Linux Format | Fedora 10 评测

大家都知道，Fedora 是社区开发的 Linux 发行版，得到了世界上最大的 Linux 企业 Red Hat 赞助。得到如此有力的支持，意味着 Fedora 可以受益于全世界无数的开发者，包括 Red Hat 的一些雇员也在全职开发 Fedora。Fedora 本身源自 Red Hat Linux，大约五年前 Red Hat 决定不再开发 RHL，转向社区开发的方式，同时内部开发红帽企业版(RHEL)。Fedora 被认为是 RHEL 的上游平台，新技术和软件包的试验场。

Fedora 10 基于 2.6.27 内核，这是内核的最新版本，也包含 Red Hat 内核开发者和 Fedora 社区其他成员的增强补丁。

下载渠道

与过去一样，Fedora Project 提供了相当多的镜像，用户可以下载各种不同的版本，包括传统的 DVD 安装文件，基于 GNOME 或 KDE 的免安装 LiveCD 等等，适合自己的不同需要。Fedora Project 也提供了 BitTorrent 方式，如果用户采用这种方式，下载可以更快，用户同时也在互相帮助(通过上传)。本次评测中，我们下载了一份 GNOME 免安装 LiveCD，并且安装到了测试机器上，以便仔细测试。我们密切关注着 Fedora 10 的开发过程，从 Alpha, Beta 到 Preview，因此我们的评测是有备而来。

Fedora 10 提供了针对 i386, x86_64 和 PowerPC 体系结构的版本。关于背景知识就介绍到这里，我们来看新特性吧，看过之后您一定会希望亲手安装一份的！

蓝色太阳的照耀 – “Solar” 主题搭配 Plymouth 图形化启动过程，使得 Fedora 相当漂亮。

漂亮的启动过程

由于 Plymouth 图形启动过程替换了过去的 RHGB，您首先会注意到启动速度的提高。除了速度更好，启动过程也更平滑了，每一步转换都很平滑，从 BIOS 到 GRUB，到 Plymouth，最后通过平滑的渐变，进入 GDM 登录屏幕。尽管并非所有图形芯片都可以实现这个效果(基本上 Radeon 显卡效果最好)，这是 Fedora 向正确的方向迈出的一大步，也使 Fedora 启动速度更胜一筹。尽管对于服务器市场没有很大用户，对经常重启系统的移动和桌面用户则很有用。而且 Plymouth 提供了动画效果，不像 RHGB 只包含进度条和文本信息，您可以看到 Solar 动画——带有燃烧日晕的蓝色太阳。如果按 Mark Shuttleworth 所言，“美观算得是一种特性”，那么 Fedora 着实胜了一着。

进入桌面

进入桌面环境，默认是 GNOME 2.24.1，带有 Fedora 通常会包含的那些程序。后面会提到 OpenOffice.org 3.0，这是 OOo 3.0 首次在主要发行版中露面。另外还有其他桌面软件。Planner 是一个项目管理工具，这个工具很有用，在之前的版本中包含过，我们很高兴再次看到了它。利用它可以设计甘特图。NetworkManager 是网络连接和切换的工具，我们从未遇到它出问题，这次它增加了管理宽带连接的功能。宽带连接市场在不断增长，尤其是在英国这里。我们很高兴看到 Fedora 可以支持它。

设置 3G 调制解调器非常简单，几秒钟即可联网！

另外，即时通讯工具使用了 Pidgin。尽管 GNOME 桌面正在走向使用 Empathy，Fedora 团队决定继续使用 Fedora 10，主要的原因大约是 Empathy 还不够稳定。计划是在 Fedora 11 中默认使用 Empathy。当然，自由软件世界中，变化发生得非常快，我们会密切关注这件事。比较可惜的是本次发布中 OpenChange 特性没有完成，它使用基本的 MAPI 连接 Exchange 服务器，对于商业应用非常重要。

本应成为默认的即时通讯工具 Empathy，要等到 Fedora 11 了。

很多人只能使用 IMAP 甚至 POP 来访问 Exchange，但是最好用的协议还是 MAPI，只是没有得到实现。如果 Evolution 这样的应用程序可以支持 MAPI，将打破 M$ 在业界的另一个垄断地位。MAPI 不仅可以用来访问邮件，还包括日程，联系人，任务，记录和公开目录；绝不能小看它的意义，即使 M$ 自己在 Mac 的 Exchange 客户端 Entourage 中也不(愿)支持 MAPI。到 Fedora 11 发布时，OpenChange 也许已经进入了其他发行版，总之会帮助 Linux 在公司电子邮件领域占据立足之地。

安装 Fedora 中，另一件做得漂亮的事是让 Anaconda 安装程序直接提交 bugzilla 错误报告，让这个过程无比简单。当然这个功能要求网络连接可用，但是它让如此重要的安装程序得以方便地发现和解决问题。

PackageKit 紧密集成到 Fedora，底层调用了 Yum 和 RPM。

办公软件升级

Fedora 10 的另一个重要特性是 OpenOffice.org 3.0，Fedora 是首个在 DVD 安装文件中包含它的发行版。如果您使用免安装 LiveCD，默认是用 AbiWord，因为 CD 空间着实有限。OOo 3.0 是 Fedora 的“绝招”，因为 Ubuntu 8.10 只有十二月上旬才能用上它，并且必须打开开发版本的向后移植仓库(Backport)。包含 OOo 3.0 使 Fedora 在宣传上得了一分，更不要说实际的好处。新版本的速度提升和特性增强将使 OOo 更加受大众欢迎，支持的文件格式更多了，您现在可以用它打开 Office 2007 XML 文件，尽管还无法导出成那种格式。其他核心组件也有大量改进，像 Calc 电子表格，Impress 简报等等。Impress 还包含了全新的简报终端视图(presenter console view)，这是 Powerpoint 自 Office XP 版本以来就有的功能，做很多简报展示时会非常有用，它让您在投影简报的同时，在运行简报的计算机上显示简报的详细信息。

Impress 3.0 现在成为真正的 Powerpoint 对手。

深度探索

Fedora 首次包含了高级消息队列协议(AMQP)，这是中间件的一个开放协议标准。您也许不清楚中间件是什么，有什么关系，简单的说，中间件将大量的异构系统互联，使它们可以交换信息。很多大型企业都使用中间件，不过主要是在银行内部供大型机和旧系统应用，因为与这种系统通信是一种很难的事情。这样就可以理解，为什么 AMQP 最初是来自一家最大的美国银行。不过现在它被一个工作组所采纳，这个工作组的成员有 Red Hat, Cisco 以及其他大公司，也包括 M$ 和 Novell。尽管它不太可能用在应用 Fedora 的场合，但是在它进入将来的红帽企业版(RHEL)之前，Fedora 就是新技术的试验场。

另外，Fedora 团队将最新的 RPM (4.6) 带入了 Fedora 10。尽管这看上去无关紧要，但是久被搁置的软件包管理工具得到改进终究是件好事。将来版本的 Fedora 和其他基于 RPM 的发行版可望达到更高的性能。尽管 Fedora 10 中并不是最终版本的 RPM 4.6，但是这份基础工作将随着时间逐渐体现出它的价值。

让我们从企业空间走向起居室。在 LIRC 方面有很多工作，来改进遥控的可连接性，使 Fedora 更适于媒体中心。同时在多媒体领域，PulseAudio 得到改进，更加稳定可靠，比 Fedora 9 消耗更少电力。这是通过重写 PulseAudio 核心做到的，使它基于定时器，这是 Mac OS X 和 Vista 的声音系统很早就在做的事。大多数人会注意到音频播放的进步，失真被基本消除。

尽管不提供有专利限制的解码器，Fedora 做到了让安装更简单。

写在最后

那么，我们应该怎么评论 Fedora 10？它在短暂的发布周期中实现了大量内容，尽管其间受到了服务器被入侵的影响。更重要的是，Fedora 开始对美观好用等方面有所关注，让它可以与 Ubuntu 相比。主要的差别在于，Fedora 仍然严格地坚持自己对自由软件的定义，不像 Ubuntu 的每次发布都会带来争议。Fedora 开发者为我们带来了一个先进的版本，为将来的宏伟目标提供了坚实的支持。Fedora 发行版本身已经走过了五年的长路，我们衷心希望接下来的五年里，这些非凡的努力可以带来合理的回报。如果您还没有尝试 Fedora，或者(因为种种原因)离开了它，那您绝对应该试试它。如果您是 Fedora 用户，相信您已经迫不及待地想要安装和升级了吧。

原文见 Hands on with the new Fedora 10

Fedora 10 has just been released to the waiting masses. Andy Hudson takes the distro for an early test run, exploring the new features and seeing how it stacks up against the other major players in the Linux league…

Key software

• Kernel 2.6.27.5
• Glibc 2.9
• GCC 4.3.2
• X.org 7.4
• Gnome 2.24.1
• KDE 4.1.2
• Firefox 3.0.4
• OpenOffice.org 3.0.0

As you’re probably aware, Fedora is a community-based distribution that has backing from Red Hat, the largest Linux vendor in the world. Having this backing means that Fedora can work with a wide selection of developers all over the world, including some who are employed by Red Hat to work solely on the distro. Fedora itself is a descendant of the original Red Hat Linux which was discontinued a little over five years ago in favour of moving to a more community-focused approach, in tandem with in-house development for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, for which Fedora is considered by many to be up-stream and which provides a useful proving ground for many new technologies and packages.

Fedora 10 is based primarily on the 2.6.27 kernel, giving you access to the very latest and greatest that the kernel developers can offer, along with minor enhancements that come from Red Hat kernel developers and other members of the Fedora community.

Availability

As usual, the Fedora project offers a wide number of mirrors that you can use to obtain the different flavours in which Fedora 10 is available, including the traditional DVD alongside Live CDs for Gnome and KDE depending on which desktop environment you favour. BitTorrent distribution is usually very well served by the Fedora project, so if you’re in a hurry then this is probably the way to go and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping others download (as long as you’re allowing uploads!). For this review we snagged a copy of the Gnome Live CD which we then installed to our test machine to give it a good going over. We’ve also been closely tracking the development of Fedora, including the Alpha, Beta and Preview releases, all of which allow us to give you our informed opinion of Fedora 10.

Fedora 10 is available principally for i686 and x86-64 compatible processors, although versions for the PowerPC platform are also available. But enough about the background to the distro; let’s take a look at some of the new features with Fedora 10, some of which should whet your distro-installing appetite!

Bask in the blue sunshine – the solar theme
combined with Plymouth makes Fedora incredibly
easy on the eye (click for bigger).

Beautiful booting

Performance benchmarks

Fedora 9

GRUB to login screen: 58.4s
Login to desktop: 12s
Launching Firefox 2: 1.4s
Shutdown: 14.5s
Geekbench score: 2271

Fedora 10

GRUB to login: 52.2s
Login to desktop: 14.9s
Launching Firefox 3: 2.4s
Shutdown: 11.6s
Geekbench score: 2260

(Test hardware: 2.4GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM)

The first thing you’ll notice is the vast increase in bootup speed thanks to the implementation of Plymouth – the replacement for the ageing and increasingly fragile RHGB. Along with the improvement in speed, the general look and feel of the initial boot process feels a lot smoother thanks to work done to minimise all the different handovers between the BIOS, GRUB, RHGB and finally a smooth fade into the GDM login screen. Whilst not complete for all graphics chipsets (you get the best effect from Radeon-based cards) it’s certainly a big step in the right direction and helps Fedora move ahead in boot up times. We appreciate that this isn’t going to be particularly significant for the server market, but certainly it will make a difference for laptop and desktop users who shutdown after each use. Also of note is the beautiful animation scheme that Plymouth delivers; not just content with a simple status bar moving across the screen, you instead get the Solar animation – reminiscent of a blue sun with solar flares. If Mark Shuttleworth’s ‘Pretty is a Feature’ is anything to by, then Fedora has just run up and tweaked his nose quite severely!

Onto the desktop

Moving on into the distro itself, it’s a stock Gnome 2.24.1 implementation, complete with the usual applications that Fedora typically bundles. As mentioned later, OpenOffice.org 3.0 makes its first major appearance in one of the major distros, a long with the usual raft of improvements to the standard desktop software. Planner, a project management tool, also makes an appearance; to our mind it is a useful application that seems to have come and gone in different releases. In any case, we’re glad it’s back in because we certainly can’t work without our intricately designed Gannt Charts. NetworkManager is still the management tool of choice for switching between different networks; we’ve never had a problem whilst using it, and we can report that it now extends onto working with mobile broadband solutions. This is a growing market, particularly in the UK and we’re glad to see support for it within this venerable distro.

Setting up a 3G modem is a straight-forward
affair – be online in seconds!

Also in, by the skin of its teeth, is Pidgin. Although the vanilla Gnome desktop has moved to Empathy as its primary instant messenger application, the Fedora team decided fairly late on to not use it as the default within Fedora 10. The main reasons for this appear to be do with Empathy’s stability, and the current thinking is to do the Pidgin-to-Empathy switch sometime during the Fedora 11 release cycle. Of course, things can (and do) change rapidly within the open source world so we’ll keep a close eye on this and see what comes of it. Another feature that was sadly dropped from this release was OpenChange, a fairly important inclusion for businesses as it allows native MAPI connectivity with Exchange servers.

The default IM client that never was – at least
not until Fedora 11.

A lot of people use IMAP or even POP support within Exchange, but by far the most used protocol is MAPI, something which we have had to live without. Having MAPI support built into applications such as Evolution would break another of Microsoft’s vice-like holds in the business and corporate market. Not only would it allow access to email but also calendars, contacts, tasks, notes and public folders; the importance of this cannot be underplayed as even Microsoft seem unable to support MAPI for their Mac Exchange client, Entourage. Of course, by the time Fedora 11 comes onto the scene, OpenChange may have made its way into the other distributions and will hopefully help give Fedora and Linux in general a foothold in the corporate email arena.

Another nice touch when you install Fedora is that the Anaconda installer can now submit bugzilla reports directly, making this process infinitely easier. Of course it requires a working network connection, but nonetheless it can only help to identify and remove any bugs from this venerable installer.

PackageKit is closely integrated with Fedora,
leveraging Yum and RPM under the hood.

Office updates

Another key feature of Fedora 10 is OpenOffice.org 3.0, making Fedora the first major distro to include it in the DVD install. If you go with the Live CD then you’ll get AbiWord instead which is due to space restrictions on the CD. OOo 3.0 is a major coup for Fedora, with Ubuntu 8.10 not slated to get it until early December and even then only via the Backports repository. The inclusion of OOo 3.0 is a major publicity boost for Fedora, not to mention the many benefits that it brings. Improved performance and an enhanced feature-set will further endear OOo to the masses, with the list of supported file formats ever growing; you can now open Office 2007 XML files, although you can’t export in that format. Other improvements abound for core applications such as Calc and Impress, with particular attention being drawn to the new presenter console view within Impress. This is something that Powerpoint has had since Office XP and can be very useful if you do a lot of presentations, allowing you to view the presentation on the projector whilst seeing a more informative view from the computer that’s running the presentation.

Impress 3.0 is now a real PowerPoint beater.

Delving deeper

Moving under the hood, Fedora also includes the first real glimpse of the Advanced Message Queing Protocol (AMQP), an open protocol standard for middleware. Some of you may be scratching your heads trying to work out what exactly middleware is, but it’s quite simply the layer of software that sits between numerous disparate systems and allows them to communicate and exchange information. Middleware can be found in many large companies, but we’ve mainly come across it in the banking environment where they routinely use mainframe and legacy systems making such inter-system communication a challenge. It’s no real surprise to learn that AMQP started off life in a large US bank, and has now been adopted by a working group that includes Red Hat, Cisco and other major corporates including both Microsoft and Novell. It’s undeniable that it’s not likely to be used in anger with a Fedora deployment, but rather Fedora is being used as a proving ground before it ultimately arrives in a future version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Staying under the hood, the Fedora team has worked to include the latest version of RPM (4.6) into Fedora 10. Whilst this might not mean much, it’s good to see movement in this long neglected package management system so that future versions of Fedora, and other RPM-dependent distros can start to move closer to the performance of apt. Although not a final version of RPM 4.6, the groundwork laid in Fedora 10 will pay dividends moving forward.

Moving well away from the corporate sphere and into the living room, a fair amount of work has gone into LIRC, to improve connectivity with remote controls to further enhance Fedora’s media centre credentials. Also within the multimedia realm, PulseAudio has been improved upon to make it more stable and reliable, with real gains in power consumption over Fedora 9. This has been achieved by undertaking a fairly extensive re-write of the core of PulseAudio to deliver timer-based audio scheduling, something which our Mac OS X and Vista friends already enjoy. Most people should notice an improvement in audio playback, with a serious reduction in any drop outs.

Although they don’t supply patent restricted codecs,
Fedora does try to make things a little easier.

The bottom line

So, do we recommend Fedora 10? A tremendous amount of work has taken place in a release cycle which has also had to cope with a major infrastructure breach during its development. Importantly though, Fedora is starting to work on some of the aesthetical portions of the distro, in an attempt to bring it to a level par with Ubuntu. The main difference is that Fedora sticks rigidly to its interpretation of free software and doesn’t entertain the kind of controversy that seems to hit nearly every Ubuntu release. The developers have given us a decent distro, and one that will reinforce Fedora’s long term ambitions by providing a platform for growth. The distro itself has come a long way over the last five years; we certainly hope that the work that has been carried out can be matched, if not exceeded over the next five. If you’ve not tried Fedora, or have moved away from it in the past then you should definitely take a look – existing users will be rubbing their hands with glee over this solid release.