Chris Tyler Shows Off Fedora Remix OS For ARM Powered Raspberry Pi Computer

Subject: General Tech | February 22, 2012 - 05:48 PM |
Tagged: Raspberry Pi, linux, fedora remix, Fedora, arm

The Raspberry Pi hardware is coming out at the end of this month, and the folks over at the Raspberry Pi Foundation are gearing up for the release. On their blog, they shared a video by Chis Tyler that I thought was rather interesting. In the accompanying video, he talked about the Raspberry Pi's Fedora Remix linux operating system.

The new Fedora Remix is being produced by Seneca College, and takes the traditional desktop Fedora Linux distribution and adapts it to run on the ARM platform. It will include several open source applications out of the box including a web browser, word processor, and several other tools for managing the OS and working with files.  Mr. Tyler states that the Fedora Remix distro will closely resemble a traditional desktop experience when paired with a keyboard and mouse.

What I found interesting from the video was a statement by Paul Whalen, a software researcher for Fedora on ARM, where he talks about the Fedora licensing requiring applications to be built natively on the hardware that it will be used on. Because of that, they had to go out and construct a build farm of approximately 60 ARM devices including the Guru Plug. They design the software on workstation computers, and then send it to the build farm of ARM powered devices to be built and compiled into a native binary, and then is sent back. I thought that it was strange at first that they had to go about it in such a roundabout way but in the end it should help to have natively built applications performance wise.

In another exciting bit of news, Liz ended the Raspberry Pi blog post with an update on the status of the Linux computer's hardware.

They are still working on manufacturing the Raspberry Pis, and they "hope the Raspberry Pis from the first batch will be out of testing by the end of Thursday (ed: tomorrow at time of writing), and on their way to freight"

The Raspberry Pi is almost upon us! The non profit organization expects the SD card image download for the Fedora Remix distribution to be available in the next few days while the Cambridge Reference File System (Debian Squeeze based OS) image is available to download now.

Source: Raspberry Pi

Interview with Jared Smith, Fedora Project Leader

Subject: Editorial | May 21, 2011 - 08:41 PM |
Tagged: Red Hat, open-source, open source, linux, Fedora

In a continuation of our effort to embrace and report on the open-source community, PC Perspective has contacted another very interesting Open-Source project. This week we selected Fedora and their Project Leader Jared Smith.

fedora.png

(Image courtesy of Fedora)

Fedora is self-described as:

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system, a collection of software that makes your computer run. You can use Fedora in addition to, or instead of, other operating systems such as Microsoft Windows™ or Mac OS X™. The Fedora operating system is completely free of cost for you to enjoy and share.

The Fedora Project is the name of a worldwide community of people who love, use, and build free software from around the globe. We want to lead in the creation and spread of free code and content by working together as a community. Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat, the world's most trusted provider of open source technology. Red Hat invests in Fedora to encourage collaboration and incubate innovative new free software technologies.

Fedora also lists its features as the following:

  • 100% Free & Open Source: Fedora is 100% gratis and consists of free & open source software.
  • Thousands of Free Apps!: With thousands of apps across 10,000+ packages, Fedora's got an app for you.
  • Virus- and Spyware-Free: No more antivirus and spyware hassles. Fedora is Linux-based and secure.
  • Worldwide Community: Built by a global community of contributors, there's a local website for you.
  • An Amazingly Powerful OS: Fedora is the foundation for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a powerful enterprise OS.
  • Share it with Friends!: Fedora is free to share! Pass it along to your friends and family, no worry!
  • Beautiful Artwork: Compute in style with many open & beautiful wallpapers and themes!
  • Millions of Installations: Fedora has been installed millions of times. It's a large community to join!

 

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(Image courtesy of Distrowatch)

I have used Fedora since it was Fedora Core, which has been almost eight years now. Fedora is a community-supported distrobution that is sponsored by Red Hat. Fedora is known for being on the leading edge of technology at the time of shipment. Their release cycle is every 6 months and they are very transparent as to what will be included and excluded. Fedora has a huge community and tries to involve everyone and encourages participation. If you need any help with using Fedora or have any questions, they can be answered by; Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), Documentation, IRC, and Mailing Lists.

Now that you have a brief idea about Fedora, lets get to the interview:

(Hit that Read More link for the details!!)