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Announcing the release of Fedora 16 Alpha
The Fedora 16 "Verne" Alpha release is available! This release offers a preview of some of the best free and open source technology currently under development. Catch a glimpse of the future: http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease == What is the Alpha release? == The Alpha release contains all the exciting features of Fedora 16 in a form that anyone can help test. This testing, guided by the Fedora QA team, helps us target and identify bugs. When these bugs are fixed, we make a Beta release available. A Beta release is code-complete, and bears a very strong resemblance to the third and final release. The final release of Fedora 16 is due in early November. We need your help to make Fedora 16 the best release yet, so please take a moment of your time to download and try out the Alpha and make sure the things that are important to you are working. If you find a bug, please report it -- every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the experience for millions of Fedora users worldwide. Together, we can make Fedora a rock-solid distribution. (Read down to the end of the announcement for more information on how to help.) Features This release of Fedora includes a variety of features both over and under the hood that show off the power and flexibility of the advancing state of free software. Examples include: * System Boot. Fedora 16 introduces GRUB2, the long-awaited next-generation boot-loader for Linux. GRUB2 automatically recognizes other operating systems, supports LVM2 and LUKS partitions, and is more customizable than the previous version. In this release, only x86 systems with a BIOS uses GRUB2 by default. Work is ongoing for making GRUB2 the default for other architectures and systems. * Services Management. Fedora 15 introduced the Systemd services management program. This release features better integration of Systemd via conversion to native systemd services from legacy init scripts in many software components -- for desktop users, this means faster boot times; for system administrators it means more powerful management of services. * Desktop Updates. The two major desktop environments have been updated to the latest releases: KDE Software Compilation 4.7 and GNOME 3.1 development release. * SELinux Enhancements. SELinux policy package now includes a pre-built policy that will only rebuild policy if any customizations have been made. A sample test run shows 4 times speedup on installing the package from 48 Seconds to 12 Seconds and max memory usage from 38M to 6M. In addition to that, SELinux file name transition allows better policy management. For instance, policy writers can take advantage of this and write a policy rule that states, if a SELinux unconfined process creates a file named resolv.conf in a directory labelled etc_t, the file should get labeled appropriately. This results is less chances of mislabeled files. Also, from this release onwards, selinuxfs is mounted at /sys/fs/selinux instead of in /selinux. All the affected components including anaconda, dracut, livecd-tools and policycoreutils have been modified to work with this change. * System Accounts. Fedora now standardizes on login.defs as authority for UID/GID space allocation, and has moved boundary between system and user accounts from 500 to 1000 to match conventions followed by several other Linux distributions. Upgrading from a existing release will not be affected by this change and you can use kickstart to override this change during installation if necessary. * Chrony NTP. Fedora has switched over to using Chrony as the default NTP client. There are several advantages including smaller memory footprint (1.3MB vs 6MB resident size), no unnecessary process wakeups which results in better power savings. better timekeeping on systems not running 24/7 or without permanent internet connection or with low quality/unstable clocks (virtual machines). Once the clock is synchronized, applications are not upset by backward time jumps. system-config-date and GNOME settings daemon has been modified to use Chrony as well. * HAL Removal. HAL, a hardware abstraction layer which has been a deprecated component for several releases, has been completely removed from all Fedora spins and DVD. Software components using HAL have moved over to using udisks and upower as well as libudev for device discovery. This results in faster system bootup and faster startup for applications depending on device discovery. * Cloud Updates. Fedora now includes a number of new and improved features to support cloud computing, including a "cloud ready" version of GlusterFS, including additional auth*/crypto/multi-tenancy; pacemaker-cloud, application service high availability in a cloud environment; Condor Cloud, an IaaS cloud implementation using Condor and the Deltacloud API, and Aeolus. * Virtualization. Once again Fedora raises the bar on virtualization support, including expanded virtual network support, an improved Spice for managing virtual machines, restored Xen support, a new virtual machine lock manager, and improved ability to browse guest file systems. * Developer Improvements. Developers get many goodies with Verne, including updated Ada, Haskell and Perl environments, a new Python plugin for GCC and a number of new and improved APIs. These and many other improvements provide a wide and solid base for future Fedora releases. This release increases the range of possibilities for developers and helps Fedora to maintain its position at the leading edge of free and open source technology. A more complete list and details of each new cited feature is available here: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/16/FeatureList We also have nightly composes of alternate spins available here: http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/ == Issues and Details == For more information including common and known bugs, tips on how to report bugs, and the official release schedule, please refer to the release notes: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_16_Alpha_release_notes A shorter list of common bugs can be found here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F16_bugs == Contributing == Bug reports are helpful, especially for Alpha. If you encounter any issues please report them and help make this release of Fedora the best ever. Thank you, and we hope to see you in the Fedora project! -- announce mailing list announce@lists.fedoraproject.org https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/announce (Log in to post comments)
Announcing the release of Fedora 16 Alpha Posted Aug 24, 2011 3:42 UTC (Wed) by grg (guest, #76756) [Link]
The python plugin for gcc sounds really cool.
http://readthedocs.org/docs/gcc-python-plugin/en/latest/i...
gcc python plugin Posted Aug 24, 2011 4:01 UTC (Wed) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link] Yes, it's very cool, but also it's experimental and at an early stage, so anything you build on top of it will need to keep up with the changes.
Announcing the release of Fedora 16 Alpha Posted Aug 24, 2011 7:24 UTC (Wed) by cannedfish (guest, #49561) [Link]
I have a feeling that python will be replaced by javascript as the preferred embedded scripting language in general, like perl is replaced by python for this role.
Announcing the release of Fedora 16 Alpha Posted Aug 24, 2011 9:46 UTC (Wed) by alexl (subscriber, #19068) [Link]
Announcing the release of Fedora 16 Alpha Posted Aug 24, 2011 13:48 UTC (Wed) by SEJeff (subscriber, #51588) [Link]
With the large breadth of python's stdlib, vs javascript's lack of one, I seriously doubt this will become true. Javascript will likely see equal support as python, but it will not "replace" python.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 14:34 UTC (Wed) by scripter (subscriber, #2654) [Link]
I can't stand Gnome Shell, even though I've been using it for a few months. I like the vision, but for now it's too painful and counterproductive. From the release notes, it doesn't sound like F16 alpha addresses the pain.
I've been a dedicated RedHat and then Fedora Linux user since 1995. As of today, I've decided to download and try Linux Mint, which reportedly contains Gnome 2. If Mint doesn't work out, I'll be switching from Fedora to CentOS 6 (which has Gnome 2) until Gnome Shell matures to a less painful state.
Pain points of Gnome Shell:
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 16:57 UTC (Wed) by zlynx (subscriber, #2285) [Link]
ALT-F2 really needs some love.
It could be expanded out to full shell command line with filename completion and even pipes.
At the very least it needs to show a list of possible completions on a double-Tab.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 18:07 UTC (Wed) by sjj (subscriber, #2020) [Link]
I'm afraid that kind of useful functionality is confusing to the mythical Gnome target user who powered on his or her brand new computer for the first time ever today.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 19:45 UTC (Wed) by zlynx (subscriber, #2285) [Link]
Is that kind of Gnome user likely to be using Alt-F2? It's like the Windows user who uses Win+R. Users of Win+R are either advanced users or they are copypasting from a web page.
alt+f2 Posted Aug 24, 2011 20:52 UTC (Wed) by louie (subscriber, #3285) [Link]
That's exactly right; alt+f2 is quite explicitly a power user feature and I'm sure stuffing more power-user-y features into it would be quite welcome. (Unlike, say, alt+f1.)
On the other hand, it's a low priority. I'm sure they're taking patches, though. :)
alt+f2 Posted Aug 24, 2011 20:59 UTC (Wed) by zlynx (subscriber, #2285) [Link]
I don't know if I'll have time to learn Gnome internals and write a feature for it because I signed up for the free on-line Stanford Introduction to AI class.
Maybe I'll learn how to write a program to write programs for me. :-)
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 18:00 UTC (Wed) by sjj (subscriber, #2020) [Link]
I was hoping to use Centos6 on my laptop to escape from Gnome 3 until 3.2 or 3.4 or whatever, but it just doesn't support Intel core i5 graphics enough.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 18:46 UTC (Wed) by colo (subscriber, #45564) [Link]
I have tried Scientific Linux 6.1 for a short while on my Sandy Bridge workstation (with Intel HD Graphics) only, but everything there seemed to work perfectly (including xv and GLX/OpenGL). I did not read any changelogs for the EL6.1 release, but it may very well be that they fixed the problems you experienced. You should be able to check using the SL live media.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 18:25 UTC (Wed) by jspaleta (subscriber, #50639) [Link]
I'm going to cherry pick some of the items that I feel I can make constructive comments on.
"- No quick launch icons"
You can pin items into the sidebar thingie as a "favorite" I've pinned revelation there on my machine for example. Seems to work for me.
"And when I type "terminal", it's hard to distinguish between the terminal applications that are available. Which one is gnome-terminal and which one is the XFCE terminal?"
I've had that problem forever even in the gnome2 menus with tooltips turned off. Using generic names as menu names has this particular drawback when multiple DEs do it. The solution of course is to find a way to present Native/Non-Native DE generics in the .desktopfile. We already have OnlyShowIn to hide DE specific apps. What we need is a way to mark apps like "terminal" as a "DE generic" in the desktop file. So when its presented outside of the DE it was designed for the name is different. gnome-terminal in GNOME is just "terminal" but under XFCE it would be something less generic. And similarily for the XFCE terminal, it would be Terminal under XCFE and something less generic under GNOME. I can't think of another sane way to deal with "generic name" usage when you have non-native DE apps available.
"- Dual screen desktop switching only switches a single screen"
I actually like this feature. It's actually easier for me to use one monitor as a sticky area for reference material or monitoring windows while I context switch between my main focus in the other monitor. Though my personal workflow should of course does not discredit your preferred workflow needs in any way.
And it should not be construed that I agree or disagree with any of the other items in the list that I did not choose to comment on.
-jef
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 18:35 UTC (Wed) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link] I think the dual-screen behavior is horrific. Happily, though, it's easily turned off if you know the right registry variable to tweak.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 18:44 UTC (Wed) by jspaleta (subscriber, #50639) [Link]
Can you tell me which key that is for future reference. If they revert the behavior I'll still want to enable it for myself and just keep on keeping on without making a fuss that the default doesn't fit my preferred workflow.
And while your at it. If you know which key I can use to change the primary desktop from the right-most to the left-most that would be great. I'd actually prefer to have a left most primary monitor and have the pinned monitor on the right. I guess I'd could shake my fist a bit and get all hyperbolic about that bit of default workflow mismatch.
-jef
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 18:59 UTC (Wed) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link] Go into gconf-editor, click down through desktop/gnome/shell/windows, and tweak workspaces_only_on_primary.I'm not sure about changing the primary, but I do know that you can move the black bar by dragging it in the "displays" dialog. Whether the black bar takes the "primary" designation along with it is not something I've tested.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 24, 2011 19:05 UTC (Wed) by jspaleta (subscriber, #50639) [Link]
That displays dialog trick was the trick. thanks for that.
-jef
Gnome Shell registry tweaks Posted Aug 25, 2011 23:06 UTC (Thu) by scripter (subscriber, #2654) [Link]
It seems to me that the fedora projects needs a Gnome Shell tweaking FAQ. Apparently, it already exists: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=263006 (thanks to Google for helping me find it) and http://littlethorpe.net/wordpress/?p=334 and http://chris.wailes.name/?p=111
I really miss having the system monitor tray applet. I use it all the time, on every machine where I use Gnome 2. XFCE doesn't have it, I don't think.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 26, 2011 21:03 UTC (Fri) by stonedroid (guest, #59530) [Link]
Juan Nushio Rodriguez got sick of the Gnome Shell too and set out to bring back some sanity. See http://k3rnel.net/tag/bluebubble/
- - Q: What exactly is BlueBubble? A: Its an effort to bring back the Gnome 2.32 desktop in Fedora 15, or as Hannah would put it.. The best of both worlds. - -
I have used the repository since June, apart from some small problems uninstalling gnome 3 (due to some legacy packages, fixed with forced rpm uninstalls) it has been smooth sailing. Yum complains about package dependency problems, but as explained in the installation instructions, you use "--skip-broken" and ignore them.
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 25, 2011 10:44 UTC (Thu) by rwmj (subscriber, #5474) [Link] I'm using Fedora 16 and XFCE. With a very little bit of tweaking the experience is similar to GNOME 2. All you need to do is: yum install @XFCE and then log out, and on the login screen select "XFCE session".
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 25, 2011 16:17 UTC (Thu) by SiliconSlick (subscriber, #39955) [Link] then log out, and on the login screen select "XFCE session".The trick there being to select it from the gdm login (after selecting your account/username) and not using the usual desktop switching tool (which is broken).
Gnome Shell pain and Gnome 2 deliverance Posted Aug 27, 2011 20:23 UTC (Sat) by nb (subscriber, #61815) [Link]
That way also makes it easy to switch if you want to use different desktops, like Gnome, KDE, XFCE, etc., all on the same computer.
UID 1000 - nice move Posted Aug 24, 2011 17:52 UTC (Wed) by proski (subscriber, #104) [Link] Going to UID 1000 for the first user is highly commendable, especially because Fedora yielded to others to create a de-facto standard where the standard was missing. Even though I use Fedora as my primary development environment, I have to keep Ubuntu on my hard drive to test problems reported by users. It's very convenient to have the same user ID on both, as I can move stuff between the user directories without root permissions. I'm going to convert to UID 1000 without waiting for the new Fedora.
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