Fedora Core 5 Linux Distro

Finally, the latest release of Fedora is here for download.

We downloaded the DVD edition of FC5 and test ran it. We found that it is worth

upgrading to the latest FC5. But if you are adamant on knowing what's new and

happening in FC5, the answer is certainly its speed and looks. To add to it, the

distro has quite a few system and application enhancements. Let us address them

one by one.

Installation 



The first thing you will notice after you boot with the FC 5 installation media
is the new Fedora Bubble theme. This theme is being used for the first time in

FC 5 and looks better than the earlier Blue Curve theme. You will find this

theme everywhere-in the installer, boot process, first boot as well all

desktop environments.

Price: Free/OpenSource

Meant For: Linux users and enthusiasts

Key Specs: Modified and improved installer, latest gnome and KDE, faster

Pros: Faster GUI, better installer and package manager, support for virtualization (Xen)

Cons: Insufficient documentation for SELinux configuration

Contact: http://fedora.redhat.com/download

The package selection screen is a lot neater in Anaconda with this two-column layout

SELinux setup is a part of first boot, and definitely requires documentation to use

After booting with the DVD install media, when the boot

prompt appears, you will see one new boot option other than the two standard

expert and normal boots. This is the failsafe boot option. With this boot option

you can fix older or broken installation on the machine. This is a very

important feature because whenever someone tries to install another OS (like

Windows) in the same machine and tries dual boot, usually Grub crashes. At this

time, the failsafe CD comes into play and lets you reinstall the boot loader and

other booting files, and recover the Linux OS.

Go to the installer (Anaconda) and you will see some real

changes. It's been around five years that Anaconda has had the same looks. But

this time there are noticeable changes. First thing you will notice is the

absence of the Help window that used to appear on the left side of the screen.

Does that mean that Linux installation has become easier enough that you don't

need any help? But one thing is for sure that with the Help window going, now

you have more space on screen for installation options. And Fedora guys have

used the most of that free space by making the options and menus in two columns,

thus, making the installer neater. 

While installing, there are some screens which you might

miss. These



include Security and Firewall Screen and the installation type window, from

where we select the type of installation among options like Workstation, Server,

etc. Some screens like the Installation Type screen have been permanently

removed. And instead of that now there is a different package selection

mechanism (see screenshot). Other screens have been shifted to a new location.

For instance, the Firewall and Security screen has been taken to the first boot

and is now more comprehensive. By comprehensive, we mean that it now has more

SELinux options. This not only includes options like enabling or disabling

SELinux but also for making and selecting policies from a drop down list. But

this is something which still needs Help and good documentation, because the

number of policies and options are huge and not so clearly mentioned for a

beginner.

The desktop



This time Fedora has come out with the latest versions of the two most

powerful desktop environments. (Gnome 2.14 and KDE 3.5.1). Additionally it also

has XFce (the lighter window manager). All three desktop environments have a

similar look   and feel with the bubble theme. Gnome is still the

default desktop in FC5 as in the



earlier versions. In the new version, the speed of Gnome is noticeable. When we

ran it on a Compaq notebook, it felt as if the speed (response time of the

objects) almost doubled in FC5 as compared to that in FC4. But the speed reduced

drastically when we started the SELinux subsystem. So if you are among those who

need a flashy and fast OS, you have to sacrifice policy-level security and

disable SELinux. And if you are a security lover, do the vice versa.

New applications



This time 'mono' has been added with FC5 and as a result we will see

quite a few mono-based applications to be there as defaults. Some of these

include: tomboy (note-taking application), F-Spot (a photo



manager) and begal (desktop search tool).

Some more applications have been changed in FC5. There are

no up2date (for updating FC) or system-config-packages for adding/removing

applications. Instead we have Pup and Pirut for updating and package management

respectively. Both of these are yum-based utilities and work pretty well. A big

achievement of FC is migrating to Yum instead of RPM (not the file extension but

the package manager). Another cool addon in FC is the out of the box support for

Xen. The best thing is that they have not only added Xen to the package

repository, but also provided applets and scripts to monitor and configure Xen

easily. Now we have a command called xenguest-install, with which you can

configure a new virtual machine in minutes. Plus we have the gnome-applet-vm for

monitoring the



domains of Xen.

The distro also comes with different types for precompiled

versions of Xen Kernel such as standard Xen kernels, Xen kernels with GFS

support and so on.

We are still playing with the new Xen scripts in FC to know

it better, and share it with you.

Bottom Line: If you are an FC user and want to

upgrade, go for it right now. And if you are using something else in Linux, you

can still give it a try



because it is faster, secure and has lots of applications.

Anindya Roy