Fedora Project

Last updated

Fedora Project
FoundedSeptember 22, 2003;21 years ago (2003-09-22)
FounderWarren Togami, Red Hat et al.
TypeCommunity
Focus Open source
Products Fedora Linux, 389 Directory Server
MethodArtwork, development, documentation, promotion, and translation. [1]
LeaderMatthew Miller
Website fedoraproject.org

The Fedora Project is an independent project [2] to coordinate the development of Fedora Linux, a Linux-based operating system, operating with the mission of creating "an innovative platform for hardware, clouds, and containers that enables software developers and community members to build tailored solutions for their users". [3]

Contents

The project also oversees Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux, a special interest group which maintains the eponymous packages. [4] The project was founded in 2003 as a result of a merger between the Red Hat Linux (RHL) and Fedora Linux projects. It is sponsored by Red Hat primarily, but its employees make up only 35% of project contributors, and most of the over 2,000 contributors are unaffiliated members of the community. [5]

History

The Fedora Project was founded in November 2003 [6] when Red Hat decided to split Red Hat Linux into Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and a community-based operating system, Fedora. [7] Red Hat Professional Workstation was created at this same time. [8]

Fedora operating system

Fedora Linux, then known as "Fedora Core," was a fork of RHL launched in 2003. It was introduced as a free-of-cost, community-supported alternative intended for home use, shortly after Red Hat discontinued RHL in favor of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). [9] RHEL branches its releases from versions of Fedora. [10]

Since the release of Fedora 21 in December 2014, three editions have been made available: personal computer, server and cloud computing. This was expanded to five editions for containerization and Internet of Things (IoT) as of the release of Fedora 37 in November 2022. [11] [12] A new version of Fedora Linux is released every six months. [13]

The current release is Fedora 41, which was released on 29 October 2024. [14]

Security intrusion

In August 2008, several Fedora servers were compromised. Upon investigation it was found that one of the compromised servers was used for signing Fedora update packages. The Fedora Project stated that the attacker(s) did not get the package signing key which could be used to introduce malicious software onto Fedora users' systems through the update process. Project administrators performed checks on the software and did not find anything to suggest that a Trojan horse had been introduced into the software. As a precaution the project converted to new package signing keys. [15] [16] Fedora published the full details on March 30, 2009. [17]

Governance

The Fedora Project is not a separate legal entity or organization; Red Hat retains liability for its actions. [18] The Fedora Council is the top-level community leadership and governance body. The Council is composed of a mix of representatives from different areas of the project, named roles appointed by Red Hat, and a variable number of seats connected to medium-term project goals. [19] The previous governance structure (Fedora Board) comprised five Red Hat appointed members and five community-elected members. Additionally, Fedora Project leader had a veto power over any board decision; in the current model, all voting members can block on issues, with a valid reason. [19] Red Hat at one point announced intentions to create a separate Fedora Foundation to govern the project, [20] but after consideration of a variety of issues, canceled it in favor of the board model currently in place. [21] [22]

The community is also involved in organizing lower levels of leadership, both the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo) and the Mindshare Committee (responsible for technical and community oversight, respectively) are community-elected bodies which manage significant portions of the project. [23] [24]

The project facilitates online communication among its developers and community members through public mailing lists and wiki pages. It also coordinates two main events, known as the Fedora Users and Developers Conference (FUDCon) and Flock (or Flock to Fedora). FUDCon is a free software event held at different locations in the two designated regions of Latin America and Asia/Pacific. Typically, it revolves around some combination of conferencing, social events, and a hackathon. [25] Flock is a similar event which replaced FUDCon in North America and Europe/the Middle East. [26] Task-specific, flexibly scheduled events known as Fedora Activity Days also gather many project contributors together in various regions. [27]

Sub-projects

Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL)

EPEL is a repository of extra packages published by the Fedora project, which can be expected to work in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux derivatives systems. EPEL is organised by a Fedora Special Interest Group. EPEL packages are usually based on their Fedora counterparts and will never conflict with or replace packages in the base Enterprise Linux distributions. EPEL uses much of the same infrastructure as Fedora, including buildsystem, Bugzilla instance, updates manager, mirror manager and more. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux distribution</span> Operating system based on the Linux kernel

A Linux distribution is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro, if distributed on its own, is often obtained via a website intended specifically for the purpose. Distros have been designed for a wide variety of systems ranging from personal computers to servers and from embedded devices to supercomputers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hat Linux</span> Linux distribution

Red Hat Linux was a widely used commercial open-source Linux distribution created by Red Hat until its discontinuation in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hat</span> Computing services company

Red Hat, Inc. is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises and is a subsidiary of IBM. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, with other offices worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow Dog Linux</span> Linux distribution

Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) is a discontinued free and open-source operating system for high-performance computing on multi-core processor computer architectures, focusing on GPU systems and computers using the POWER7 processor. The original developer was Terra Soft Solutions, which was acquired by Fixstars in October 2008. Yellow Dog Linux was first released in the spring of 1999 for Apple Macintosh PowerPC-based computers. The last version, Yellow Dog Linux 7, was released on August 6, 2012. Yellow Dog Linux lent its name to the popular YUM Linux software updater, derived from YDL's YUP and thus called Yellowdog Updater, Modified.

yum (software) Free and open-source command-line package management utility

The Yellowdog Updater Modified (YUM) is a free and open-source command-line package-management utility for computers running the Linux operating system using the RPM Package Manager. Though YUM has a command-line interface, several other tools provide graphical user interfaces to YUM functionality.

Red Hat Network is a family of systems-management services operated by Red Hat. RHN makes updates, patches, and bug fixes of packages included within Red Hat Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux available to subscribers. Other available features include the deployment of custom content to, and the provisioning, configuration, reporting, monitoring of client systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hat Enterprise Linux</span> Linux distribution developed by Red Hat

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a commercial open-source Linux distribution developed by Red Hat for the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86-64, Power ISA, ARM64, and IBM Z and a desktop version for x86-64. Fedora Linux and CentOS Stream serve as its upstream sources. All of Red Hat's official support and training, together with the Red Hat Certification Program, focuses on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CentOS</span> Linux distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

CentOS is a discontinued Linux distribution that provided a free and open-source community-supported computing platform, functionally compatible with its upstream source, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). In January 2014, CentOS announced the official joining with Red Hat while staying independent from RHEL, under a new CentOS governing board.

phpLDAPadmin is a web app for administering Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) servers. It's written in the PHP programming language, and is licensed under the GNU General Public License. The application is available in 14 languages and supports UTF-8 encoded directory strings.

Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, including how quickly security upgrades are available; ease of package management; and number of packages available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hat Enterprise Linux derivatives</span>

Red Hat Enterprise Linux derivatives are Linux distributions that are based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Linux distribution.

The 389 Directory Server is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server developed by Red Hat as part of the community-supported Fedora Project. The name "389" derives from the port number used by LDAP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oracle Linux</span> Linux distribution by Oracle

Oracle Linux is a Linux distribution packaged and freely distributed by Oracle, available partially under the GNU General Public License since late 2006. It is compiled from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) source code, replacing Red Hat branding with Oracle's. It is also used by Oracle Cloud and Oracle Engineered Systems such as Oracle Exadata and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fedora Linux</span> Linux distribution by Fedora Project

Fedora Linux is a Linux distribution developed by the Fedora Project. It was originally developed in 2003 as a continuation of the Red Hat Linux project. It contains software distributed under various free and open-source licenses and aims to be on the leading edge of open-source technologies. It is now the upstream source for CentOS Stream and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Spacewalk is open-source systems management software for system provisioning, patching and configuration licensed under the GNU GPLv2.

Smolt was a computer program used to gather hardware information from computers running Linux, and submit them to a central server for statistical purposes, quality assurance and support. It was initiated by Fedora, with the release of Fedora 7, and soon after it was a combined effort of various Linux projects. Information collection was voluntary (opt-in) and anonymous. Smolt did not run automatically. It requested permission before uploading new data to the Smolt server. On October 10, 2012, it was announced that smolt would be discontinued on November 1, 2013. That is now in effect. The Smolt webpage is no longer available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RPM Package Manager</span> Package management system

RPM Package Manager (RPM) is a free and open-source package management system. The name RPM refers to the .rpm file format and the package manager program itself. RPM was intended primarily for Linux distributions; the file format is the baseline package format of the Linux Standard Base.

Fedora Linux is a popular Linux distribution developed by the Fedora Project. Fedora attempts to maintain a six-month release schedule, offering new versions in Spring and Fall, although some releases have experienced minor delays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky Linux</span> Operating system by Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation

Rocky Linux is a Linux distribution developed by Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, which is a privately owned benefit corporation that describes itself as a "self-imposed not-for-profit". It is intended to be a downstream, complete binary-compatible release using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system source code. The project's aim is to provide a community-supported, production-grade enterprise operating system. Rocky Linux, along with RHEL and SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE), has become popular for enterprise operating system use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AlmaLinux</span> Linux distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

AlmaLinux is a free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, a 501(c) organization, to provide a community-supported, production-grade enterprise operating system that is binary-compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). The name of the distribution comes from the word "alma", meaning "soul" in Spanish and other Latin languages. It was chosen to be a homage to the Linux community.

References

  1. ↑ "Projects". FedoraProject. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ "FAQ - Fedora Project Wiki". Fedora Project. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Mission Statement". Fedora Docs. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  4. ↑ "EPEL". Fedora Project. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  5. ↑ "State of Fedora August 2016" (PDF). Matthew Miller. August 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Red Hat parades Fedora Core 1". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Announcement: Red Hat Linux Merging with Fedora Linux". Archived from the original on October 1, 2003.
  8. ↑ "Red Hat Professional Workstation: More Expensive, Fewer features". Linux.com. February 14, 2004. Retrieved December 21, 2007.
  9. ↑ Johnson, Michael K. (September 22, 2003). "Fedora Project: Announcing New Direction". Fedora development (Mailing list). Archived from the original on November 20, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
  10. ↑ Burke, Tim (August 2006). "The Fedora Project and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, part 4". Red Hat Magazine, Issue #22. Red Hat. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  11. ↑ Gilbertson, Scott (January 16, 2015). "Fedora 21 review: Linux's sprawliest distro finds a new focus". ArsTechnica.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Fedora". Archived from the original on January 6, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Fedora Linux Releases". Fedora Project. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023.
  14. ↑ Miller, Matthew (October 29, 2024). "Fedora 41 is here!". Fedora Magazine. Retrieved October 29, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ↑ "Security Breach—securityfocus.com".
  16. ↑ "Security Breach—Red Hat Mailing list".
  17. ↑ "Update and Report on Fedora August 2008 Intrusion—Red Hat Mailing list".
  18. ↑ "Fedora Project Leader Max Spevack Responds to Slashdot Questions". August 18, 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
  19. 1 2 "Council - FedoraProject". fedoraproject.org. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  20. ↑ Peter Galli (June 3, 2005). "Red Hat Creates Fedora Foundation" . Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  21. ↑ "The Fedora Foundation" . Retrieved February 6, 2007.
  22. ↑ Max Spevack (April 4, 2006). "Fedora Foundation" . Retrieved February 6, 2007.
  23. ↑ "Fedora Engineering Steering Committee". Fedora Docs. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Fedora Mindshare Committee". Fedora Docs. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  25. ↑ "FUDCon". Archived from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
  26. ↑ "Flock to Fedora". Fedora Project. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Fedora Activity Day". Fedora Project. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) :: Fedora Docs". Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.