9:21 a.m.
Welcome to Fedora 7 Test 3.
I am please to announce the third of four test releases for Fedora 7.
Downloads
========
DVD and network installation are available.
http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/
The recommended method of download is via BitTorrent from this site.
http://fedora.redhat.com/Download/mirrors.html
HTTP, FTP, and RSYNC downloads are available from Fedora Project mirrors
listed above. Note that not all mirrors may be synced at this time.
New in Fedora 7 Test 3
========
This test release includes significant new versions of many key components and
technologies. The following sections provide a brief overview of major
changes from the last release of Fedora.
Merger of Core and Extras
========
* The Fedora Core and Extras software repositories are being merged,
resulting in a shared infrastructure and a single repository of packages to
which everyone is invited to contribute.
* Fedora 7 Test 3 is packaged initially as a Desktop/Development
Workstation/Server implementation, called "Prime". This spin is delivered in
DVD iso format only as a trial, see
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-February/msg00993....
for the discussion on this.
* Many more packages are available in the development repositories.
Live CD
========
* This test release includes an i386 ISO for a Desktop Live CD. This Live
CD features the ability to install to a hard disk using the same graphical
Anaconda installer as the non-live CD variant.
* This test release also includes an x86_64 ISO for a Desktop Live
image. Due to size, this will require a DVD. As with the i386 Live
image, the ability to install to a hard disk is available.
* This test release features a new i386 ISO for a KDE Live CD. Note
that as of this writing, this ISO is only available via bittorrent. It
should be available via the mirrors in the near future.
Desktop
========
* This test release features GNOME 2.18
* A brand new Echo icon theme is included as the default in this release.
This icon theme is incomplete, but with appropriate feedback and progress,
may become the default in the general release.
* Fast User Switching is now available via the fast-user-switch-applet.
See http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureFastUserSwitching for more
details.
Performance
========
* System performance is generally slower in the test releases as compared
to the general release since we enable several options that help with
debugging.
System Administration
========
* System administration tools may be modified under the testing process.
System Level Changes
========
* Fedora 7 Test 3 features a 2.6.21rc5 based kernel. Current release
information is being tracked on the kernel release notes source page.
(http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Beats/Kernel)
Amanda
Users who upgrade from older releases need to read the amanda.conf and
amanda-client.conf man pages to learn about the the new syntax for calling
amandad, as well as edit the /etc/xinetd.d/amanda configuration file to
follow the new syntax.
Road Map And Release Schedule
========
* http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/7/
Intended Audience for Test Releases
========
Test 1 is targeted for developers, who use it "at their own risk", and
contains many bleeding edge packages.
Test 2 is for early adopters. Most things should work and we need to your help
to find what is broken.
Test 3 is for early adopters. Most things should work and we need to your help
to find what is broken.
Test 4 is for beta users. This is the time when we must have full community
participation. Without this participation both hardware and software
functionality suffers.
Quality Assurance for Test Releases
========
The Fedora Project has a process in place for ensuring the highest possible
quality even in our test releases. Many bugs are identified, prioritized and
fixed during the testing process. We also have a list of known bugs in this
release. Refer to http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA/7/Test3TreeTesting for
more details.
Translations of Release Notes
========
Due to the rapidly changing nature of test releases, translations of release
notes for test releases are not practical. The initial goal is to have a
translation of the release notes included in the test4 release and to allow
community review and correction before the general release. As always, the
general release is translated following the established practices for
localization (l10n) and internationalization (i18n)
(http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/L10N), which result in comprehensive,
high-quality release notes in a variety of languages.
About Fedora
========
Fedora is a set of projects sponsored by Red Hat and guided by the
contributors. These projects are developed by a large community of people who
strive to provide and maintain the very best in free, open source software
and standards. The central Fedora project is an operating system and platform
based on Linux that is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute,
now and forever.
You can help the Fedora Project community continue to improve Fedora if you
file bug reports and enhancement requests. Refer to
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugsAndFeatureRequests for more information.
Thank you for your participation.
To find out more general information about Fedora, refer to the following Web
pages:
* Fedora Overview (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview)
* Fedora FAQ (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FAQ)
* Help and Support (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate)
* Participate in the Fedora Project
(http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/HelpWanted)