Red Hat and Fedora Linux

Red Hat Linux is currently the most popular Linux distribution. As a company, Red Hat provides software and services to implement and support professional and commercial Linux systems. Red Hat has split its Linux development into two lines: Red Hat Enterprise Linux and the Fedora Project. Red Hat Enterprise Linux features commercial enterprise products for servers and workstations, with controlled releases issued every two years or so. The Fedora Project is an Open Source initiative whose Fedora Core release will be issued every six months on average, incorporating the most recent development in Linux operating system features as well as supported applications. Red Hat freely distributes its Fedora version of Linux under the GNU General Public License; the company generates income by providing professional-level support, consulting services, and training services. The Red Hat Certified Engineers (RHCE) training and certification program is designed to provide reliable and highly capable administrators and developers help to maintain and customize professional-level Red Hat systems. Red Hat has forged software alliances with major companies like Oracle, IBM, Dell, and Sun.

Currently, Red Hat provides several commercial products, known as Red Hat Enterprise Linux. These include the Red Hat Enterprise Advanced Server for intensive enterprise-level tasks; Red Hat Enterprise ES, which is a version of Linux designed for small businesses and networks; and Red Hat Enterprise Work Station. Red Hat also maintains for its customers the Red Hat Network, which provides automatic updating of the operating system and software packages on your system. You can also use the same Red Hat Network update tool to automatically update Fedora Linux. Specialized products include the Stronghold secureWeb server, versions of Linux tailored for IBM and Itanium-based servers, and GNUPro development tools.

Red Hat also maintains a strong commitment to Open Source Linux applications. Red Hat originated the RPM package system used on several distributions, which automatically installs and removes software packages. Red Hat is also providing much of the software development for the GNOME desktop, and it is a strong supporter of KDE. On Red Hat, GNOME and KDE are configured to appear the same, using a standardized interface called Bluecurve.

Red Hat provides an extensive set of configuration tools designed to manage tasks such as adding users, starting servers, accessing remote directories, and configuring devices such as your monitor or printer. These tools are accessible on the System Settings and Server Settings menus and windows, as well as by their names, all beginning with the term "redhat-config" (see Chapters 4 and 5). Of particular note is the new package management tool that lets you easily install or remove software packages, arranged in recognizable categories.

Note

Though Red Hat supports both the GNOME and KDE desktop interfaces, the Bluecurve interface provides the same look and feel for both desktops, integrating them into one visually similar interface, with menus, windows, and panels appearing approximately the same, though their underlying capabilities differ (see Chapters 6 and 7).

The new release of Red Hat features key updates to critical applications as well as new tools replacing former ones. Red Hat includes the GNOME desktop, the Apache Web server, GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), and GNU Java Compiler (GJC). New configuration tools, including redhat-config-packages for managing software and redhat-config-xfree86 for configuring your display hardware, have been added and others have been updated, redhat-config-networks, for instance, which now supports wireless networks. Red Hat now installs both the Postfix and Sendmail mail servers and lets you seamlessly switch between both.

Installing Red Hat has become a fairly simple process, using a graphical interface with each step displaying detailed explanations and advice. The Red Hat and Fedora distributions organize their installation to cater to several different uses, as a server, a workstation, and a personal desktop. The personal desktop option installs preselected software (such as office and multimedia applications) for home and personal use. It features a streamlined GNOME desktop interface. The workstation option installs desktop, office, development, and administration software. The server option installs all the standard servers, including the mail and FTP servers, along with default configurations and server administration tools. You can also elect to customize your installation, selecting your own mix of installed software.

The Red Hat Fedora distribution of Linux is available online at numerous FTP sites. Red Hat Fedora maintains its own FTP site at fedora.redhat.com, where you can download the entire current release of Fedora Linux, as well as updates and third-party software. Red Hat was designed from its inception to work on numerous hardware platforms. Currently, Red Hat supports Sparc, Intel, and Alpha platforms. See www.redhat.com for more information, including extensive documentation such as Red Hat manuals, FAQs, and links to other Linux sites.

If you purchase Red Hat Linux from Red Hat, you are entitled to online support services. Although Linux is free, Red Hat as a company specializes in support services, providing customers with its expertise in developing solutions to problems that may arise or using Linux to perform any of several possible tasks, such as e-commerce or database operations.