Fedora Core 7 Test 4 Notes

I installed FC 7 Test 4 on one of my home machines, which was previously running FC6, and it pretty much all went fine. Like with all new releases, there was a definite speed improvement in most operations.

I personally like the new live CD installer. If nothing else, simply for the fact that you get a chance to see how the OS will behave on your new machine before you install it. It's still ironic to me to see the major distros going to that format, because I remember how most Linux users were poking fun at the first developers to use a live cd install process (that I know of), back in 1999: the now defunct LinuxPPC distribution.

For those interested, you can access a lot of FC7 screenshots and videos at the main wiki: Fedora 7 Tour.

Besides the obvious changes, one that puzzled me for a while since I'm not a hardcore follower up-to-date with all the details, is that all my IDE hard drives were now showing up as /dev/sd* (historically SCSI) instead of /dev/hd*. One quote I could find on the wiki about this was: "In this release, all hard disk partitions follow a /dev/sd* naming convention due to a new libata driver interface in the kernel. The Anaconda installer eases the transition for release upgrades."

Another puzzler was the fact that despite choosing to setup my box with a manually assigned IP address in the install process, it was still acquiring one with DHCP at boot time. You can see this in the attached screenshot below (click for a larger view): note the discrepancy between the network config panel and the address reported by the ping command in the terminal. This continued, even after rebooting the machine or just the network ("service network restart" as root), until I issued a "ifup eth0" command as root, which made it all fine from there on.


Trying to run FC7 Test 4 on my MacBook worked fine natively from the Live CD (no install), which did not under Test 3, but I haven't been able to boot it while virtualized in Parallels Desktop for Mac. I haven't tried in VMWare Fusion yet.

The last note is quite a personal one: I much preferred the default theme (icons) in Test 3 (3D) than the ones delivered in Test 4 (2D)... The new ones make me feel like I'm back in the pre-BlueCurve years. ;)

That's it for me, for now. This box being mostly a file/web/db server, running on older hardware (P4 1.65Ghz), I can't really play with compiz, which would be one of the major improvements over FC6, besides running new versions of everything.

Update: here are a few notes form a friend who recently installed it on his shiny new Mac laptop: FC7T4 on MacBook (Core 2 Duo).

Fedora Core 7 Test 4 Released

FC7 test 4 (6.93) has just been announced, right on schedule, and is now available as a torrent and on (most of) the mirrors.


Get it while it's hot and especially before it makes it to the Slashdot, Digg, and many other high profile front pages.

Screenshots of Fedora Core 6 in VMWare Fusion Beta

Please note: this is an early report, and more details will be posted as I have more time to dig deeper into Fusion. Loads of screenshots in the meantime.

As I mentioned earlier, VMWare Fusion for Mac has had its first beta version released publicly today. My first thought was to try the existing Fedora Core 6 x86 virtual machine I put up for download a few weeks ago, to see if it would run as is on my 2006 Core Duo Macbook.

Having experience with both VMWare on other platforms and Parallels Desktop on the Mac, I was eager to see how the two compared. Having moved VMs between OS platforms with VMWare, I really wanted to know if the Mac would indeed be treated equally.

So since I'm busy packing for a holiday trip, and only have little time for it, I thought I'd post screenshots of how it all went. Hint: it's all good. :) You can go ahead and download my VM image, and give it a shot for yourself.

I'm only going to embed a few screenshots below, so the page stays light, but here is a complete archive: FC6_in_VMWare_Fusion_Beta-SCREENSHOTS-20061222.zip (71 screenshots. SHA1SUM: 0e468e48e8727ff842258e720b323960f19b92ad)

Pre-Order a PS3 with Linux Installed

TerraSoft is now taking pre-orders for Sony PlayStation 3 with Yellow Dog Linux 5 pre-installed. YDL5 is based on Fedora Core 5.

If you already have the new console, you can also just order the new YDL5 distro on DVD, or download it via TerraSoft's YDL.net Enhanced. Both options have support options.

You can also wait a few more days and download it during the week of December 25, or take the more experimental road, and do it the other way.

Praise Be Parallels Desktop's Performance

I mean, what else can I say? If you watch the attached video, you'll see what I mean.

• Mac OS X 10.4.8, Parallels Desktop
• Windows XP, Internet Explorer 7
• Fedora Core 6, Firefox 2
• Ubuntu 6.10 Desktop, Firefox 2

All running on my usual 2GHz Core Duo MacBook with 2 GB RAM (512MB/VM).

Performance is awesome. The video is in real time and the only reason the VMs were set to 800x600 was to try and keep the screencast relatively crisp when converted to a small FLV.

Tip: It's in the docs and all, but it took me a while to remember how to launch multiple windows in Parallels Desktop, since it loads VMs in the same window when opening them: File menu » New Window

Screencast: Fedora Core 6 Install in VMWare Workstation

This screencast illustrates installing Fedora Core 6 Linux as a virtual machine in VMWare Workstation. It is based on the series of screenshots offered for download, along with the resulting virtual machine, in my previous post.

Related posts:

• Fedora Core 6 VM Image for VMWare
• Screencast: Fedora Core 6 Install in Parallels Desktop

Enjoy!

Screencast: Fedora Core 6 Install in Parallels Desktop

This screencast illustrates installing Fedora Core 6 Linux as a virtual machine in Parallels Desktop for Mac. It is based on the series of screenshots offered for download, along with the resulting virtual machine, in my previous post.

Related posts:

• Fedora Core 6 (Zod) in virtualized environment
• Fedora Core 6 VM Image for Parallels Desktop for Mac

Enjoy!

Having a bad tech weekend...

I started on a quest to install Linux PPC on my older iBook G3 yesterday. I wanted to try and breathe some productivity back into it, as Apple has been phasing out G3 support over the last few years. But I'm not having too much luck so far...

I first installed Fedora Core 6 PPC, which all seemed fine until I tried to put the laptop to sleep. The whole thing crashed on wake up, and corrupted GNOME so bad, for all users, that I was unable to recover from it, even after rebooting...


Not being in the mood to troubleshoot the thing, I decided to give a try to Ubuntu Desktop 6.10 PPC instead. Again, the install went fine, and sleep was working this time, but then I was quickly remembered why I stuck to a server environment when running Linux PPC in the past: no flash, no easy way to play video (vlc, mplayer, xine, ffmpeg, etc all crashed), no java, no wpa wireless security protocol setup by default, etc.

Aaaaaaaargh! I've had enough of that for one weekend... And it's not for lack of trying, as I've probably spent more than 12 hours giving it all a fair try. But not being the type to just give up completely, I'm getting the FC6 PPC DVD at work as we speak, and I'll try again next week. Knowing Linux, there are probably solutions to most of my problems.

We shall see.

Sony OtherOS Installer for Sony PlayStation 3 Released

Last saturday, I posted about Terra Soft releasing Yellow Dog Linux 5 for the PS3 on November 27th. And earlier this week, the Fedora developers tried to one-up them by releasing an add-on disc for FC5 PPC (which YDL is based on) to install the original distribution on one's shiny new console.

Today, the very much anticipated Sony OtherOS Installer was also made available for download, unleashing the final key to enabling anyone to easily turn the powerful game console into a full blown computer.

• otheros.self.zip (1.29 MB @ QJ, file and complete instructions)
• CELL-Linux-CL_20061110- ADDON.zip (41.77 MB @ QJ, binary)
• CELL-Linux-CL_20061110- SRCCD.zip (131.01 MB @ QJ, source)

It is advised to use the FC5 PPC DVD, rather than CD set, to proceed with this installation:

• bordeaux-DVD-ppc.torrent (bittorrent, 3.4 GB)
• FC-5-ppc-DVD.iso (http, 3.4 GB)
• More mirrors

For more details, the Quick Journal team has a couple of nice articles on how to boot and install GNU/Linux on the PlayStation 3.

• Nov. 13: PS3 Dual Boot Instructions & Blu-ray disc mounting supported!
• Nov. 12: Kernel patches and documentation for PS3 Linux

I would still imagine, though, that Terra Soft will probably remain the leader in Linux for the Power Architecture, all the more in the enterprise market, given the type of resources they have to support their distribution: dedicated team, first Cell-based supercomputer, IBM and Sony backing, etc.

But for many, you can't be early and free! :)

Update: Someone has now posted a video of Fedora Core 5 running on a PS3 on YoutTube.

Sony Barking Up the Right Tree for their PS3 Linux

Linux on the Playstation 3 (PS3) has been covered before, but the inside story is that Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) has entered in an agreement with Terra Soft Solutions (TSS) to bring Yellow Dog Linux 5 (YDL) to their next generation console, which was actually released today in Japan.

Under basic agreement with SCEI, Terra Soft was granted a unique opportunity to develop and bring to market a complete Linux OS for PLAYSTATION 3. In the development of Yellow Dog Linux v5.0, Terra Soft integrated and enhanced code from Barcelona Supercomputing Center, SCEI , and Fedora in order to offer the following: kernel 2.6.16, gcc 4.1.1 and glibc 2.4, Cell SDK 1.1, OpenOffice.org 2.0.2, FireFox 1.5.0 and Thunderbird 1.5.0, Nautilus 2.14 ... and a suite of Personal Accessories, Development Tools; Sound & Video, Internet, and Networking applications.

This is indeed a fantastic opportunity for the dynamic team behind YDL, especially now that Apple has completed its transition to the Intel platform, leaving behind the Power architecture. But what could have spelled the company's dismay is now instead referred to by Kai Staats, CEO of Terra Soft, as a potential blessing in disguise, thanks to the exciting Cell architecture.

In fact, YDL 5 will initially be released for the PS3 on its North American launch date of November 17th, with Apple and other PowerPC based systems supported later in the year. The product will be available to the YDL.net Enhanced members first (Nov.27), later on DVD (Dec. 11), and for download as a holiday treat (Dec. 25).

As a long time YDL user both at work and at home, I am ecstatic to know that TSS has found an exciting new revenue model for their solid offering, with a potentially quite large user base if the PS3 proves to be a success, despite heavy competition from the Wii and Xbox.

PS3/YDL/E17

Another big winner in this deal is the Enlightenment Project, since their E17 (DR17) desktop manager has been chosen to bring what promises to be a beautiful GUI to the YDL/PS3 combination.

When it came out in 1997, Enlightenment blew a strong blow to many other desktop environments, UNIX based and beyond, effectively delivering features such as window transparency to even modest hardware.

Having unfortunately suffered from project management issues in the past, Enlightenment lost tremendous ground to GNOME and KDE over the years, and I am glad to see the new development team benefiting from this project.

From game console to supercomputer

Provided the Power architecture's performance in number crunching intensive applications such as modeling and rendering, Terra Soft is also a very strong contender in the scientific and supercomputing markets, thanks to their Y-Bio and Y-HPC products.

Y-Bio is Terra Soft's solution for the growing life sciences market. Built upon the RPM Linux standard for package management, Y-Bio offers gene sequence analysis applications --tools which help bioinformatics researchers conduct their work with greater efficiency.

Y-HPC is Terra Soft's cluster construction-management suite for Apple G5 (IBM 970) Xserves. Built upon 64-bit Yellow Dog Linux, Y-HPC offers 64-bit enhancements for code development. In use by the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and University labs nation-wide, Yellow Dog Linux and Y-HPC are a preferred Linux platform for the Power architecture.

TSS is currently contracted by Sony to build of the world's first Cell-based supercomputing cluster in their Loveland, Colorado headquarters.

So, thanks for complicating my life...

Okay, now that I had narrowed my choices down to either a Mac Mini or Apple's upcoming iTV for our family room, you're telling me I have to start over again?

Between the games, the Blu-ray/DVD/CD, flash memory and hard drive, the USB2 ports and now a powerful desktop OS making it a full fledged workstation, I might actually get a PS3 for my home office.

Sorry kids, that's daddy's toy! ;)

Fedora Core 6 VM Image for VMWare

As previously mentioned, I have prepared a VMWare equivalent to the Fedora Core 6 image I am distributing for Parallels Desktop.

You can find the details below:

FC6_Basic_For_VMWare_5.5.x-Install_Screenshots.tar.gz:

http download (12.1MB)

This package contains 76 PNG screenshots of the installation procedure. They show the complete process, from setting up the VMWare image to shutting down a freshly installed and updated copy of Fedora Core 6. Please feel free to produce and distribute a screencast using these very images, if so inclined, as I do not have the time to do so myself right now. (update: I did after all).

FC6_Basic_For_VMWare_5.5.x-20061105.tar.gz:

http download (733.4MB)

This is outcome of the install process shown in the above screenshots. It is fully ready to go, as long as you already have VMWare installed (free player or other).

Here is a SHA1SUM of the above files.

Current hosting is generously provided by the McGill Linux Users Group, so please feel free to mirror, or create a torrent, and redistribute all of the present files. Until we have a new site for the McLUG, you can post your mirror addresses and/or torrent file download info right here, as comments. I will compile a list and add it to this file as (and if) they become available.

The VM package includes:

• Fedora Core 6 - Basic: VMWare virtual machine folder
• README.txt: helpful info, support terms (ie: zero, nada, ziltch :)
• Fedora Core 6 - Basic - Install Screenshots: originally installed on an P4 1.65GHz
• Fedora Mirrors.html: copy of the official Fedora mirror list
• boot.iso: fedora boot disk used in original http install process

The install was completed on a Pentium 4 tower (1.65GHz, 1.5GB RAM) running VMWare Workstation 5.5.2 in Fedora core 6, and was also tested on a custom P4 3GHz system running Windows XP SP2 (player), as well as another P4 1.65GHz, but running Fedora Core 5 (workstation).

Once you have VMWare installed, simply double-click or open "Fedora Core 6 - Basic/Fedora Core 6 - Basic.vmx" to get going.

VMWare will most likely prompt you for a few things to adapt the image to your environment:

• Prompts to create a VM unique identifier: choose yes
• Prompts to map the virtual floppy drive to match yours: choose yes
• Warns that the VMWare Tools are not installed: I did not bundle them as I'm unsure if VMWare would let me distribute the image freely once installed in the VM.

Important: The root password is changeme, and the default user is setup as tempuser, with a password of changeme also.

This virtual machine is currently configured to use 512MB RAM. The VM's default screen resolution is set to 800x600. You can change any and all of its settings to your heart's contempt.

Please note that this work is provided without support, and on a "works-for-me" basis only at this time.

So there you have it. Enjoy!

Update 1: Here is another source of ready-built VMWare images.

Update 2: 2006-11-29: Related post: Screencast: Fedora Core 6 Install in VMWare Workstation

Update 3: 2006-12-22: This VM will also run as is in the new VMWare Fusion Beta for Mac.

Queue the hold music: ta dadada, tada, tadada...

I'm currently installing Fedora Core 6 in VMWare Workstation 5.5.2-29772 to provide an equivalent VM image to the one I'm distributing for Parallels Desktop for Mac.

Check back soon to see how it all pans out.

Update: It's all done, but I'm going to test it on a few machines before I post it, most likely tomorrow.

Fedora Core 6 VM Image for Parallels Desktop for Mac

A comment over at OSNews mentioned someone having wished for more information than I provided in my previous post on installing Fedora Core 6 in Parallels Desktop.

So last night, thinking about how to accommodate the request, I could hardly picture more effective ways to do so than:

• to provide a series of screenshot of the setup and install process,
• and maybe even a ready-built VM image of the said install.

Well, you do know what's coming right? :)

FC6_Basic_For_Parallels_Desktop-Install_Screenshots.zip:

http download (15.3MB)

This package contains 67 PNG screenshots of the installation procedure. They show the complete process, from setting up the Parallels VM image to shutting down a freshly installed and updated copy of Fedora Core 6. Yes, I could have produced a screencast too, but I honestly don't have the time these days, and someone else may do so using these very images, if so inclined. (update: I did after all)

FC6_Basic_For_Parallels_Desktop-20061101.zip:

http download (728.7MB)

This is outcome of the install process shown in the above screenshots. It is fully ready to go, as long as you already have Parallels Desktop installed (licensed or demo). I simply compressed the folder as a zip file because I was able to output a file about 60-70MB smaller than even a compressed disk image (.dmg).

Here is a SHA1SUM of the above files.

Current hosting is generously provided by the McGill Linux Users Group, so please feel free to mirror, or create a torrent, and redistribute all of the present files. Until we have a new badly needed incarnation of the McLUG web site going, you can post your mirror addresses and/or torrent file download info right here, as comments. I will compile a list and add it to this file as (and if) they become available.

The VM package includes:

• fedora.pvs: Parallels Desktop config file
• fedora.hdd: 8GB virtual hard disk (auto-expanding, currently using 2.24GB)
• README.txt: helpful info, support terms (ie: zero, nada, ziltch :)
• Fedora Core 6 Install Screenshots: bundled install screenshots
• Fedora Mirrors.webloc: OS X bookmark for the official Fedora mirror list
• boot.iso: fedora boot disk used in original http install process

The install was completed on a Fall 2006 Apple MacBook (Intel Core Duo, 2GHz, 2GB RAM), and was also tested on a Fall 2006 20-inch iMac (Intel Core Duo, 2.16GHz, 2GB RAM).

Once you have Parallels Desktop for Mac installed, simply double-click or open fedora.pvs to get going.

Important: The root password is changeme, and the default user is setup as tempuser, with a password of changeme also.

This virtual machine is currently configured to use 512MB RAM. The VM's default screen resolution is set to 1024x768. You can change any and all of its settings to your heart's contempt.

Please note that this work is provided without support, and on a "works-for-me" basis only at this time.

So there you have it. Enjoy!

Update: I found a forum thread linking to more ready-to-go GNU/Linux images for Parallels Desktop: Ubuntu, Xunbuntu, etc.

Update 2: I've had to update the links to the download locations above to accommodate for a new VMWare image I'm also working on. You should update your links if you pointed to the image directly on your site or other (though I'd advise to point to this very page instead, since its location will not change).

Update 3: I now also have a VMWare FC6 image for download.

Update 4: I have produced a screencast from the above series of screenshots.

Fedora Core 5 to Core 6 upgrade on x86

As previously hinted at, my second encounter with Zod (this one, not that one) was to upgrade my home file/media/LAMP server, an older HP tower running a P4, with 1.5 GB of RAM, two rather large ATA drives and a CD/DVD drive.

This post really focuses on the fact that I hereby did something that I, and others, rarely feel comfortable doing under GNU/Linux: following the distribution's major release upgrade path. I usually tend to re-install the system from scratch instead, while preserving my home directories and re-applying my customizations where needed, usually through custom scripts.

Well, I'm happy to say that despite my concerns, since my family and I rely quite heavily on this home server, I did upgrade from Core 5 to Core 6 and live to tell the tale. It was in fact as easy as, say, an OS X upgrade, which in itself says quite a bit, assuming you did not add oodles of custom built software outside of the distribution's package management architecture (ie: custom compiled kernels and software).

I once again chose to use a network (http) install using a regional mirror. You can find a list of the latter to match your geographic location on the Fedora Wiki.

Having chosen to upgrade, the Anaconda installer skipped over all of the configuration steps, only prompting me to confirm the partition holding the system I wished to upgrade. Having only one on that machine, hitting enter sent me well on my way to completing the install with barely any further user input.

And that really is it for the upgrade itself... Now, was that painless or what? But wait, if you're anything like me, you probably do have quite a few software add-ons that you got used to, and will now have to deal with.

In my context, this box was not highly customized. Having full hardware support out of the box for the past few Fedora Core releases (3 and up) for this computer, my add-ons really boiled down to 3 components:

1. the yum-fastestmirror plugin, to speed up the software install and updates
   
2. the Livna repository, to manage software outside of the Fedora-provided packages
   
3. and a custom compiled mt-daapd server, for sharing media files on my home network

I could have also included the nVidia video drivers, but being a headless server, I do not personally need them. Here is a good article on how to install the nVidia or ATI drivers on FC6 via Livna, should you need them.

Livna being an add-on, I knew that I'd have to upgrade its RPM manually through yum, but what I was not expecting was for the yum-fastestmirror plugin to bring yum to its knees, rendering it useless right off the bat...

So I rolled back to the good old /bin/rpm utility, and simply deleted the yum-fastest mirror RPM, as root.

rpm -e yum-fastestmirror

I then uninstalled the previous version of the Livna repository, since it is release-based and is not upgradable. I did so through /usr/bin/yum, now fully functional again. I also proceeded to install the adequate Livna version and check for system updates with the mother ship.

yum remove livna-release-5
rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-6.rpm
yum update

Compiling a clean copy of mt-daapd was as painless as could be, provided I had installed sql-lite in FC5, which had of course been cleanly upgraded in FC6.

And that was that! I'd estimate the whole thing took me around an hour and a half, and so far, Fedora has exceeded my expectations, especially considering I was kind of going against the community's best advice on this one.

To conclude, and regardless of the operating system you use, I strongly advise anyone considering following an upgrade path, upon major releases, to always research what it will mean to them and their hardware in advance. A few minutes spent running simple web queries are always easier than fuming for hours over your lost data or unsupported hardware once the deed is done!

Now, let's play! :)

Update 2006-12-10:

Well, it seems that a lot of people are interested in upgrading from Fedora 5 to 6, if I'm to believe my site stats.

So as an encouraging update note, I just wanted to say that I'm still running the same upgraded copy of FC6, and more than a month later, all is well under the sun.

Fedora Core 6 (Zod) in virtualized environment

I got to install Fedora Core 6 twice yesterday, in very different contexts, and I'm so far rather pleased with the outcome of my stay in Zod-land. This, despite minor setbacks which were very much due to my requirements, and some not truly Fedora related.

My first run with the new Core 6 was a clean install on a late 2006 Apple MacBook (2 GHz Intel Core Duo), virtualized through Parallels Desktop.

Not having had time to keep up with the beta phase this time around, I walked into this one head first with my eyes closed, so I wasn't expecting the process to be flawless, provided the environment I was facing.

Because of quasi constant network access and the availability of a very good regional mirror, my preferred way to install or upgrade my Fedora boxen is to proceed with a net install, starting from the minuscule, by today's standards, provided boot disc (boot.iso).

As an insight, Parallels will let you select the latter ISO disc image to act as your VM's CD/DVD drive, so that you can skip burning the boot disc to a removable media.



Launching the installer through a new Parallels VM, I was unfortunately immediately faced with a hurdle. Namely, I was getting what seemed to be a hardware detection related kernel panic at boot time. As it turns out, this was not Fedora specific, but is a known issue with the Parallels Desktop product suite.



A few web queries and a friend's wisdom quickly netted valuable results from the Parallels support forums technical discussions.

The problem was easily bypassed by setting the VM's memory settings to the very specific value of 512 MB of RAM. Good thing my laptop is loaded with 2GB, which I'll add is highly desirable for virtualization purposes.

For the record, I noticed that 256 and 924 MB also helped me get passed the early detection bug and into the Anaconda installer process, but only 512 would not revert back to a kernel panic on reboot once the install process was completed.



Since then, someone actually posted a Fedora Core 6 v. Parallels specific thread which you might also want to read through. I haven't had the chance to implement the proposed solution, and I'll admit that the lazy geek in me is ushering that 512 MB of RAM will be just fine for what I need to achieve in this instance.

Once this was all figured out, and I have to state that it was my first GNU/Linux install under Parallels, the install process was as straightforward as any I've ever been through (countless native and VMWare Workstation instances).

Two noteworthy additions to FC6's Anaconda, from a user's perspective, are the automatic retrieval of the latest version of the software you are installing, instead of the base version, and the optional selection of the Extras repository directly within the installer.

Unfortunately, I was not able to configure sound for my MacBook at install time, but I doubt this will be an issue for long, since it uses Intel's onboard audio and video chipsets, which are well understood and supported by the open source development community.

Finally, for a last very context specific issue, I faced something that wasn't a show stopper, but could have left some users perplex. During the installation, which I ran in windowed-mode (ie: not full screen), I continued to interact with OS X (browsing, etc), and therefore brought the mouse focus back to the host OS. But once the install procedure was complete within the VM, I was unable to focus the cursor back into Fedora to agree to the system reboot prompt. Again, I did not deem this to be more than an annoyance, because the point was to restart and I was able to do so via the VM console's reboot button, but this hiccup could have been more serious if Fedora had required further user input.

So on I went with the first boot, and the kernel and all of the desired daemons loaded without a hitch. I had chosen to go with a base install, to initially save time, which of course means that your mileage may vary, should you decide on a larger software selection. Historically though, it seems that most post-install boot related errors occur with the base system, more than the higher level add-ons, unless you chose to add core modules or such deep components through the Extras repository.

All went pretty much flawlessly from then on. Close to what I would expect running Fedora through dual-booting my Mac instead, which I'm sure has its own share of nitty gritty details.




One slight disappointment at this time is that despite the long list of guest OSes that Parallels Desktop for Mac supports, they do not provide a Linux version of their Parallels Tools, which help deliver customized hardware drivers to the virtualized operating system. I somehow find this puzzling, given that the documentation lists the now obsolete OS2 as being an option for these useful, but non mandatory, utilities. But I guess a dead OS is an easy one to support. :)

So to conclude, I won't bore you with a deeper usability and performance review of this proud and shiny new piece of OSS engineering, since you can find much more elaborate ones all over the Net (1, 2) but I'll soon post about my further toying with Fedora through a native FC5 to FC6 upgrade on x86 architecture with my home file/media/LAMP server.

And if you never dared taking the GNU/Linux plunge, now might just be the time, although you might also want to wait to hear about Edgy, the soon to be realeased next generation Ubuntu offering, which also promises to be a quality product.

Update 1: fixed a typo that led a funny comment on osnews.com. I also tried to address the OS2 part of the latter comment in a related comment below.

Update 2: I now have a similar virtual machine image for download, as well as a complete install screencast.