Jul 23: bicycle (res cycle server - /scratch wiped)
Aug 6: tebo (res file server)
Rollout to Lab- managed machines:
August 12 – Sep 26, 2007
End of support for
previous CSE Linux (FC5):
Sep 28, 2007
The new CSE Linux distribution, for 2007-2008 will be installed on Lab
supported Linux machines during August and September of 2007.
This new CSE Linux distribution for 2007-2008 is based on Fedora 7 (F7),
with our usual local customizing.
Some highlighted changes for Fedora 7 are listed below.
Specific Changes:
Here are some of the highlights, and things to watch for, with the
new CSE Linux Fedora 7 distribution:
Default Desktop Environment
GNOME is now the default desktop environment for CSE Linux Fedora 7.
XFCE4 is still available, but is considered deprecated. This is
likely the last year that we'll offer the XFCE4 desktop
environment. Because of this, we aren't spending a lot
of time fixing XFCE4 'quirks' (such as the Xfmedia
quirk mentioned below).
XFCE4
The XFCE4 packages have been upgraded to version 4.4.1.
The new XFCE4 file manager is Thunar, replacing xffm.
The new XFCE4 calendar package is orage, replacing xfcalendar.
The CD player 'apolos' is no longer offered. Alternatives
are rhythmbox and totem.
If your CD drive has an audio CD inserted and you double-click
on the corresponding icon on the XFCE4 desktop, an error will be
displayed, since audio CDs cannot be mounted, but it will suggest
using Xfmedia to play the audio tracks. Xfmedia is not available
in Fedora 7, so use rhythmbox or totem instead.
Gnome-screensaver
Gnome-screensaver, which is both a screensaver and a screen
locking program, replaces the xlock program previously provided
by the xlockmore package. Gnome-screensaver is started by
default for a GNOME desktop. The default XFCE4 environment
has been modified to invoke gnome-screensaver during session
start and from the xflock4 utility, since xlock is no longer
available. GNOME users can configure gnome-screensaver via
the preference menus. XFCE4 users can manually run
'gnome-screensaver-preferences' to access the screensaver
configuration dialog.
AutoFS5
The automounter is much improved in Fedora 7. When you cd to a directory
under the control of the automounter, and perfom an 'ls', you will now
see that every directory in the automount map is listed (without
perfoming a mount). Previously, we perfomed a kludge to make this
happen under /projects and /sources, creating a tree of symlinks there
that pointed to the real automounter directories /projects/null and
/sources/null. With autofs5, this kludge is no longer necessary nor
desirable. Where this may get you into trouble is if you made symlinks
referring to /projects/null or /sources/null, such symlinks will no
longer resolve on a Fedora 7 system.
CUPS printing
The default CUPS server in /etc/cups/client.conf is now set to
"AUTO" to tell supported user printing interface to use an IPP
server based on printer realm, i.e., instruction (iipp.cs) and
research (ipp.cs) realm. Non-supported user printing interface,
which reads /etc/cups/client.conf, is likely to fail unless it
has IPP server set to the right server.
Emacs
Fedora 7 includes Emacs version 22, which is the first
new major version release of emacs in several years. Read the emacs
NEWS by typing 'C-u C-h C-n' within emacs on an F7 system, to
find out about new and changed features.
Default PDF Viewer
The default PDF viewer is once again evince. The default
viewer in our FC5 was gv(1), which remains available, as does
Adobe's acroread. Xpdf has been dropped from our offerings,
since it is no longer required by another supported package.
Fonts
All of the foreign language font packages available in Fedora 7
have been added to our distribution.
Gaim renamed to Pidgin
The gaim instant messenger has been renamed to pidgin to avoid
possible trademark infringement issues. Pidgin is available on
desktop machines.
Packages
As with all Linux upgrades, many packages have newer versions.
(Note that package versions may change during the course of a
release.) Here are some examples at the time of F7 beta:
Package
F7 (at beta)
FC5
emacs
22.1
21.4
firefox
2.0.0.4
1.5.0.12
gcc
4.1.2
4.1.1
glibc
2.6
2.4
mysql
5.0.37
5.0.27
postgresql
8.2.4
8.1.8
python
2.5
2.4.3
thunderbird
2.0.0.4
1.5.0.10
xorg-x11
R7.2
R7.0
GNOME
2.18.3
(NA)
XFCE4
4.4.1
4.2.3
Computer Science & Engineering
University of Washington
Box 352350
Seattle, WA 98195-2350
(206) 543-1695 voice, (206) 543-2969 FAX
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