The Fedora 19 "Schrödinger's Cat" release has arrived. This release offers a preview of fantastic, free and open source technology currently under development. Take a peek inside:
http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease
What is the Alpha Release?
The Alpha release contains all the exciting features of Fedora 19 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 16 is due in mid June.
We need your help to make Fedora 19 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
Fedora prides itself in bringing cutting-edge technologies to users of open source around the world, and this release continues that tradition. No matter what you do, Fedora 19 has the tools you need to help you get things done.
A complete list and details of each new feature is available here:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/19/FeatureList
Create and Develop
Would you like to play? Whether you're a developer, maker, or just starting to learn about open source development, we have what you need to bring your ideas to reality. Here's a peek at some of our new tools:
- 3D modeling and printing is enabled through a variety of tools, including OpenSCAD, Skeinforge, SFACT, Printrun, and RepetierHost.
- Developer's Assistant. Great for those new to development, or just new to Linux, this tool helps you to get started on a code project with templates, samples, and toolchains for your language. Bonus: publish directly to GitHub.
- node.js: If you're building scalable network applications, or real-time apps across distributed devices, this popular platform deserves your attention.
- Ruby 2.0.0: Just released in February, the newest version of this language comes to Fedora - while maintaining source-level backwards compatibility with your Ruby 1.9.3 software. Also included: a custom Ruby loader for easy switching of interpreters.
- OpenShift Origin makes it easy for you to build your own Platform-as-a-Service infrastructure, allowing you to enable others to easily develop and deploy software.
- Scratch: This graphical, educational programming environment lets you create interactive stories, games, animation, music, and art.
Deploy, Monitor, and Manage
Make your machines work for you -- not the other way around. If you have one, or if you have many machines, Fedora 19 helps you boot and manage your systems, and enable you to be proactive with tools for diagnosis, monitoring, and logging.
- Checkpoint & Restore provides the ability to checkpoint and restore a process, and is useful for cases such as process failure, or moving a process to another machine for maintenance or load balancing.
- Virt storage migration: Delivers the ability to move a virtual machine *and* in-use storage, without requiring shared storage between the hosts, a significant improvement upon previous capabilities.
- OpenLMI: This common infrastructure for the management of Linux systems makes remote management of machines much simpler.
- High Availability Container Resources: Extend the corosync/pacemaker HA stack beyond management of virtual guests, to containers inside the guests themselves. Define and add containers in your virtual guests through discovery.
- Syslinux optional boot tool: Brings you optional, simplified booting of Fedora, ideal for images used in cloud environments and virt appliances.
- systemd Resource Control: One of many systemd enhancements in Fedora 19, systemd resource control lets you modify your service settings without a reboot by dynamically query and modify resource control parameters at runtime.
Desktop Environments and Spins
Spins are alternate versions of Fedora, tailored for various uses by community members.
Spins are alternate versions of Fedora. In addition to various desktop environments for Fedora, spins are also available as tailored environments for various types of users via hand-picked application sets or customizations.
Interest-specific Spins include the Design Suite Spin, the Robotics Spin, and the Security Spin, among others. Other available desktop environments, in addition to the GNOME 3.8 desktop which is shipped in the default version of Fedora 19, as well as those highlighted below, include XFCE, Sugar on a Stick, and LXDE.
To see all of the Official Fedora 19 Release Spins, see the Fedora 19 Release Spins link.
GNOME 3.8
GNOME 3.8 brings new applications and improvements to the desktop, and additionally provides the ability to enable a "classic mode" for those longing for the GNOME 2 user experience.
KDE Plasma Workspaces 4.10
A modern, stable desktop environment, KDE Plasma Workspaces 4.10 includes new features for printing and screenlocking, better indexing of files, and improved accessibility features.
MATE Desktop 1.6
The MATE 1.6 Desktop introduces a large number of improvements to this traditional, GNOME 2-like desktop interface.
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_19_Alpha_release_notes
A shorter list of common bugs can be found here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F19_bugs
Contributing
There are many ways to contribute beyond bug reporting. You can help translate software and content, test and give feedback on software updates, write and edit documentation, design and do artwork, help with all sorts of promotional activities, and package free software for use by millions of Fedora users worldwide. To get started, visit http://join.fedoraproject.org today!