eWEEK. "The TPM 2.0 integration in 7.6 provides an additional level of security by tying the hands-off decryption to server hardware in addition to the network bound disk encryption (NBDE) capability, which operates across the hybrid cloud footprint from on-premise servers to public cloud deployments."

53 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

TPM 2.0 integration by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:26 · Score: 0

a reason NOT to want to deal with them.
Enjoy It While It Lasts by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:54 · Score: 0

I fully expect Red Hat to sink into obscurity, thanks to IBM.
1. Re: Enjoy It While It Lasts by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 11:56 · Score: 0
  
  Hopefully we wonâ(TM)t be looking at the next OS/2
2. Re: Enjoy It While It Lasts by Aighearach · 2018-10-30 16:45 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  IBM started adopting linux around the time they stopped advertising OS/2, and right before they started trying to phase out AIX.
  They also have been directly competing with RedHat to sell linux support for about that long. Not always the same type of support or the same customer base.
3. Re:Enjoy It While It Lasts by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 00:16 · Score: 0
  
  I just don't think this makes sense...
  I think Red Hat offers many container advantages over the legacy IBM offerings like WebSphere (see Thorntail)
  Not to mention the OpenShift offerings in general being key to the deal, allowing enterprises to move their apps easier to containers and hopefully providing the platform for the Online offerings...
  I just hope they continue to drive the Agile stuff around Che as I think it's really promising.
  If this is done right, it could be a serious competitor against Amazon and Google, which I guess is the plan.
4. Re:Enjoy It While It Lasts by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 01:48 · Score: 0
  
  What will replace RedHat as a production OS designed for stability? Ubuntu is nice for the desktop, but it is not designed from the ground up to be a production tier OS with limited changes to the official code happening in a release.
  I'm fearing that IBM might wind up forcing activation and license managers into RedHat, and cutting Fedora and CentOS off entirely.
5. Re: Enjoy It While It Lasts by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 01:59 · Score: 0
  
  IBM started adopting linux around the time they stopped advertising OS/2, and right before they started trying to phase out AIX.
  They also have been directly competing with RedHat to sell linux support for about that long. Not always the same type of support or the same customer base.
  Why didn’t IBM do this earlier? Why now, why is cloud the reason?
  I remember those creepy Linux commercials IBM ran with the little blond kid way back when.
  After all this time, RedHat is being bought for ... open shift?
6. Re:Enjoy It While It Lasts by walterbyrd · 2018-10-31 04:55 · Score: 1
  
  Why not Devaun to replace Red Hat?
  Devaun has no systemd, and great package management. It's based on pre-systemd Debian.
7. Re:Enjoy It While It Lasts by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 05:01 · Score: 0
  
  I fully expect Red Hat to sink into obscurity, thanks to IBM.
  I just thank Jesus that Microsoft didn't buy them. Can you imagine?
8. Re: Enjoy It While It Lasts by Aighearach · 2018-10-31 12:41 · Score: 1
  
  Probably what happened is that before they didn't want to sell, and some major stockholders decided that the time is right, so they made the call.
  It isn't likely just "for" one thing. IBM is a professional services company these days, linux support is a big part of their business. When a big company buys their biggest direct competitor, it isn't going to be "for" some trinket. It is a strategic acquisition that not only helps them consolidate their niche, but it also gives IBM a lot of quality engineers.
  Cloud is not the reason. It is just one of the many things they're competing in.
  If RedHat was a failing company that was being bought cheap, then the buyer might have only wanted one part. Here, IBM is paying a premium price, because the whole thing has value.
New features include by ArchieBunker · 2018-10-30 12:00 · Score: 4, Funny

All of /etc has been moved to a flat binary database now called REGISTRY.DAT
A new configuration tool known as regeditor authored by Poettering himself (accidental deletion of /home only happens in rare occurrences)
In kernel naughty words filter
systemd now includes a virtual userland previously known as busybox

--
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
1. Re:New features include by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 12:38 · Score: 1
  
  vi moved to extras repo
  bash deprecated, new default is bati (bash++)
  top and ps moved to legacypsutils
  iostat replaced with simulated HDD activity light (add ESC[42365;1097m to your batiprompt.yml to enable)
2. Re:New features include by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 13:09 · Score: 0
  
  anyone currently using Red Hat?
  anyone?
  honestly I sometimes forget that it exists.
3. Re:New features include by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 16:20 · Score: 1
  
  Oh come on, that's completely implausible...
  It needs to match the naming scheme and be something like regeditctl.
4. Re:New features include by Aighearach · 2018-10-30 16:47 · Score: 0
  
  vi only exists to punish vim users for typos.
  Damn name squatters. LOL
5. Re: New features include by tigersha · 2018-10-30 18:52 · Score: 1
  
  I moved to extras is a feature, ot a bug. Where is joe anyways? Hopefully in default.
  
  --
  The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
6. Re: New features include by tigersha · 2018-10-30 18:53 · Score: 1
  
  Vi i meant
  
  --
  The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
7. Re:New features include by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 19:34 · Score: 0
  
  Red Hat? No. CentOS? Very much yes. Thousands of instances across our datacenters.
8. Re:New features include by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 22:33 · Score: 0
  
  Damn you peeps have systemd delusion syndrome or some shit.
9. Re:New features include by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 00:08 · Score: 0
  
  Also, the ancient ls tool is being replaced by systemd-list-files-and-directories, backed by systemd-file-and-directory-listingd, which in turn talks directly to the filesystem driver via both kdbus and a nice kernel space binary interface, leveraging synergies and improving performance drastically across the whole systemd ecosystem.
  We will introduce this new and exciting feature immediately in order to "gently push" implementations towards our superior design. As soon as all filesystem drivers downstream add support for the new design, listing files will be possible on all systems again.
  To ease migration, /bin/ls is now expected to be a symlink to /usr/libexec/systemd/systemd-list-files-and directories, with only minor incompatibilities.
10. Re: New features include by jabuzz · 2018-10-31 02:17 · Score: 1
  
  This is IBM, if you knew anything about it you would know that Bash will be replaced with Korn Shell.
11. Re:New features include by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 02:46 · Score: 0
  
  In kernel naughty words filter
  I could get behind this, or at least a command line naught words filter. I've got a passphrase generator for new sql users that grabs random words from /usr/share/dict/words. Have you grepped that lately? Someone needs to fscking check that system file.
12. Re:New features include by Seven+Spirals · 2018-11-01 05:11 · Score: 1
  
  haha! Excellent. Spot on. You forgot about the inclusion of the 'sjw' CLI tool also from the Pottering/Fedora crusaders. It searches your system for any racist or mysogynistic binaries (things like 'touch', 'finger', or 'grep') and overwrites them with copies of Das Capital.
Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by Futurepower(R) · 2018-10-30 12:38 · Score: 3, Interesting

SystemD:

Linux: Why do people hate systemd? (Jan 18, 2017 )

List of articles critical of systemd

Introducing SystemD without proper extended community discussion seemed to be a way for Red Hat to make money. Problems with SystemD? Pay Red Hat to help.

IBM:

What will be the effect of SystemD on IBM's reputation? Will SystemD damage IBM's reputation? Does IBM see SystemD as a way to make money? Will IBM be as socially dis-functional as Red Hat?
1. Re: Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 12:51 · Score: 0
  
  Should I care of IBM reputation? I do care that my ;computers are stable without systemd. Devuan is systemd free.
2. Re:Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 13:54 · Score: 0
  
  as socially dis-functional? ... F'that, they're probably more socially dis-functional. As with anything bought by IBM, it's the death knell for "Blue" Hat.
3. Re:Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by Aighearach · 2018-10-30 16:59 · Score: 2
  
  People at IBM wear ties. To work.
  They don't even know neckbeards exist. They can't see them, even if their gaze accidentally passes over them.
  Also, they look at those whiny articles and wonder, "Why am I reading this thing by some guy who claims to want modularity but doesn't understand what a compilation unit is?" and they close it and go back to engineering something.
  After all, the complaints are universally only either ignorant, or pejorative. They will spend many hours listening to the needs of their clients, and it will never even come up. They will be listening to the community. However their community talks about other stuff.
4. Re:Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 00:16 · Score: 0
  
  hey, IBM perpetrated VSAM catalogues.... imagine your ENTIRE FILE SYSTEM in a fragile indexed file that has to be rebuilt regularly... I think systemd will be an improvement
5. Re:Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 00:19 · Score: 0
  
  Systemd is driving a lot of the container stuff we're seeing right now...
  People need to stop complaining about this, it is getting very dull.
6. Re:Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2018-10-31 01:46 · Score: 1
  
  People at IBM wear ties. To work.
  Well, and tie-dye:
  https://www.google.com/search?...
  
  They don't even know neckbeards exist. They can't see them, even if their gaze accidentally passes over them.
  "Can't see the neck, through the beard."
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
7. Re: Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 08:25 · Score: 0
  
  LOL containers are a fucking joke. You can't be serious.
8. Re: Questions: 1) SystemD? 2) Effect on IBM? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 09:52 · Score: 0
  
  Containers existed long before systemd, and continue to exist without it. Systemd is a problem looking for a solution.
Fork by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 12:40 · Score: 1

CentOS peeps need to get real and start selling support contracts, hire away Red Hat refugees. Leave IBM with nothing but a worthless trademark.
1. Re:Fork by _merlin · 2018-10-30 17:32 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  CentOS was acquired by Red Hat a while ago. IBM owns all three (RHEL, Fedora and CentOS) now.
2. Re: Fork by tigersha · 2018-10-30 18:54 · Score: 1
  
  And why should they do that?
  
  --
  The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
3. Re:Fork by johnsie · 2018-10-30 21:32 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds like a big waste of time. They could maybe switch distro sources if things got really bad, but right now there is no real reason to, other than your conspiracy theories and fud.
4. Re:Fork by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 06:09 · Score: 0
  
  But not Oracle Linux
"operates across the hybrid cloud footprint" by bill_mcgonigle · 2018-10-30 13:43 · Score: 1

Just quoting for Scott Adams to notice for his cliche list.

--
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Will IBM force them to up the kernel number? by Joe_Dragon · 2018-10-30 14:19 · Score: 1

Will IBM force them to up the kernel number?
1. Re:Will IBM force them to up the kernel number? by Aighearach · 2018-10-30 17:01 · Score: 1
  
  Most of IBM's current open source software seems to use Semantic Versioning, so probably not.
IBM should just fire Harry Poettering by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 16:14 · Score: 0

Those who build crappy projects like SystemD should be the first to be axed by IBM. That project just ruins Linux distros. Then check his bank accounts, surely cash transfer from M$ was received just so Linux will be implanted with sh1tty BLOB like SystemD.
TPM 2.0 is the 2013 specification by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-30 18:58 · Score: 0

IBM buying Redhat got RH to get its fat ass moving. Only good things can happen now.
Re:Fork - It's called Scientific Linux by dyfet · 2018-10-30 22:53 · Score: 1

I suppose you mean Scientific Linux, as CentOS is owned by redhat.
You meant, but bad $EDITOR got in the way? by raymorris · 2018-10-31 00:03 · Score: 1

Having trouble typing two-letter words correctly in your non-vi editor?
die RedHat by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 01:57 · Score: 0

RedHat you are IBM now, DIE!
Re: Fork - It's called Scientific Linux by jabuzz · 2018-10-31 02:20 · Score: 2

No it's not. The developers are on the RedHat payroll, but RedHat do no own any of the "intellectual property" that makes CentOS.
.deb better than .rpm by Anonymous Coward · 2018-10-31 02:33 · Score: 0

Red Hat no! thanks!
Ubuntu!
1. Re:.deb better than .rpm by walterbyrd · 2018-10-31 05:02 · Score: 1
  
  Devaun uses the same package management as Debian.
  But Devaun is systemd free.
2. Re:.deb better than .rpm by Zelea · 2018-10-31 12:54 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, Devuan is a systemd free option and I see this suggestion all the time. Better though is to use Debian without systemd because there are no hard dependencies to systemd (except maybe gnome). All you need to do is use sysvinit instead and place an entry in /etc/apt/preferences:
  Package: systemd*
  Pin: version *
  Pin-Priority: -1
  and your debian linux will be systemd free.
Re:Fork - It's called Oracle Linux by emil · 2018-10-31 04:25 · Score: 1

I would certainly like to see an attempt at a hostile acquisition there.