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What some seem to forget as they worry about how well Red Hat, Inc., will support Fedora is that Linux was originally created and supported by a community of open-source developers, administrators, and integrators. Right now, the community of people and companies out there that are ready and able to support the software that comes in Fedora is as strong as ever.
While calling Red Hat, Inc., for every problem with Fedora may not be an option, the trick is to know what the Fedora Project itself is offering (with the support of Red Hat, Inc.) and how to look elsewhere for the help you need. The first thing to do, however, is to get your hands on Fedora.
By the time this book is released, Fedora Core 1 would have been available for several months and Fedora Core 2 would just be hitting the market. Although versions 1 and 2 are similar in many ways, we based most of this book on Fedora Core 1 for the following reasons:
Fedora Core 1 had gone through nearly a full Red Hat testing cycle before becoming Fedora Core 1. There were not major feature additions over Red Hat Linux 9, while there were many bug fixes that were included.
Fedora Core 2 included many major new features and hadn't been out long enough to know if all the major bugs had been fully shaken out yet.
For these reasons, we felt that Fedora Core 1 made a more stable environment for those who wanted to use the skill taught in this book to set up and use reliable desktop and server systems. If, however, you want to use Fedora Core 2 instead with this book, here are some of the differences you can expect:
Fedora Core 2 includes the new 2.6 kernel by default. While there are not many features about the new kernel that change how you use Linux, it's possible that support for some hardware drivers may not have been carried over to the 2.6 kernel yet. The new kernel also has brought some changes in the types of boot media you can use with Fedora Core 2. (Refer to http://fedora.redhat.com/download for details on installation media and install procedures.)
All the redhat-config-* graphical administration utilities had their names changed to system-config-*. So, anywhere in the book that we discuss the commands that launch graphical administration tools, you should change redhat to system when you type the command.
The XFree86 X server used in Fedora Core 1 has been replaced by a new X server from X.org. During descriptions of troubleshooting video in Chapter 7, you may find differences in how some of the X-related commands behave.
Likewise, in the course of normal improvements to Linux software (such as new versions of KDE and GNOME desktops in Fedora Core 2), some of the steps and options described in this book (which was based on Fedora Core 1) may differ.
You need Fedora Core Linux operating system to use this book. When Red Hat, Inc., transitioned its operating system from Red Hat Linux to Fedora, it stopped producing boxed sets of that product. To follow along with this book, you should get the three-CD Fedora Core 1 set in one of the following ways:
Red Hat Linux Bible: Fedora and Enterprise Edition-The complete three-CD installation set for Fedora Core 1 comes with this edition of Red Hat Linux Bible. If you are new to Red Hat Linux, Fedora, or Linux in general, Red Hat Linux Bible covers the basics you need to use, administer, and set up servers for Fedora Core. Linux Troubleshooting Bible builds on those basics.
Downloading-You can download the ISO images of the CDs from the Fedora Project website (http://fedora.redhat.com/download/). The site describes the process of downloading, verifying, and burning the CD images.
Find a friend-Many Linux enthusiasts or Linux user groups will be happy to get you a copy of Fedora Core, or any other Linux that you desire. Remember, Fedora is free and distributable.
Fedora Core can be installed on most Pentium class PCs. Unless otherwise noted, all the software needed in this book is available on the Fedora distribution CDs.
| Note |
Chapter 2 contains information on installing Fedora Core and tips on troubleshooting installation. |
To learn about what is new in Fedora Core, especially if you want to know the differences between Fedora Core and Red Hat Linux 9, you can refer to the Release Notes document. That document describes the hardware requirements for running Fedora, provides notes on installing and using Fedora Core, and lists new and removed software packages. You can get the Release Notes on the first disk of the three-CD Fedora Core set or from the Fedora Project website (http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/release-notes).
The best resource for the latest news and policies relating to Fedora is the Fedora Project website: http://fedora.redhat.com. From that site, you can get the latest information on release schedules, project objectives, and ways of participating in the project.
You should read the Fedora Project FAQ (click the FAQ link from the home page). You can also click the About link to learn about the people and structure that supports the project.
The Red Hat Linux documentation is one component that didn't come across to the Fedora Project. In fact, one of the major reasons for this book is to fill the void left by the lack of official documentation coming out of Red Hat, Inc., for Fedora.
Instead of porting the Red Hat Linux Documentation to Fedora, the Fedora Docs project is focusing its first efforts on producing an Installation Guide. Beyond that, the Fedora Docs project hopes to produce (and encourage others to produce) smaller tutorial and HOWTO documents.
Because the first Fedora release (Fedora Core 1) was very similar in many ways to the previous release (Red Hat Linux 9) and the recent enterprise release (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3), you can find answers to many questions in existing Red Hat documentation for those products. Another resource for Fedora documentation is documents that come with each software package in the Fedora distribution itself. Here are some places to look:
Red Hat Linux 9 Doc Set-Manuals for installing, customizing, and administering Red Hat Linux 9 are on the Red Hat website (www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux). You can download the Installation Guide, Getting Started Guide, Customization Guide, Reference Guide, Security Guide, System Administration Primer, Glossary, and Release Notes. Most of the documents are available in PDF, RPM, and HTML (tarball) formats.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Doc Set-Manuals for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux products are also available online (www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise). Several of these manuals are quite generic. So most of the content in, for example, Introduction to System Administration, System Administration Guide, Reference Guide, Security Guide, and Step by Step Guide would be appropriate for Fedora as well.
/usr/share/doc-Software packages that come with documentation often put that documentation in subdirectories of the /usr/share/doc directory. Much of the documentation is in HTML format, and so you can read it from your web browser.
Man pages-Traditional UNIX and Linux documentation was done on per component documents referred to as man pages. For a Fedora troubleshooter, man pages are a great resource for understanding all the options that come with each command. Man pages are typically stored in the /usr/share/man subdirectories for commands (man1), system calls (man2), programming functions (man3), special files (man4), file formats (man5), games (man6), miscellaneous components (man7), and administration commands (man8).
Info pages-Like man pages, info pages are text-based descriptions of components in Fedora. However, the info utility, which displays info pages, is more menu-oriented than are man pages.
The man and info commands are used to display man pages and info pages, respectively. For example, to see the man page for the cat command, type
# man cat
To start the info utility, you can simply type the info command. From there, scroll up and down to find the command or other component that interests you. With the cursor on the item you want, press Enter to display the information.
If you would like to see what documentation is included with a particular software package, you can use the rpm command. For example, to see what documentation comes with the bash shell software (bash package), you could type the following:
# rpm -qd bash |less
This command will show you any manual pages, HOWTOs, release notes, or other documents associated with a Fedora software package.
Nearly every project represented by software packages in Fedora has its own website, at which you can find further information and documentation on the project. You can usually find the address of a project's website by checking the README file or the RPM description that comes with the software package in Fedora.
For example, to find out about the Rhythmbox multimedia player in Fedora, I paged through the Rhythmbox README file:
# less /usr/share/doc/rhythmbox-*/README
In that file, I saw that the official website is http://web.rhythmbox.org and that there is a mailing list at http://lists.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/rhythmbox-devel. If you can't find information about the project's website from its README file, you can try listing information about the package to find the site. For example, to list information about the rdesktop package (a Windows NT terminal server client), you could type the following:
# rpm -qi rdesktop
Besides showing a description of the package, this command showed that the rdesktop website is at www.rdesktop.org. Links from this site point you to documents that describe the protocols used in rdesktop, if you want to research further how the software works.
Many of the resources slated to support the Fedora Project were created to suit its charter to be a community-supported Linux. While Fedora mailing lists have been churning away happily from the get-go, community involvement in other areas will, by their nature, take more time to develop.
The Fedora Project has an active set of mailing lists that are available through Red Hat, Inc. To access the mailing lists (both archives and e-mailed versions are available to everyone), visit the following site:
There is very active participation from Red Hat, Inc., developers on all of these lists, so you can often get information straight from those people developing and making decisions about the direction of Fedora. Here's a rundown of what you can expect from each of the Fedora mailing lists:
General Fedora questions (fedora-list)-The fedora-list is for general questions about Fedora. Of the available mailing lists, fedora-list is the most active. If you sign up for this list, you can expect 100 to 200 posts per day (or more) devoted to questions about Fedora. Although there are all types of Fedora questions on this list, the list is especially good for "how do I get" and "where do I find" types of questions.
Fedora testing discussions (fedora-test-list)-The fedora-test-list tracks the development of Fedora software. For the troubleshooter, this is a good list to talk about software that has broken down and is in the process of being fixed.
Fedora announcements (fedora-announce-list)-If you are using Fedora, you should at least subscribe to fedora-announce-list. This list announces the availability of critical updates for your Fedora systems.
Fedora desktop (fedora-desktop-list)-For issues related to troubleshooting desktop problems or discussing desktop enhancements, the fedora-desktop-list is a good place to start.
Fedora software updates (fedora-legacy-list)-To get in on discussions of how updates will be available for Fedora (and older Red Hat Linux systems as well) beyond the officially supported update plans from Red Hat, Inc., you should join the fedora-legacy-list.
To keep up with the ongoing development of Fedora, there are also other lists that might interest you. Fedora-devel-list contains information on newly built packages and lets people comment on feature changes. For development issues related directly to configuration tools, there is fedora-config-list. If you want to contribute to the Fedora documentation effort, you can join fedora-docs-list.
If you have never used Internet Relay Chat (IRC) before, it offers a great way to participate in (or just watch) discussions by typing messages to a scrolling list. Messages are transferred in real time, so anyone on the IRC channel can participate right at the moment.
The Fedora Project offers several IRC channels through the Freenode IRC Network (www.freenode.net). Channels include:
Fedora general chat (#fedora)-Open to end users or any participants in the Fedora Project.
Fedora development chat (#fedora-devel)-For chatting about problems and suggestions related to Fedora software development.
Fedora problem reporting chat (#fedora-bugs)-To talk about bugs you encounter while using Fedora and find out if workarounds or fixes are available.
There is also a Spanish language chat channel (#fedora-es) and other public and private channels associated with Fedora projects. If you have not used IRC before, refer to an IRC tutorial, such as the one at www.irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.htm.
Here's a quick procedure for getting into a Fedora IRC channel:
With a computer connected to the Internet, open an IRC client. For example, in Fedora you can open an X-Chat window by clicking the Red Hat menu and selecting Internet⇨More Internet Applications⇨IRC Client.
Add a Nick Name (and two alternate nicknames, in case yours is taken), a User Name, and a Real Name, and click Connect.
Once you are connected to the server, join the list you choose by typing /join and the channel name. For example, to join the general Fedora chat channel, type
/ join # fedora
While the plans to broaden the range of software available for Fedora are still being developed, new features in Fedora already make it easier to get additional software packages for Fedora than it was for Red Hat Linux. Right now, you can:
Use up2date-The up2date facility that you used to get software updates for Red Hat Linux has been enhanced for Fedora Core. Beginning with Fedora Core 1, software repositories created for the yum or apt package managers can be accessed through the up2date facility. By default, up2date is configured to use yum repositories to get updates for Fedora systems, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems still use the Red Hat Network to get official updates from Red Hat, Inc.
Use yum or apt-The yum package manager (which comes with Fedora Core) and apt package manager (which is easily attainable) can be used to get additional software packages that are not in Fedora Core.
High-quality software packages, in RPM format, are already available from yum and apt repositories. The www.fedora.us site (which merged with Red Hat Linux to form the Fedora Project) has software repositories built for Fedora (www.fedora.us/wiki/FedoraPackageLists). The Freshrpms.net site is the first place many Fedora users go to get additional software packages. There are also other repositories that contain more software that may not meet Fedora's or Red Hat's standards of quality (or legality).
There is a Fedora Project Developer's Guide (http://fedora.redhat.com/participate/developers-guide) for those who want to contribute their software to the Fedora Project. Plans for software packages that don't make it into the main Fedora Core distribution, but still want to be sanctioned to some extent by the Fedora Project, can be added to Fedora repositories in one of the following ways:
Fedora Extras-These are additional software packages that don't replace any of the basic Fedora Core packages. Eventually, the www.fedora.us site is slated to hold an official set of Fedora Extras packages.
Fedora Alternatives-These are software packages that can replace existing software packages that are in the Fedora Core.
Fedora Legacy-These are packages that contain fixes to older versions of Fedora Core software.
The guidelines for submitting Fedora software packages, and having them sanctioned by the Fedora Project, are still being developed. For more on software package definitions, visit the Fedora Project Terminology page (http://fedora.redhat.com/participate/terminology.html). As I noted earlier, you should also keep in mind that there are some (and will be more) software repositories that will be available that won't fall under Fedora Project guidelines. You will be on your own to evaluate the quality and legality of those packages.
| Cross-Reference |
See Chapter 3 for more complete information on getting Fedora software packages and updates. See Appendix A for a list of popular third-party software repositories. |
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