"Red Hat's Fedora Core 5, which hit the Internet late last month, shines in the server and developer roles with which Linux has come to be identified. In addition, for many scenarios, Fedora has matured enough to perform well as a mainstream corporate desktop. During tests, eWEEK Labs was impressed with the fast-moving distribution's updated SELinux and Xen virtualization components, broadened programming language and tool support, and hot-off-the-compiler GNOME 2.14 desktop environment."
Post a Comment
Member since:
2005-07-06
Where most Debian packages coexist peacefully in one large repository structure, the Fedora-targeted packages that community projects produce sometimes conflict or overlap with each other, which can be confusing to manage.
That's true.But once setup it runs very secure and solid.
What i personally miss in all non-debian distros is the doc-central package.The doc-central package installs all debian based docs in a directory based on a Apache install,however it lacks a nice interface to add non debian doc base documents like custom pdf's and other personal docs.
All in all i like FC5,it's a good one.
Member since:2005-07-06
Agreed, FC5 is a good one. I haven't had any problems with it except I had to manually edit the xorg.conf file to adjust the screen size. It doesn't detect my wireless nic but thats because its a broadcom and thats a known issue with broadcom anyway. That was the only trouble I had, but note that I don't use xen or selinux like they talk about in the article.
Member since:
2005-10-11
I really wish the best to Fedora, but it lacks so much testing that it is very difficult for me to use it.
Translations are far from being complete for instance (worst Fedora/Red Hat ever).
Netinstall with the boot.iso crashes all the time while preparing package installation.
Has anyone successfully used the netinstall iso ?
Member since:2005-08-10
"Has anyone successfully used the netinstall iso ?"
Yeah, its the only way I install Fedora as I'll not go through the hassle of burning multiple CDs just to get a simple desktop install. FC5's netinstall does work for me.
Nautilus and the ATI driver tho crash far more than is tolerable for me (well, even once isn't tolerable, but they crash fairly often, whereas niether seem anywhere near as bad in CentOS).
IMO, it would be a fantastic distribution if only they would:
a) stop dumbing down the UI
b) make a "personal desktop" install fit on one CD
c) do more testing and bug fixing before releasing
Member since:2005-07-06
IMO, it would be a fantastic distribution if only they would:
a) stop dumbing down the UI
As far as I know it is a fairly standard Gnome 2.14 that is used in FC5. So if its dumbed down you should probably blame the gnome developers not the Fedora people.
However, I don't think dumbing down the UI is such a bad idea. At least not if it is done in the right way. Today there are a lot more people that can handle a dumbed down interface than a non dumb one.
The people who feel uncomfortable with this, are usually the people that are in the position to be able to undumb it, while the people who need the dumbed down version, have no way of changeing it fit their needs.
So, if you want Linux on as many desktops as possible "dumbed down" is good. Having many users increases the chance of good hardware and application support for Linux. That is something that is beneficial to all Linux users newbies as well as advanced users.
Nothing prevents you to insall KDE or whatever other less dumbed down UI you prefer in most cases it is only a "yum install" away.
Member since:2005-08-10
"However, I don't think dumbing down the UI is such a bad idea."
There is a difference between dumbed down and simple, and IMO, what I experience in FC5 is dumbed down.
"At least not if it is done in the right way."
Agreed. I however do not agree that FC5/GNOME are doing it the right way.
"Today there are a lot more people that can handle a dumbed down interface than a non dumb one."
Simple is powerful. In the case of GNOME it's simplicity is a powerful constraint when you want or need functionality beyond what they've allowed access to.
" The people who feel uncomfortable with this, are usually the people that are in the position to be able to undumb it"
Yes, we can, or more often go with another system that is more suitable to our needs and desires, but those are not the points I care to make here. In order to get things more to our liking (without switching systems or distributors) we the users are forced to do more work. More hassle is never a good thing.
"Nothing prevents you to insall KDE or whatever other less dumbed down UI you prefer in most cases it is only a "yum install" away."
True, but installing KDE on FC5 also adds tremendous bloat, as there are *huge* chunks of GNOME that cannot be removed without seriously borking the system. Sure large disks are cheap these days, but well designed systems are hard to come by.
Member since:2005-07-06
nstalling KDE on FC5 also adds tremendous bloat, as there are *huge* chunks of GNOME that cannot be removed without seriously borking the system.
That's rather relative.I don't have enough stuff with what comes with the install DVD and spend a whole day hunting for more (regardless the distro).That's certainly not inherent to FC* but *my choice*.
When i do my best to stay objective i really can't dislike FC5 and still think it's a good one.Though updating packages and or a ("real" a la Yast etc..) configuration panel couldn't hurt in order to please more people to Fedora.
Personally it wouldn't influence my decision wether mp3 playback is included or not in a *free* distro.But hey others do and i think that's fine and i respect their opinion.
Bottom line,someone allready said find your turn and stick to it.Plenty off distros to choose from (fortunately) i would say.
Member since:2005-11-12
Saying FC5's UI is dummed down is an overgeneralization. It is essentially just Gnome 2.14 running with the Clearlooks theme. Your issue is more likely with the design of Gnome 2.14.
I actually like the way Gnome 2.14's UI is simple and streamlined without all the bells and distracting whistles of KDE. Anything that the 'simple' UI can't do I just open a shell and do it there. It is a nice compromise between simplicity and raw technical power. Since Fedora favors Gnome though if you are a KDE user it is probably not the distro. for you.
FC5 is both a distro. and a test bed for Redhat, as we all know. I actually wouldn't reccomend it to newbies unless I could set it up for them and lock it down since the setup options are more flexible than Ubuntu's but also more complex and awkward. Even with the tweeks required to bring FC5 up to speed, such as adding in mp3 and nvidia drivers, multimedia, etc., I like the way it resembles Redhat's product enough so it is comfortable to jump between Fedora and Redhat Enterprise at work.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:
2006-03-16
FC5 isn't bad, but there are still things that don't work at all. One problem I've been having is the links under the "Places" menu don't work. For example, when I click on the "Desktop" link, it says "could not open location" and the reason given is something like "There was an error parsing the action command association with this location." You know, error message like this isn't very helpful. Yeah, since it didn't work as it should obviously there was an error. At least tell me what exactly was wrong. Geez. I think this is one of the occasions where making things too dumbed down is not good.
Member since:
2006-03-21
This OS so far has been annoying to try to get working correctly.
First off. On a clean load 32 or 64 bit on my Athlon 64 with Geforce 6100 video, as soon as X runs for the first time after boot (gdm) I have no mouse cursor. The mouse is there, ie I can click and drag, just no cursor (fixed by running in VESA mode - no acceleration). Getting NVIDIA's real drivers to work is a freaking b**ch as well.
Second. There is an annoying problem when running in runlevel 3 and trying to run a manual startx. Once I decide to close out of X and go back to a terminal, I get no prompt unless I switch to another virtual
terminal (ALT-F2..etc) and back to the first one.
Last VERY annoying feature. I can't even shut the OS down as it hangs during runlevel 0 at script "Unloading IP Tables...."
I have never had any good experience with Redhat.. always too many lame bugs.. Back to slackware where I _know_ it works cause Patric V. stick to the K.I.S.S. principle.
BTW: FC5 DVD Covers - http://booth.zapto.org/~foxkm/FC5
Member since:2005-09-30
[quote]
First off. On a clean load 32 or 64 bit on my Athlon 64 with Geforce 6100 video, as soon as X runs for the first time after boot (gdm) I have no mouse cursor. The mouse is there, ie I can click and drag, just no cursor (fixed by running in VESA mode - no acceleration). Getting NVIDIA's real drivers to work is a freaking b**ch as well.
[/quote]
I did a:
#yum install nvidia-kernel<version>
and got the nvidia drivers for my FX5600 without any manual editing of xorg.conf. Wasn't much of a pain at all.
[quote]
Second. There is an annoying problem when running in runlevel 3 and trying to run a manual startx. Once I decide to close out of X and go back to a terminal, I get no prompt unless I switch to another virtual
terminal (ALT-F2..etc) and back to the first one.
[/quote]
hmmmm, don't have that problem.
I installed FC 5 on a whim, and it's running my desktop without an issue at all. I haven't noticed any difference in performance coming from Debian.
The System->Administration->Server->System Settings
Is a terrific place to shut things down. Yes, there are more things on my default, but a simple radio button click and a shutdown will remove them.
I wouldn't generalize that since you are having issues that there is problems with the distribution as a whole. Perhaps you've never had a good experience, but that's why *nix is great. Find your favourite one, and settle on it.
Member since:
2005-08-19
- mp3, divx, etc. support (easy do fix in SuSE)
- real player - SUSE has it
- sun's java (and jdk) - SuSE has it
- wireless card drivers - SuSE has it
- support for laptops in KDE - SuSE has it
Good things:
- Eclipse IDE installed by default
- KDE 3.5
Don't even tell me about downloading them. How can I download anything without the wireless connection (ethernet is broken).
Member since:2005-11-14
Member since:
2006-02-17
Running Fedora for desktop use is good. I don't like the fact that upgrading through yum really isn't supported. But trying to install Fedora for server support sucks. I decided to install Linux on an old 500mhz Compaq and use it as an FTP server. The install was painless but I still had programs that I didn't want/need. Bluetooth was installed for some reason. Bluetooth wasn't around when this computer was built. Also CUPS was installed even when I told Fedora not to install it. Maybe this is just me ranting on and on since I'm just used to Gentoo. But I'm using Ubuntu the server edition and it's been running for three weeks straight with no problem. If Fedora fixed the way to update the system and fixed the server install I would use it.
Edited 2006-04-12 10:35
Member since:
2006-04-07
Core5 was rushed to the mirrors with less than one day's testing. While I was a sceptic about the quality of the product going out, my delight in what was delivered overruled my scepticism.
Core5 is stable, I do not have the GUI cards that others use. I do not use wi-fi, but everything works as expected.
I found the mp3 drivers, and everything else that I needed following the postings onStanton Finley's wonderful site http://stanton-finley.net/fedora_core_5_installation_notes.html
