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 Sections: Main page Security Kernel Distributions Development Commerce Linux in the news Announcements Back page All in one big page See also:last week's Distributions page. Lists of Distributions | DistributionsPlease note that security updates from the variousdistributions are covered in thesecurity section. News and EditorialsRed Hat 7 - is the edge bleeding too much? Red Hat 7 comes with anumber of nifty new packages, as described in thenewfeatures page. A couple of these, however, are attracting specialattention:
In comparison, the recently-released SuSE 7.0 distribution ships gcc-2.95.2and glibc-2.1.3. There are a couple of problems with Red Hat's choice of tools here. Thefirst is that they have shipped beta versions of both the compiler and theC library. While Red Hat was obviously confident of the quality of thesepackages, the fact remains that they have not seen the level of testingthat one might like to see for such fundamental components of the system. The other is that both tools are still in flux. The gcc that Red Hat calls2.96 (essentially a patched CVS snapshot) produces binaries that areincompatible with those from 2.95 - especially where C++ is involved.These binaries will also be incompatible with gcc-3.0, whenever that comesout. The C library is also still in a development phase, and thepossibility of incompatible changes before the 2.2 release is real. As a result, Red Hat 7 binaries are incompatible with other Linux systemsout there - at least in some cases. If glibc-2.2 turns out to contain anyother incompatible changes, then distributors will be forced to choosebetween shipping the stable version of the library or being binarycompatible with Red Hat 7. There have already been flames posted to the effect that Red Hat is usingunfair tactics here. The company said to be abusing its market positionand its ownership of Cygnus to lock application developers and customersinto its own system. These charges almost certainly have no basis inreality, however. Red Hat has always had a tendency toward shipping very new software.Remember back, for example, to the 5.0 release. It was the first toinclude glibc2, and was a rather difficult experience for many people whowere trying to install it into (previously) working networks. But it alsospearheaded the acceptance of a crucial new version of the library. In this case, Red Hat's reasoning on gcc is perhaps best expressed bythis linux-kernel posting by Richard Henderson.Essentially, he says that gcc-2.95 is insufficiently stable and is a deadline of development; it's already binary-incompatible with other gccreleases; and that there's no way to be binary compatible with what gcc-3.0will be in any case. At least this way they are source-compatible withgcc-3.0. On the library side, they presumably felt sufficiently assuredthat there would be no more incompatible changes before 2.2 comes out. RedHat's employment of Ulrich Drepper, the glibc maintainer, probably helpedin that regard. So conspiracy theories are not called for here. Riding the bleeding edgehas always been a characteristic of the Red Hat distribution - especiallywith "dot-zero" releases. The fact that marketing did away with the".0" doesn't change the nature of Red Hat 7. Perhaps thisrelease should have been delayed until the tools stabilized somewhat, butmarketing probably wasn't thrilled with that idea either... Distribution ReviewsLinuxPlanet reviews SuSE Linux 7.0 Personal/Professional. LinuxPlanet has runthis review of SuSE Linux 7.0 both Personal and Professional editions. "SuSE Linux 7.0, the latest offering from the Germany-based SuSE GmbH, comes in two distinct offerings--Personal and Professional, as well as an Upgrade version for current SuSE users. Superficially, there is little difference between the products, not even in price. The SuSE Linux 7.0 Personal costs a mere $39.95, the Upgrade version $49.95, and the Professional version just $69.95, should you choose to pick them up off the shelf. Downloading is available, as with most Linux distributions, but in this instance, I strongly recommend plunking down the cash for this distro." (Thanks to Pieter Hollants) Mandrake 7.2 Beta2 Review (LinuxLookup). Here'sa review of Linux Mandrake 7.2 beta 2 which appears on the LinuxLookup site. "Many of the Mandrake specific configuration tools have been revamped in 7.2. DrakConfig, the front end to the individual configuration tools, has simply undergone cosmetic changes. On the other hand, Mandrake Update seems to have undergone a complete rewrite. The layout is different, and installing developmental updates from Mandrake's Cooker is now supported." Red Hat Linux 7.0 Review (Duke of URL). The Duke of URL has posted areview of Red Hat Linux 7.0. "New features like a largely-upgraded package system, kernel 2.4, enhanced USB support, and even out-of-the-box 3D support via XFree86 4.0.1 make Red Hat's latest look like a dream come true. Is it a dream come true, or Linux's worst nightmare?" General-Purpose DistributionsCaldera's Linux management solution enters open beta. Caldera hasannounced that its Linux management system, once known as "Cosmos," has entered an open beta test. The utility can be downloaded (in binary form) fromCaldera's open beta page. For more information, see theCosmos FAQ page. New FAQs from Caldera. After a bit of a pause, Caldera has resumedits practice of sending out a list of new additions to its FAQ.This week's list covers a wide range of topics, fromhardware issues to Webmin modules. Debian news. TheDebian Weekly News forOctober 3 is out. It covers unstable's return to stability, and has aninteresting summary of the debian-devel discussion on bug reporting.Debian is suffering a case of "severity inflation," resulting from aperception that only bugs marked as being highly important get attentionfrom the package maintainers. Kernel CousinDebian #4 is also out, and covers discussions throughSeptember 28. Tuxtops launches Laptop Debian. Tuxtops hasannounced the availability of a version of the Debian distribution that has been specially tweaked for laptop systems. It can be had on laptop systems purchased from Tuxtops; it is also available separately. An Analysis of The Red Hat Network (LinuxToday). The Australian LinuxToday site has put upa look at the Red Hat Network, the first in a two-part series. "The Red Hat Network is a step forward for many users and system administrators. It has the potential to grow into a much larger system which will ease common system administration tasks. It's one of the first business systems I have seen which will truly automate the distribution of software." SOT opens U.S. office. SOT, the Finnish publisher of Best Linux (claimed to be the top distribution in Finland) hasannounced the opening of a U.S. office in Minneapolis. The company will also be at the Linux Business Expo in November to introduce its product. SuSE announces support for new IBM servers. SuSE has been quick toput outan announcement of its support forIBM's new "eServer" line. The announcement covers the full line, fromIntel-based systems through the PowerPC models and the mainframe systems. Section Editor:Liz Coolbaugh | October 5, 2000
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