Fedora 9 was released last week, and in the wake of it, the Internet has been full of reviews. What’s even more exciting is that the vast majority of the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. So to celebrate the release, the hard work of all the contributors, and the fantastic welcome that it’s received, we thought we’d share some of the best of the reviews with you. » Read more
Contributing writer: Thomas Fitzsimmons
At the 2006 JavaOne conference, Sun announced plans to open source Java. This wasn’t exactly a surprise to those of us working on Java at Red Hat, given that there had been rumblings before. But this was a real announcement. We were immediately interested in learning exactly which license Sun would choose. Even if it was a legitimate open source license, it still might not allow us to combine our code with Sun’s.
We have been working on free Java for many years–most particularly through gcj, a project started at Cygnus in 1998 by a developer named Per Bothner. Gcj has been steadily improving over the years, but still wasn’t fully Java-compatible, partly because we couldn’t get permission to run the official Java compatibility test suite. We had also been working on GNU Classpath, which is GNU’s free replacement for the core Java class libraries from Sun. We were very curious to see the “official version.” » Read more
Find out about the new features in Fedora 9 straight from the source–Paul Frields, the new Fedora project leader. He talks with us about the massive changes in KDE4, the new (and improved) LiveUSB features, and the many, many people that helped get Sulphur off to a running start. And what’s in store for Fedora 10? Watch and learn…
Fedora 9 will include KDE 4.0.3 by default, so this is a look at the progress of one of the major free desktop environments. KDE 4.0 was released January 11, 2008 after a couple of years of discussions and hype. The initial release was followed by a succession of minor releases that fixed many of the glaring bugs. The project that was initiated on October 14, 1996, so its developers have nearly a decade of experience now. While a lot of things have changed, there is still a familiar feel from its initial days. So what has changed? » Read more
May 13th brings with it a 100% chance of sulphurous rain. But don’t worry, this particular sulphur isn’t a sign of global pollution. Instead, it is Fedora® 9–codenamed “Sulphur”–the latest in a continuing line of innovative releases by the community-powered Fedora Project. Get a copy of your very own right now.
This is my first release as the Fedora Project Leader, and I couldn’t be prouder of everything the community has achieved with this release. Fedora is a collaborative effort that involves a community of over 2,000 contributors–a group that’s about as big as the entire Red Hat staff. And three-quarters of the Fedora Project is made up of dedicated, talented volunteers who believe passionately in our mission of continually pushing free and open source software to new heights of power, flexibility, and usability. » Read more
This is another article in our series co-publishing with Fedora Interviews.
AbiWord just had a great 2.6 release and the developers took several hours of their spare time over a few weeks period answering questions and providing information. Thanks to the team and especially MarcMaurer for his time and patience. We present you a detailed interview with the AbiWord team on a broad range of topics. » Read more
Git is a program for Source Code Management (SCM) whose complexity has been blown out of proportion. This may be due to the fact that early on it was primarily used by Linux kernel hackers who, needless to say, do not represent most users of SCM tools. Regardless of its past, today the UI is quite simple and there are only a handful of techniques a user needs to manage their code base with git–in ways that are nearly impossible to do with the mainstream alternatives. These techniques, which are mentioned in the order of their suggested usage, focus on improving the overall quality of the code base throughout the life of a project. » Read more
YouTube is a very popular web service that allows people to share video content online. Although YouTube and other streaming video websites satisfy many users, you may have reasons to create your own streaming video website. Perhaps you work for a company that wants a more professional face on their media. Or, you may want more control over exactly how your videos are presented.
I am a soldier in the U.S. Army, currently deployed to Afghanistan. I wanted to be able to share videos with my family from away from home. I wished to maintain my privacy and have better control over my audience. Whether you wish to share videos for educational purposes, share screencasts for documenting software features, or simply entertain, this article will show you how to set up a streaming video website using open source software.
This technique outlines acquiring a video stream from a digital video camera, processing the video stream to the distribution format, and creating a website that will stream the video to users. » Read more
