RESEARCH PAPER

Fedora 10
Cambridge
Mike Metellus Jr.

7/24/2011

My project is based on Fedora 10 operating system. I chose to do my project on Fedora because I fell in love with Fedora ever since I took a class on Linux operating systems. I love Fedora simply because of the command line. Honestly, when I use Fedora it makes me feel like a hacker. As previously said Fedora is a Linux operating system and Im going to introduce some interesting facts and opinions about Fedora.

What Is Fedora
Fedora is a free open source operating system based on the Linux kernel. The operating system contains a variety of free open source software that is essential for your computer to operate. The Fedora operating system is completely free of cost for you to enjoy and share. Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat, Inc., which is a company in the free and open source software sector. Fedora is also developed by the Fedora Project Community. The Fedora Project is the name of a worldwide community of people who love, use, and build free software from around the globe. They were created in the late 2003, when Red Hat Linux became Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the only official supported Linux distribution under Red Hat. Red Hat Enterprise Linux branched its different releases from different versions of Fedora.

History
The name of Fedora derives from Fedora Linux, a volunteer project that provided extra software for the Red Hat Linux distribution, and from the characteristic fedora used in Red Hat's "Shadowman" logo.

Fedora Linux began as an undergraduate project in 2002 by Warren Togami. His intent was to provide a single repository for so that non-Red Hat software would be easier to find, develop, and use. The key difference between the approaches of Fedora Linux and Red Hat Linux was that Fedora's repository development would be collaborative with the global volunteer community. Fedora Linux was then absorbed into the Fedora Project, making Fedora a trademark of Red Hat. Before Fedora there was Fedora Core which is from version 1 6. The first initial release of Fedora Core 1, codename Yarrow, was introduced on November 2003. The project name Fedora Core then became Fedora on May 2007 for the version 7 release. The project name Fedora is from versions 7 15, 15 being the present version which came out on May 2011. There is also a future version of the project due to being released October 2011. The version I will be covering is Fedora 10.

Fedora 10
Fedora 10, codename Cambridge, is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. It was released on November 25th, 2008. It brings GNOME 2.24 and KDE 4.1, faster boot experience with Plymouth, better printing, better webcam support, improved wireless network connection sharing, better software maintenance and update, and virtualization storage. Plus, it adds a new security tool for IDS called SecTool. GNOME 2.24 is the latest version of the GNOME Desktop: a popular, multi-platform desktop environment for your computer. GNOME's focus is ease of use, stability, and first class internationalization and

accessibility support. GNOME is free and open source software that provides all of the common tools computer users expect of a modern computing environment, such as e-mail, groupware, web browsing, file management, multimedia and games. Furthermore, GNOME provides a flexible and powerful platform for software developers, both on the desktop and in mobile applications. KDE 4.1 is the first KDE4 release to contain the Personal Information Management suite KDE-PIM with its E-Mail client KMail, the planner KOrganizer, Akregator, the RSS feed reader, KNode, the newsgroup reader and many more components integrated into the Kontact shell. Furthermore, the new desktop shell Plasma, introduced in KDE 4.0, has matured to the point where it can replace the KDE 3 shell for most casual users.

Fedora 10 Features
Fedora 10 is built on Linux kernel version 2.6.27. It comes with improved support for a choice of webcams, improved infrared remote support, better Bluetooth support which incorporates a new, easier to use wizard for setting up keyboards, mice, and other supported Bluetooth devices, A new improved graphical boot system called Plymouth, OpenOffice 3, Firefox 3.0.4, GNOME 2.24, KDE 4.1, LXDE, GIMP 2.6, you got it all in Fedora 10. The underlying audio system in Fedora is PulseAudio. In Fedora 10, the bugs found in PulseAudio have been fixed, thus making it glitch free. The audio system also consumes relatively less power. In most Linux distributions including prior versions of Fedora, the graphical X loads in virtual terminal 7 (VT7) - which you can navigate using Ctrl + Alt + Function keys (1-7). But in Fedora 10, the developers have shifted the graphical boot to virtual terminal 1 which has helped make

the transition from bootup to displaying a full-fledged GUI, smooth and flicker free. The graphical boot process has itself speeded up because of the improved graphical boot system (Plymouth) which replaces the old Red Hat graphical boot. For the developers and system administrators, Fedora 10 features an improved RPM which can stream components which are required to run already installed software - for example, a video or audio codec required to run a file in the video or audio player. And secondly, Fedora 10 comes with improved support for remote, hands off installation and management. Fedora 10 also includes a new version of the Network Manager utility, which is used to configure Fedora's connectivity settings. The new version has built-in support for connection sharing. This is useful in a variety of contexts, particularly when a user with a 3G card wants to share it with other computers via an ad hoc Wi-Fi network. Security is one of the most important features in Fedora. One of the security features in Fedora is Security-Enhanced Linux, a Linux feature that implements a variety of security policies, including mandatory access controls, through the use of Linux Security Modules (LSM) in the Linux kernel. Fedora is one of the distributions leading the way with SELinux. [28] SELinux was introduced in Fedora Core 2. It was disabled by default, as it radically altered how the operating system worked, but was enabled by default in Fedora Core 3 and introduced a less strict, targeted policy The following are major features for Fedora 10: 1. Wireless connection sharing enables ad hoc network sharing 2. Better setup and use of printers through improved management tools

3. Virtualization storage provisioning for local and remote connections now simplified 4. SecTool is a new security audit and intrusion detection system 5. RPM 4.6 is a major update to the powerful, flexible software management libraries 6. Glitch free audio and better performance is achieved through a rewrite of the PulseAudio sound server to use timer-based audio scheduling 7. Improved webcam support 8. Better support for infrared remote controls makes them easier to connect and work with many applications 9. The paths /usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin have been added to the PATH for normal users, to simplify command-line administration tasks 10. The online account service provides applications with credentials for online accounts listed on http://online.gnome.org

Hardware Requirements
The hardware requirements for Fedora 10 are the same as for Fedora 9 and are as follows: For the x86 / 32 bit platform, Fedora recommends at least a 400 MHz Pentium II or better processor and 256MB of RAM for graphical mode. More RAM is always better... For the x86_64 / 64 bit platform, Fedora recommends 512MB of RAM for graphical mode. Because these are newer processors than 32 bit there's no minimum recommendation for a processor; they should all be good enough.

For the PPC platform, Fedora recommends a 400 MHz G3 / POWER3 or better processor with 256MB of RAM. Fedora 10 supports the New World generation of Apple Power Macintosh, shipped from circa 1999 onward. Although Old World machines should work, they require a special bootloader which is not included in the Fedora distribution. Fedora has also been installed and tested on POWER5 and POWER6 machines, and will also work on PlayStation 3.

Fedora 10 Benchmarks
TEST : Iterations/sec. : Old Index : New Index : : Pentium 90* : AMD K6/233* --------------------:------------------:-------------:-----------NUMERIC SORT : 968.48 : 24.84 : 8.16 STRING SORT : 135.84 : 60.70 : 9.39 BITFIELD : 4.2042e+08 : 72.12 : 15.06 FP EMULATION : 139.8 : 67.08 : 15.48 FOURIER : 26523 : 30.16 : 16.94 ASSIGNMENT : 34.824 : 132.51 : 34.37 IDEA : 6224.5 : 95.20 : 28.27 HUFFMAN : 2039.8 : 56.56 : 18.06 NEURAL NET : 40.136 : 64.48 : 27.12 LU DECOMPOSITION : 1411.8 : 73.14 : 52.81 ==========================ORIGINAL BYTEMARK RESULTS========================== INTEGER INDEX : 65.557 FLOATING-POINT INDEX: 52.199 Baseline (MSDOS*) : Pentium* 90, 256 KB L2-cache, Watcom* compiler 10.0 ==============================LINUX DATA BELOW=============================== CPU : GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz 2448MHz L2 Cache : 4096 KB OS : Linux 2.6.27.7-134.fc10.i686 C compiler : gcc version 4.3.2 20081105 (Red Hat 4.3.2-7) (GCC) libc : libc-2.9.so MEMORY INDEX : 16.943 INTEGER INDEX : 15.934 FLOATING-POINT INDEX: 28.951

Fedora 10 Virtual Memory Management

Fedora 10, the tenth release in five years, features substantial virtualization improvements for remote installation and management of storage provisioning. These features will make system administration of virtual machine hosts and guests easier and more capable of automation, especially as they are integrated into Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Additionally, Fedora 10 includes Network Manager connection sharing, allowing laptop users with an Ethernet or mobile broadband connection to provide Internet routing to others through the laptop wireless interface, for instant collaboration anywhere, anytime.

"With the release of Fedora 10, the Fedora Project continues its tradition of innovation and community. Fedora sets the standards for technical features that are relevant to everyone from desktop users to the business enterprise, and advance free software worldwide," said Frields.

This release includes the premiere of a new graphical boot system called Plymouth, designed to speed up the boot process by taking advantage of a new kernel mode setting feature. Plymouth was designed by Fedora contributors and targeted primarily at ATI cards, but will be expanded in the future to support a broader range of media cards. Fedora 10 also features increased hardware support for a vast array of webcams, and better handling of printers via both direct physical connections and networks. Further, PackageKit, a software management tool that originally

debuted in Fedora 9, has been extended in this release to provide on-demand codec software installation.

Fedora 10 also enhances its commitment to security with a new security auditing and detection toolkit called SecTool, and a brand-new set of Python bindings that allow programmers to use the FIPS-140 validated NSS library for rapid development of secure applications. The distribution also extends the Live USB persistence feature that was pioneered in Fedora 9, adding support for a separate user data area with optional encryption for the ultimate experience in secure, portable computing. Among the many new and enhanced features, Fedora 10 includes the all-new OpenOffice.org 3.0 and GNOME 2.24.1, for maximum desktop productivity and ease of use; a rewritten audio system for faster response and lower power usage; a full set of appliance building tools; and support for more hardware than any other operating system.

What makes Fedora different?

We believe in the value of free software, and fight to protect and promote solutions anyone can use and redistribute. Not only is the Fedora operating system made from free software, but we use free software exclusively to provide it to you. This web site, in fact, is made from free software and serves millions of people every month. We also believe in the power of collaboration. Our developers work with free software project teams around the world we call "upstream." They create much of the software found in Fedora. We collaborate closely with them so everyone can benefit from our work, and get access to improvements as soon as possible. By working in the same direction as these project teams, we

can ensure that free software works better together, and provides the best experience for users. We also can include improvements quickly, which helps not only users, but the upstream as well. We also believe in empowering others to pursue their own visions of a free operating system. Anyone can remix Fedora into a new product with a new name. We even provide the tools in Fedora itself. In fact, Fedora is already the foundation for derivatives such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the One Laptop Per Child XO, and the Creative Commons Live Content DVDs.

References
All about Linux, Copyright 2004-2009, Linux Help cited 2011 July 1. Available from http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2008/11/fedora-10-released-with-engaging-new.html Ars Technica 2011 Cond Nast Digital. Revised May 22, 2009, cited 2011 July 24. Available from http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2008/11/fedora-10-released-brimming-with-newfeatures.ars Fedora Operating System Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, INC. 24, July. Web. 24, July. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_%28operating_system%29 Softpedia, 2001-2011. Installing Fedora 10 cited 2011 July 15. Available from http://news.softpedia.com/news/Installing-Fedora-10-99413.shtml Vivek, Download Fedora 10 CD / DVD ISO. 2004-2011 nixCraft, cited 2011 July 24. Available from http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/download-fedora-10-cd-dvd-iso.htm VMware, 2011 Palo Alto, California. Fedora 10 Virtual Appliance cited 2011 July 15. Available from http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/59370