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The Fedora 15 "Lovelock" Alpha release is available! This release offers a preview of some of the best free and open source technology currently under development. Catch a glimpse of the future:
The Fedora 15 "Lovelock" Alpha release is available! This release offers a preview of some of the best free and open source technology currently under development. Catch a glimpse of the future:


[http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease?wkanF14a http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease]
[http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease?wkanF15a http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease]


== What is the Alpha release? ==
== What is the Alpha release? ==


The Alpha release contains all the features of Fedora 15 in a form that anyone can help test. This testing, guided by the [[QA|Fedora QA team]], helps us target and identify bugs. When these bugs are fixed, we make a Beta release available. A Beta release is code-complete, and bears a very strong resemblance to the third and final release. The final release of Fedora 15 is [[Releases/15/Schedule|due]] in May.
The Alpha release contains all the beefy features of Fedora 15 in a form that anyone can help test. This testing, guided by the [[QA|Fedora QA team]], helps us target and identify bugs. When these bugs are fixed, we make a Beta release available. A Beta release is code-complete, and bears a very strong resemblance to the third and final release. The final release of Fedora 15 is [[Releases/15/Schedule|due]] in May.


We need your help to make Fedora 15 the best release yet, so please take a moment of your time to download and try out the Alpha and make sure the things that are important to you are working. If you find a bug, please report it -- every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the experience for millions of Fedora users worldwide. Together, we can make Fedora a rock-solid distribution.  (Read down to [[#Contributing|the end of the announcement]] for more information on how to help.)
We need your help to make Fedora 15 the best release yet, so please take a moment of your time to download and try out the Alpha and make sure the things that are important to you are working. If you find a bug, please report it -- every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the experience for millions of Fedora users worldwide. Together, we can make Fedora a rock-solid distribution.  (Read down to [[#Contributing|the end of the announcement]] for more information on how to help.)
''Need something deep and meaningful about ... something here. We had a bit about "emergence" and Robert Laughlin, but "lovelock" being a city in Nevada isn't quite as inspiring. HALP!''


==Features==
==Features==
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This release of Fedora includes a variety of features both over and under the hood that show off the power and flexibility of the advancing state of free software.  Examples include:
This release of Fedora includes a variety of features both over and under the hood that show off the power and flexibility of the advancing state of free software.  Examples include:


* '''System and session management.''' Fedora 14 introduces '''systemd''', a smarter, more efficient way of starting up and managing the background daemons that services we all use every day - such as '''NetworkManager''' and '''PulseAudio''' - rely on.  Refer to http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/FrequentlyAskedQuestions and http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/TipsAndTricks for common questions and answers.  
* '''Updated Desktop Environments.'''  Fedora 15 will ship with GNOME 3, the next major version of the GNOME desktop.  If you're interested in other experiences, KDE and Xfce will also be showcasing the latest and greatest in desktop technology from their respective projects.
* '''System and session management.''' Previously available as a technology preview in F14, '''systemd''' makes its full-fledged debut in Fedora 15.  systemd is a smarter, more efficient way of starting up and managing the background daemons relied on by services we all use every day - such as '''NetworkManager''' and '''PulseAudio'''.
* '''Cloud'''. Looking to create appliances for use in the Cloud? BoxGrinder creates appliances (virtual machines) for various platforms (KVM, Xen, EC2) from simple plain text appliance definition files for various virtual platforms.
* '''Updated programming languages and tools'''. Fedora 15 features new versions of ''Rails'', ''OCaml'', and ''Python''.  GDB and GCC have also been updated. (Fedora 15 was built with GCC 4.6.0, too!)
* '''Productivity Applications.'''  LibreOffice is filled with tools for everyday use, including word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications.
* '''Consistent Network Device Naming.'''  Server management just got even easier.  Fedora 15 uses BIOS-provided, non-arbitrarily given names for network ports, taking the burden off of system administrators.
* '''Dynamic Firewall.''' Fedora 15 adds support for the optional firewall daemon, that provides a dynamic firewall management with a D-Bus interface.
* '''Ecryptfs in Authconfig'''.  Fedora 15 brings in improved support for eCryptfs, a stacked cryptographic filesystem for Linux. Starting with Fedora 15, authconfig can be used to automatically mount a private encrypted part of the home directory when a user logs in.
* '''DNSSEC for workstations.''' NetworkManager now uses the BIND nameserver as a DNSSEC resolver. All received DNS responses are proved to be correct. If particular domain is signed and failed to validate then resolver returns SERFVAIL instead of invalidated response, which means something is wrong.
* '''Go Green.''' Power Management improvements include the PowerTOP tool, which identifies the software components that make your computer use more energy than necessary while idle.  Automatic tuning of power consumption and performance helps conserve on laptop battery usage, too!
* '''Business Management tools'''. Tryton is a three-tier high-level general purpose application platform, providing solutions for accounting, invoicing, sale management, purchase management, analytic accounting, and inventory management.
* '''New Package Suite Groups.''' The Graphics suite group has been renamed to the Design group, and the Robotics SIG has created the Robotics Package Suite, a collection of software that provides an out-of-the-box usable robotic simulation environment featuring a linear demo to introduce new users.


* '''Desktop virtualization'''. High-quality access to QEMU virtual machines moves a step closer with the introduction of '''Spice''', a complete open source solution for interaction with virtualized desktops.
* '''Faster JPEG compression/decompression'''. The replacement of '''libjpeg''' with '''libjpeg-turbo''' brings speed improvements to a wide range of applications when handling images in JPEG format, including photo managers, video editors and PDF readers.
* '''New and updated programming languages'''. Fedora 14 sees the introduction of '''D''', a systems programming language combining power and high performance with programmer productivity, as well as updates to '''Python''', '''Erlang''', and '''Perl'''.
* '''Better tools for developers'''. Simpler, faster debugging with '''gdb''' indexing and new commands for finding and fixing memory leaks, as well as new versions of '''NetBeans''' and '''Eclipse'''.
* '''The latest desktop environments'''. '''KDE 4.5''' introduces window tiling and better notification features, along with many stability improvements. '''Sugar 0.90''' features major usability improvements and support for 3G networks.
* '''Improved netbook experience with MeeGo™'''. The '''MeeGo™ Netbook UX 1.0''' provides a user interface tailored specifically for netbooks, building on the foundations laid by '''Moblin''' in previous Fedora releases.
* '''Fedora on the cloud'''. From Fedora 14 onward images for EC2 will be provided for each new release, allowing users of Amazon's on-demand cloud computing platform to use the latest Fedora.
* '''IPMI server management made simple'''. New to Fedora 14 is '''ipmiutil''', an easy-to-use, fully-featured IPMI server management utility that allows a wide range of management functions to be performed with just a few commands.
* '''Support for SCAP'''. Fedora 14 introduces an open source framework for the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), allowing users to automatically scan their system to check whether it complies with a defined security configuration.
* '''Perl 6 support with Rakudo'''. Fedora 14 comes with Rakudo Perl, an implementation of the Perl 6 specification based on the Parrot virtual machine, which enables developers to write new applications or port existing ones to Perl 6. 
* '''More powerful data analysis'''. Given that Fedora 14 is named after one of the giants of modern theoretical physics, it seems appropriate that Laughlin sees the introduction to Fedora of '''ROOT''', an obejct-oriented, open-source platform for data acquisition, simulation and data analysis developed by CERN. Support for the increasingly popular '''R''' statistical programming language is also broadened with a range of new addons. 
 
These and many other improvements provide a wide and solid base for future releases, further increasing the range of possibilities for developers and helping to maintain Fedora's position at the leading edge of free and open source technology.
These and many other improvements provide a wide and solid base for future releases, further increasing the range of possibilities for developers and helping to maintain Fedora's position at the leading edge of free and open source technology.


A more complete list and details of each new cited feature is available here:
A more complete list and details of each new cited feature is available here:


[http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/14/FeatureList?wkanF14a http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/14/FeatureList]
[http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/15/FeatureList?wkanF15a http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/15/FeatureList]


We have nightly composes of alternate spins available here:
We have nightly composes of alternate spins available here:


[http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/?wkanF14a http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/]
[http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/?wkanF15a http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/]


== Issues and Details ==
== Issues and Details ==
Line 45: Line 42:
For more information including common and known bugs, tips on how to report bugs, and the official release schedule, please refer to the release notes:
For more information including common and known bugs, tips on how to report bugs, and the official release schedule, please refer to the release notes:


[http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_15_Alpha_release_notes?wkanF14a http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_15_Alpha_release_notes]
[http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_15_Alpha_release_notes?wkanF15a http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_15_Alpha_release_notes]
 
 
''Need referring link added in here''A shorter list of common bugs can be found here: [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F15_bugs https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F15_bugs]


'A shorter list of common bugs can be found here: [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F15_bugs/?wkanF15a https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F15_bugs]


== Contributing ==
== Contributing ==
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[[Category:F15]]
 
 
[[Category:F14]]

Latest revision as of 13:05, 8 March 2011

The Fedora 15 "Lovelock" Alpha release is available! This release offers a preview of some of the best free and open source technology currently under development. Catch a glimpse of the future:

http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease

What is the Alpha release?

The Alpha release contains all the beefy features of Fedora 15 in a form that anyone can help test. This testing, guided by the Fedora QA team, helps us target and identify bugs. When these bugs are fixed, we make a Beta release available. A Beta release is code-complete, and bears a very strong resemblance to the third and final release. The final release of Fedora 15 is due in May.

We need your help to make Fedora 15 the best release yet, so please take a moment of your time to download and try out the Alpha and make sure the things that are important to you are working. If you find a bug, please report it -- every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the experience for millions of Fedora users worldwide. Together, we can make Fedora a rock-solid distribution. (Read down to the end of the announcement for more information on how to help.)

Features

This release of Fedora includes a variety of features both over and under the hood that show off the power and flexibility of the advancing state of free software. Examples include:

  • Updated Desktop Environments. Fedora 15 will ship with GNOME 3, the next major version of the GNOME desktop. If you're interested in other experiences, KDE and Xfce will also be showcasing the latest and greatest in desktop technology from their respective projects.
  • System and session management. Previously available as a technology preview in F14, systemd makes its full-fledged debut in Fedora 15. systemd is a smarter, more efficient way of starting up and managing the background daemons relied on by services we all use every day - such as NetworkManager and PulseAudio.
  • Cloud. Looking to create appliances for use in the Cloud? BoxGrinder creates appliances (virtual machines) for various platforms (KVM, Xen, EC2) from simple plain text appliance definition files for various virtual platforms.
  • Updated programming languages and tools. Fedora 15 features new versions of Rails, OCaml, and Python. GDB and GCC have also been updated. (Fedora 15 was built with GCC 4.6.0, too!)
  • Productivity Applications. LibreOffice is filled with tools for everyday use, including word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications.
  • Consistent Network Device Naming. Server management just got even easier. Fedora 15 uses BIOS-provided, non-arbitrarily given names for network ports, taking the burden off of system administrators.
  • Dynamic Firewall. Fedora 15 adds support for the optional firewall daemon, that provides a dynamic firewall management with a D-Bus interface.
  • Ecryptfs in Authconfig. Fedora 15 brings in improved support for eCryptfs, a stacked cryptographic filesystem for Linux. Starting with Fedora 15, authconfig can be used to automatically mount a private encrypted part of the home directory when a user logs in.
  • DNSSEC for workstations. NetworkManager now uses the BIND nameserver as a DNSSEC resolver. All received DNS responses are proved to be correct. If particular domain is signed and failed to validate then resolver returns SERFVAIL instead of invalidated response, which means something is wrong.
  • Go Green. Power Management improvements include the PowerTOP tool, which identifies the software components that make your computer use more energy than necessary while idle. Automatic tuning of power consumption and performance helps conserve on laptop battery usage, too!
  • Business Management tools. Tryton is a three-tier high-level general purpose application platform, providing solutions for accounting, invoicing, sale management, purchase management, analytic accounting, and inventory management.
  • New Package Suite Groups. The Graphics suite group has been renamed to the Design group, and the Robotics SIG has created the Robotics Package Suite, a collection of software that provides an out-of-the-box usable robotic simulation environment featuring a linear demo to introduce new users.

These and many other improvements provide a wide and solid base for future releases, further increasing the range of possibilities for developers and helping to maintain Fedora's position at the leading edge of free and open source technology.

A more complete list and details of each new cited feature is available here:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/15/FeatureList

We have nightly composes of alternate spins available here:

http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/

Issues and Details

For more information including common and known bugs, tips on how to report bugs, and the official release schedule, please refer to the release notes:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_15_Alpha_release_notes

'A shorter list of common bugs can be found here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F15_bugs

Contributing

Bug reports are helpful, especially for Alpha. If you encounter any issues please report them and help make this release of Fedora the best ever.

Thank you, and we hope to see you in the Fedora project!

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