gnulinux.mu

?The Fedora 13 “Goddard” Alpha release is available! What’s next for the
free operating system that shows off the best new technology of
tomorrow? You can see the future now at:

http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease?anF13a

== What is the Alpha release? ==

The Alpha release contains all the features of Fedora 13 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 13 is due in May.

We need your help to make Fedora 13 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 ==

Among the top features for end users, we have:

* Automatic print driver installation. We’re using RPM and
PackageKit for automatic installation of printer drivers, so when you
plug in a USB printer, Fedora will automatically offer to install
drivers for it if needed.

* Automatic installation of language packs. Yum language packs
plugin support makes software installation smarter and easier for
everyone worldwide, by automatically downloading language support for
large suites of Fedora software when the user’s environment requires
it.

* Redesigned user management interface. The user account tool has
been completely redesigned, and the accountsdialog and accountsservice
test packages are available to make it easy to configure personal
information, make a personal profile picture or icon, generate a strong
passphrase, and set up login options for your Fedora system.

* Color management. Color Management allows you to better set and
control your colors for displays, printers, and scanners, through the
gnome-color-manager package.

* NetworkManager improvements include CLI. NetworkManager is now a
one stop shop for all of your networking needs in Fedora, be it dial-up,
broadband, wifi, or even Bluetooth. And now it can all be done in the
command line, if you’re into that sort of thing.

* Experimental 3D extended to free Nouveau driver for NVidia cards.
In this release we are one step closer to having 3D supported on
completely free and open source software (FOSS) drivers. In Fedora 12 we
got a lot of ATI chips working, and this time we’ve added a wide range
of NVidia cards. You can install the mesa-dri-drivers-experimental
package to try out the work in progress.

For developers there are all sorts of additional goodies:

* SystemTap static probes. SystemTap now has expanded capabilities
to monitor higher-level language runtimes like Java, Python and Tcl, and
also user space applications starting with PostgreSQL. In the future
Fedora will add support for even more user space applications, greatly
increasing the scope and power of monitoring for application
developers.

* Easier Python debugging. We’ve added new support that allows
developers working with mixed libraries (Python and C/C++) in Fedora to
get more complete information when debugging with gdb, making Fedora an
exceptional platform for powerful, rapid application development.

* Parallel-installable Python 3 stack. The parallel-installable
Python 3 stack will will help programmers write and test code for use in
both Python 2.6 and Python 3 environments, so you can future-proof your
applications now using Fedora.

* NetBeans 6.8 first IDE to support entire Java 6 EE spec. NetBeans
IDE 6.8 is the first IDE to offer complete support for the entire Java
EE 6 specification.

And don’t think we forgot the system administrators:

* boot.fedoraproject.org. (BFO) allows users to download a single,
tiny image (could fit on a floppy) and install current and future
versions of Fedora without having to download additional images.

* System Security Services Daemon (SSSD). SSSD provides expanded
features for logging into managed domains, including caching for offline
authentication. This means that, for example, users on laptops can still
login when disconnected from the company’s managed network. The
authentication configuration tool in Fedora has already been updated to
support SSSD, and work is underway to make it even more attractive and
functional.

* Pioneering NFS features. Fedora offers the latest version 4 of the
NFS protocol for better performance, and in conjunction with recent
kernel modifications includes IPv6 support for NFS as well.

* Zarafa Groupware. Zarafa now makes available a complete Open
Source groupware suite that can be used as a drop-in Exchange
replacement for Web-based mail, calendaring, collaboration and tasks.
Features include IMAP/POP and iCal/CalDAV capabilities, native mobile
phone support, the ability to integrate with existing Linux mail
servers, a full set of programming interfaces, and a comfortable look
and feel using modern Ajax technologies.

* Btrfs snapshots integration. Btrfs is capable of creating
lightweight filesystem snapshots that can be mounted (and booted into)
selectively. The created snapshots are copy-on-write snapshots, so there
is no file duplication overhead involved for files that do not change
between snapshots. It allows developers to feel comfortable
experimenting with new software without fear of an unusable install,
since automated snapshots allow them to easily revert to the previous
day’s filesystem.

And that’s only the beginning. A more complete list and details of each
new cited feature is available here:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/13/FeatureList?anF13a

We have nightly composes of alternate spins available here:

http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/?anF13a

== Contributing ==

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_13_Alpha_release_notes?anF13a

Thank you, and we hope to see you in the Fedora project!

–
Jesse Keating
Fedora — Freedom² is a feature!
identi.ca: http://identi.ca/jkeating

Since I began writing this blog in 2005 I have watched open source move from a fringe idea to something embraced by the IT mainstream.

But there are still extremists out there who want to destroy open source. Some of their names may surprise you.

What they have done is retreat into a group where they seek not to be identified.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance dates from 1984, before open source began, and is thus the perfect front group for this activity.

It’s a coalition of seven groups that together comprise the copyright industry:

* The Association of American Publishers (AAP)
* The Business Software Alliance (BSA)
* The Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
* The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA)
* The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
* The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA)
* The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)

Most of these groups are not involved in software, except as users. The exceptions are the BPA and ESA.

The IPAA’s focus is on so-called Special 301 Reviews. It’s an annual review of our trading partners’ policies conducted by the U.S. Trade Representative. This can result in countries going on a Watch List making it harder to trade in these goods.

Most of the countries the IPAA wants on the lists are either havens for piracy or have laws that don’t give as much protection to American movies, music and TV as the industry wants. Industry is apparently especially suspicious of Canada and Mexico.

But Edinburgh professor Andres Guadamuz has learned the group is now also going after open source, urging that countries go on the watch list if they merely encourage the idea.

This is not something that came from the music or movie industries. Both benefit enormously from open source, both in the creation of their products and in opening new markets.

This comes from the ESA and BSA. Let me focus on the BSA.

The BSA has long focused on piracy. Piracy is a problem. Piracy is bad.

But open source is a cure for piracy. It brings programmers from other countries into the software creation process. Its contracts let poor countries use software legally.

If the BSA’s position has reversed, if it now wants to use the force of the U.S. government to drive open source under, then its members are also against open source. But the BSA’s membership includes IBM, HP, Cisco, Adobe, and Dell — some of the biggest boosters and biggest beneficiaries of open source on the planet.

It’s time to ask these companies. Do you agree with the position of the trade group you belong to? Should you continue to support a trade group that is acting against your corporate interests?

Or are you playing a double game, supporting open source in public while trying to destroy it in private?

By Dana Blankenhorn (business journalist for 30 years & a tech freelancer since 1983)