Fedora In the News
In this section, we cover news from the trade press and elsewhere that is re-posted to the Fedora Marketing list[1].
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Marketing
Contributing Writer: Pascal Calarco
Slashdot: Fedora 16 Released
Karin Bakis posted[1] the URL to a discussion thread on Slashdot[2] that started with the announcement of the release of Fedora 16.
The full discussion thread is available[3].
Fedora 16, Red Hat's new community Linux distribution, arrives (ZDNet)
Karin Bakis posted[1] a link to the ZDNet review of Fedora 16:
"If you want to see the future of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), you need only no farther than Red Hat’s community Linux distribution, Fedora. In its brand new release, Fedora 16, Verne, Fedora comes with multiple cloud and virtualization improvements.
Of course, what most Fedora users, as opposed to RHEL system administrators, will be interested in is that Fedora now supports GNOME 3.2 as its default desktop. Good luck with that. For me, GNOME 3.2, like GNOME 3.0 before it, is a failed interface. I’m not the only one who doesn’t care for the GNOME 3.x line. Linus Torvalds, Linux’s founder, finds GNOME 3.x unusable as well.
Fortunately, you’re not stuck with GNOME 3.x. Fedora 16 also comes with the far superior KDE 4.7 interface. One area where both desktop Linux fans and system administrators may find equally interesting is that Fedora includes an advanced version of Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environments (SPICE)-based virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
When you look at all these improvements in Fedora’s virtualization and cloud support, it’s easy to see that when Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst recently told me that VMware, not Microsoft or Ubuntu, would Red Hat’s biggest rival by 2016. The proof is in Fedora. RHEL is headed for an ever greater role as not just a leading server operating system, but as the foundation for virtual machines and clouds as well."
The full post is available[2].
Verne Unveiled: Fedora 16 Released (Network World)
Karin Bakis posted[1] a link to NetworkWorld's review of Fedora 16:
"Robyn Bergeron announced the latest Fedora on the project email list today, along with a dedication to Dennis Ritchie, who recently passed away.
Fedora 16 focuses on the cloud. Bergeron tells NetworkWorld, "I might be biased as being part of the Cloud SIG, but I think that the presence of multiple IaaS platforms (Aeolus and OpenStack), along with cloud-ready storage (HekaFS, which is an extension of GlusterFS), and a tech preview of application-service high-availability for the cloud (in Pacemaker-cloud) gives us a nice, broad range of cloud technologies. And I'm hoping — but not promising — to see that extended into Fedora 17 with the addition of Eucalyptus and Cloudstack, along with perhaps getting into big data fun."
Don't worry — Fedora takes care of business, but it still likes to party. Or at least, play games. Fedora 16 includes new games such as Naev, a 2D space trading and combat game; Golly, an open source, cross-platform application for exploring Conway's Game of Life and other cellular automata; and Sudoku Savant, a GUI-driven sudoku puzzle game. Check out the release notes to see what else is inside the latest Fedora."
The full post is available[2].
Exploring What's New in Fedora 16 (The H Online)
Karin Bakis posted[1] a link to The H Online's in-depth review of Fedora 16, which summarizes:
"The new Fedora offers a lot of advancements. Considered individually, they tend to constitute minor, evolutionary improvements – but overall, the distribution is taking another noticeable step forward.
Verne's large number of virtualisation and cloud-related changes are a reminder that Red Hat is the driving force behind Fedora, and that the distribution serves for field-testing various features that are geared towards corporate customers and might, sooner or later, appear in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Nevertheless, the distribution is perfectly usable on desktop PCs and notebooks, as it is also designed to suit these device types.
Like its predecessor, however, Verne is not as suitable for Linux beginners as, for example, Ubuntu. This is as it should be, because Fedora intentionally targets users with advanced skill levels and those with a keen interest in Linux."
The full post is available[2].
Fedora 16 (Verne) Released (ZDNet UK)
Karin Bakis forwarded[1] a pointer to the recent Fedora 16 review in ZDNet UK:
"Fedora 16, codenamed "Verne", is due to be released today. Fedora has decome the "poster child" for the Gnome 3 desktop, since being the first of the major distributions to use it (in their Fedora 15 release). So there are a lot of high hopes associated with this release, people are really anxious to see if the Fedora/Gnome 3 desktop is improving as it matures.
But... well.... it looks like it should be another good Fedora release. Unfortunately, I won't be using it much, if it all. For a variety of reasons, the base distribution doesn't work on a lot of my systems. First, most importantly and most irritatingly, it STILL doesn't include a driver for the Broadcom 4313 WiFi adapter. I just don't understand this. I know, this driver was left out of Fedora 15 because it was still in "staging". But it's not any more, it should be a standard part of the Linux kernel 3.x distribution, and EVERY other Linux distribution that I have tried with a 3.x kernel included it. The stock answer with Fedora 15 was that you could load the "broadcom-wl" driver from the RPM Fusion repository, but I can think of several objections to that - not the least of them being that average users don't want, need or understand that process. This is one of the things that gives rise to the stupid rants about "the nightmare of Linux device drivers". From what I can tell, the new answer for Fedora 16 is that you can get either "broadcom-wl" or "brcmsmac" from RPM Fusion, and my response is the same. Come on, seriously, this is a very commonly used WiFi adapter, Broadcom has released an open source driver for it, I just don't see why it would not be included. Second, less serious in general but still an obstacle for me, the blasted Symantec ClickPad in my HP Pavilion dm1-3105ez doesn't work properly - it's the usual mess, right-click doesn't work at all and click-drag is so erratic that it is unusable.
I assume that these problems are specific to a relatively small number of systems and devices. Most people will be able to download and install Fedora 16, and they will be up and running in no time at all. So if you are interested, give it a try."
The full post is available[2].
Soon to be Released Fedora 16 Will be Supported on NetHosting Cloud, Dedicated and VPS Servers (Digital Journal)
Jonathan Nalley forwarded[1] a press release on Fedora 16 Cloud offerings:
"NetHosting, a prominent provider of Cloud, Dedicated Server, VPS Server, and Virtual Hosting solutions since 1994, has announced that its hosting products will support the Fedora Project’s newest distribution, Fedora 16, an open-source operating system that is scheduled for release on November 8th.
As a free operating system with a global community of volunteer users and developers, Fedora is lauded for its security, stability, and ease-of-use, and has recently been used as the foundation for derivative distributions of open source software such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The general release of Fedora 16, code-named “Verne,” comes only after the alpha and beta releases of the popular Linux-based operating system have been thoroughly tested by volunteer users to locate and fix bugs and problems.
“In our goal to educate and empower our customers to customize the best hosting platform for their needs, we are pleased to provide an extensive list of operating systems to choose from, including the most recent Fedora release,” stated NetHosting CEO, Lane Livingston."
The full post is available[2].