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Yikes! RedHat 4.0!




http://www.redhat.com/news/rhl4.0.html

out for Intel, Alpha AND Sparc together!

NEW FEATURES IN RED HAT LINUX 4.0


 * Modular 2.0.18 kernel. One kernel for all hardware, support for much
more hardware. Kernel is distributed as an RPM package.  This means that
to upgrade the kernel you only need to upgrade the kernel RPM package,
which is just a single command.

 * Only one installation floppy! Two for PCMCIA and FTP installs. Both
floppies are included in the Official Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set
product. 

 * Easier installation. Smarter network configuration, full "cancel" 
ability, simpler package selection, package descriptions available during
install, much faster. 

 * New version of RPM. RPM 2.2.5 includes dependencies, improved
PGP/MD5/size signature capability, dependencies, more powerful querying,
dependencies, improved multi- arch/os handling, dependencies, relocatable
packages, dependencies, support for building and installing packages as
non-root.. Did I mention dependencies?

 * Improved X Windows support. Easier X Windows configuration. Just pick
your video card and monitor from the provided lists and you are done.
Latest MetroLink X server 3.1.2 (Only available with the Official Red Hat
Linux/Intel boxed set.)

 * Expanded Red Hat Linux User's Guide. 236 pages of installation and
configuration information. Expanded coverage of the control-panel tools.
Includes MetroLink X server configuration information. The User's Guide is
now available via FTP under the same terms as the LDP documentation! It is
also browsable on our web site! 

 * Improved network configuration. New graphical network configuration
control panel tool. Allows for simple configuration of PPP and SLIP
network connections. Makes it simple to move your machine between
networks, add ethernet cards, etc.

 * Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM). PAM is used throughout for
increased system security and configurability. Shadow password support
(and groundwork for future support of "long" passwords, MD5 passwords, and
other authentication schemes).

 * Red Baron secure web browser. Supports forms, frames, SSL, SET. Faster
than Netscape! (Only available on Official Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set.)

 * Upgrades and Fixes. Over 180 updated packages, and over 60 new
packages. The full package list is available at http://www.redhat.com.
Many, many, many security fixes -- most of which are not available on
other UNIX/Linux systems. 


             FEATURES OF RED HAT LINUX 4.0

             Installation 

Our third generation installation system is easier to use than ever. By
presenting simple fill in the blank forms, and applying intelligent
automation to network, package, and module configuration, the system
relieves you of the most tedious and most troublesome aspects of
installation. Installation is supported via CD-ROM, NFS, FTP, hard drive
partition, and has seamless PCMCIA support. 

             Package Management 

The RPM package system is designed to be powerful yet easy to use. These
design features, along with smart config file handling across package
upgrades, "shared" file handling, documentation searching support, package
installation via FTP, dependencies, and powerful querying, make RPM the
most advanced package system available. 

With our graphical package manager Glint you can track every package
installed on your system, and all packages available on the CD-ROM. You
can examine package descriptions and file contents before you install
them. With a few mouse button clicks you can install, uninstall, list and
verify all installed packages. No other installation system comes close.

             Configuration Tools

 The Red Hat control panel tools cover configuration of your network,
printer, filesystem, users and groups, SysV init, time and date, and
modem. PPP and SLIP configuration has never been easier! 

             Compatibility between Linux Platforms 

 The Red Hat Linux 4.0 for Intel, Alpha and Sparc products are built from
the exact same source packages. This ensures maximum ease of software
portability between machines running Red Hat Linux regardless of the
underlying hardware architecture.  In addition, your investment in
configuration of Red Hat Linux will pay off on all three platforms.
License Terms Red Hat Linux is distributed under the terms of the GPL, and
is freely available from our FTP site, and dozens of mirrors. For the
first time, the Red Hat Linux User's Guide is also available freely, under
the terms of the LDP license! 


             STANDARDS, TESTING, AND RED HAT LINUX

Red Hat Linux continues to track both Linux and UNIX industry standards
closely. Red Hat Linux conforms to the Linux file system standard: FSSTND,
and tracks many other Linux and UNIX standards.

Testing is probably Linux's greatest strength and the origin of its
remarkable stability for most applications, and Red Hat Linux benefits
from this. The truly open development model followed by Linus Torvalds and
the Linux development community allows new releases of the kernel,
components, and distributions to be tested by hundreds of thousands of
users. Their access to everything at little or no cost, including full
source code, off many sites on the Internet enables anyone to contribute
to further development by not just reporting bugs but contributing
patches.

Red Hat Linux depends on this open development model. We post Red Hat
Linux as "freely redistributable" software for free download off of many
sites on the Internet, and we are grateful for the valuable assistance we
receive. 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has decided to
stop charging for their POSIX Conformance Test Suite 151-2, in hopes that
the POSIX standard may be more broadly applied. Red Hat Software applauds
the move, and has obtained the suites for consideration. We would
encourage all Linux developers to take advantage of this development.
Comments and questions can be directed to Martha Gray
<gray@sst.ncsl.nist.gov> at NIST.

             A STABLE SOFTWARE PLATFORM AND A RAPIDLY EVOLVING
             TECHNOLOGY

Red Hat's software packaging scheme (RPM) provides the reliable and
consistent installation on a stable environment that ISV's are looking
for, and yet allows for a flexible environment for further Linux
development. 

RPM's advanced software packaging features enable RPM packaged software
to be installed easily and correctly on any Red Hat Linux platform.
Running older software versions on a new release of Red Hat Linux is
generally reliable and trouble free. 

             FREELY REDISTRIBUTABLE SOFTWARE

Red Hat Linux is released as freely redistributable software under the
terms of the GPL. This allows anyone to use Linux without restriction and
to contribute to Linux development. It also prevents anyone or any
corporation from restricting access to Linux or Linux source code.
Commercially licensed software can be ported to Linux while maintaining
the license terms that the author uses for any other platform.


             RPM - RED HAT PACKAGE MANAGER

After installing Red Hat Linux once, you will never need to reinstall
Linux again! Our RPM packaging system is sophisticated enough to allow
upgrading to new Red Hat Linux releases without reinstalling your system -
no partitioning, no backing up all your files, no headaches. 

Red Hat Linux 4.0 is built on a third generation packaging system called
RPM. The RPM system features include smart configuration file handling
across package upgrades, "shared" file handling, documentation searching
support, and package installation via FTP.  You can install, uninstall,
query, verify, and upgrade individual RPM packages. 

The Red Hat Software web site, http://www.redhat.com, contains more
information on RPM and the RPM-HOWTO, which describes how to use RPM and
build your own RPM packages.

A graphical package management tool called GLINT allows you to quickly and
easily manage and track your system. It displays a hierarchy of packages
represented by individual package icons, and displays progress meters
during installation.

We are releasing RPM under the terms of the GPL and we would like to
encourage everyone to use it to package their software. You can get RPM
separately from Red Hat Linux from our FTP site.

             PRISTINE SOURCES

An important element of the design of Red Hat Linux is our commitment to
the concept of "pristine sources". Our RPM source packages include
pristine, untouched sources, as well as patches and a control file which
defines the building and packaging process. It enables us to work with
other members of the Linux development community easily and effectively by
clearly separating and documenting the code that they contribute from any
modifications that are required by Red Hat Linux.


             FTP AVAILABILITY

Red Hat Linux is available for the Intel, Alpha, and Sparc on
our FTP site: 

             ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0 

Many sites mirror the Red Hat FTP site, and may give you much
better performance. A list of these mirrors is at: 

             ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/MIRRORS 

(Note that the Metro X server, Red Baron and Grail are not available via
FTP. These packages are only available with the full boxed set product.)

             RED HAT SOFTWARE WEB SITE

The Red Hat Software web site, http://www.redhat.com, contains a wealth of
helpful information, as well as a web-based ordering system for all our
products.

Of particular interest is the support section of the web site, which
includes archives of our mailing lists, errata, Red Hat TIPS, the LDP
documentation, and lots more. See http://www.redhat.com/support.

             UPGRADING AND EXCHANGE POLICIES

All previous releases of Red Hat Linux (2.0, 2.1, 3.0.3) can be upgraded
in place (without reformatting or repartitioning). For those who want to
upgrade, but do not want to purchase the full boxed set, the Red Hat Linux
Archives 4 CD-ROM set is the right choice. Red Hat Linux for the Intel and
Alpha are both available on the Archives (Metro X, Red Baron, and Grail
are only available with the full boxed set).

Exchange and upgrade policies for those who purchased 3.0.3 recently are
best addressed by the vendor of your product. If you purchased it directly
from Red Hat Software, contact the sales office at:

             phone: (800) 546-7274 or (919) 572-6500
               fax: (919) 572-6726
             email: sales@redhat.com

The sales folks have the answers and will be able to help you. 



   -------------------------------------------------------------
   Ira Abramov          <ira@scso.com>        Scalable Solutions
   SITE Web Presence ("webspace for rent") http://www.site.co.il
   Beeper 91826 at 058-212121                FAX (972)2-643-0471
   POBox 3600, Jerusalem 91035, Israel       Tel (972)2-642-6822
   http://www.scso.com/~ira   Check out: http://www.linux.org.il