Using Fedora 10 (Cambridge)
Finally after what seems like a long wait of about 6 months it arrived, my favourite GNU/Linux distro arrived as version ”10”.
Because I’ve been a loyal user since Fedora Core 1, it feels extra special with verison 10. An when one reflects over the past 5 years a lot has happened.
What we see in Fedora 10 is still bleeding edge free software.
I don’t think we’ve ever seen such a stable and user friendly version of Fedora yet as we see in Fedora 10.
I hope you take the time to test it, maybe a Live Cd or Live USB. Or just reinstall your main computer as I did run with it.
Some specs.
Linux kernel 2.6.27 (improved webcam and WiFi support)
- GNOME 2.24
- KDE 4.1
- Eclipse 3.4
- RPM 4.6
- Enhanced version of the PackageKit package manager
- Icon theme called Echo
- Updated PulseAudio sound server
- Better Mac hardware support
- Improved HDTV support in X.Org
- Remote virtualization
- Better support for infra-red remote controls.
Here is an account of my first impressions and experiences.
So, two hours after Fedora 10 hit the mirrors, I downloaded a net install image, burned a boot CD got out my piece of paper with a mirror URL on and rebooted. First surprise was that it was nice graphical version of Anaconda.
And I didn’t need to write in a mirror URL at all.”Anaconda defaults to using the Fedora mirrorlist URL as the installation source. The method selection screen no longer appears by default. ”
Anaconda went straight to disk set-up and host name, root password, package choices and the install started. I guess my install came from the closest mirror available here in Sweden?
Booting Fedora 10.
Apparently Fedora 10 has a faster boot time because of Plymouth….. can’t say I really notice much of a difference.
I installed Gnome and KDE, I’ve tried the beta Gnome Live CD of F10, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the new fresh icon set.
I had done a full export from Evolution 2.24.1 so all my e-mail, calendar, contacts, settings, where back in place after 2 minutes….. of importing about 1.5GB.
Firefox 3.04 Bookmark restore wanted a *.json file this time round….. instead of the old bookmark.html
I activated Compiz without any trouble in gnome with my old ATI Radeon from 2003
I’ve got another IDE hardrive in this computer….. at the first login a message asked me if I wanted to mount it. and it’s been mounted since. So I didn’t have to hack /etc/fstab at all this time round.
Security updates have started rolling in already…. like net-snmp-libs and net-snmp. Just now.
I add the RPM Fusion free and nonfree repositories for Fedora 10, and then tested double clicking on a *.avi file I had. As per usual with Fedora Totem opens the file by default and staying true to the the Free nature of the Fedora Project the codecs aren’t available for mpeg4 and it won’t play. But I got a message about not having the codecs. This message felt different from Fedora 9, in F9 it asked if you wanted to see available codecs you can buy. But now you can search for available codecs, and because I’d installed “nonfree repositories” it found everything I needed plus dependencies for Totem and for the first time I actually watched an *.avi file in Totem.
The paths /usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin have been added to the PATH for users. Which is an interesting and I guess user-friendly addition.
The addition of VPN and Mobile Broadband options in Network Manager is great, and the VPNC option suits me fine as that’s the VPN client I use. And the Wireless connection sharing is surely a useful addition. I watched a Redhat video the other day when some RH technician demonstrated it showing how simple it is to set up with just a few clicks in Fedora 10.
OpenOffice.org 3.0 seem clean and tidy and full of functions as per usual.
As you see, there is lot’s of stuff the test and checkout.
This has been my own account of my first two days using Fedora 10 (Cambridge) I’ve got the normal process to go through now., getting everything working the way “I” want it to. That is half the fun, changing everything to make it My Fedora 10!!
What is freedom worth if one doesn’t exert one’s right.
Enjoy Fedora 10 (Cambridge)
/Roger Sinel
