Fermi Linux

Last updated
Fermi Linux
Fermi Linux logo.svg
Fermi Linux 6.1.png
Developer Fermilab
OS family Linux (Unix-like)
Working stateCurrent
Source model Open source and closed source
Initial release31 August 1998;25 years ago (1998-08-31)
Latest release 6.7 / October 18, 2015;8 years ago (2015-10-18)
Package manager RPM
Platforms IA-32, x86-64
Kernel type Monolithic (Linux)
Default
user interface
GNOME 2, KDE, IceWM
License Mainly GPL
Official website www.scientificlinux.org/at-fermilab/

Fermi Linux is the generic name for Linux distributions that are created and used at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). These releases have gone through different names: Fermi Linux, Fermi Linux LTS, LTS, Fermi Linux STS, STS, Scientific Linux Fermi, SLF. For the purposes of this entry they can be used interchangeably to designate a version of Linux specific to Fermilab.

Contents

At the current time, the only officially supported Fermi Linux is Scientific Linux Fermi, which is based on Scientific Linux.

History

Fermi Linux started out as an extension of the PC Farms Pilot Project spearheaded by Connie Sieh. [1] A Fermilab initiative to seek out cost effective computing for the Tevatron. Continuing to update the SGI and AIX hardware for the computing needs of that experiment was very expensive.

Initial builds of Fermi Linux were merely Red Hat Linux with some things turned off or some extra packages added. With the release of Scientific Linux, Fermi Linux became a 'site' specific build of Scientific Linux.

Releases

Fermi Linux
month-date yearNumber (Official)Name
August 31, 1998Fermi Linux 5.0.2n/a
August 16, 1999Fermi Linux 5.2.1Charm
April 7, 2000Fermi Linux 6.1.1Strange
August 29, 2001Fermi Linux 7.1.1Top
September 13, 2002Fermi Linux 7.3.1Bottom
April 7, 2003Fermi Linux 9.0.1Up
August 27, 2003Fermi Linux 7.1.2Top
January 26, 2004Fermi Linux LTS 3.0.1Feynman
February 27, 2004Fermi Linux 7.3.2Bottom
October 1, 2004Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.3Feynman
February 22, 2005Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.4
August 29, 2005Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.5
September 20, 2005Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.1Wilson
January 25, 2006Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.2
October 25, 2006Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.4
November 10, 2006Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.8Feynman
May 19, 2007Scientific Linux Fermi STS 6N/A
September 10, 2007Scientific Linux Fermi 5.0Lederman
October 25, 2007Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.9Feynman
August 20, 2007Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.5Wilson
February 21, 2008Scientific Linux Fermi 5.1Lederman
March 24, 2008Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.6Wilson
July 17, 2008Scientific Linux Fermi 5.2Lederman
September 18, 2008Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.7Wilson
April 1, 2009Scientific Linux Fermi 5.3Lederman
October 6, 2009Scientific Linux Fermi STS 10N/A
November 18, 2009Scientific Linux Fermi STS 11
January 7, 2010Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.8Wilson
February 8, 2010Scientific Linux Fermi 5.4Lederman
May 20, 2010Scientific Linux Fermi STS 12N/A
June 18, 2010Scientific Linux Fermi 5.5Lederman
August 23, 2010Scientific Linux Fermi STS 13N/A
December 22, 2010Scientific Linux Fermi STS 14
November 22, 2011Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.9Wilson
November 23, 2011Scientific Linux Fermi 5.7Lederman
December 14, 2011Scientific Linux Fermi 6.1Ramsey
May 7, 2012Scientific Linux Fermi 6.2
June 11, 2012Scientific Linux Fermi 5.8Lederman
August 22, 2012Scientific Linux Fermi 6.3Ramsey
March 7, 2013Scientific Linux Fermi 5.9Lederman
April 22, 2013Scientific Linux Fermi 6.4Ramsey
December 3, 2013Scientific Linux Fermi 5.10Lederman
February 18, 2014Scientific Linux Fermi 6.5Ramsey
November 18, 2014Scientific Linux Fermi 6.6
December 8, 2014Scientific Linux Fermi 5.11Lederman

Support policy

Fermi Linux follows the Scientific Linux life cycle regarding support and updates.

There is a vibrant Linux community at Fermilab. This includes dedicated email lists and regular meetings provided by the Scientific Linux development team.

Fermi Linux LTS

Fermi Linux LTS is in essence Red Hat Enterprise Linux, recompiled.

Workers in Fermilab took the source code from Red Hat Enterprise Linux in srpm form and recompiled them resulting in binaries in rpm form with the only restrictions being the license from the original source code. They are bundling these binaries into a Linux distribution that is as close to Red Hat Enterprise Linux as they can get. The goal is to ensure that if a program runs and is certified on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, then it will run on the corresponding Fermi Linux release.

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 made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel, and often a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful 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.

Sorcerer was a source-based Linux distribution. The distribution downloads and compiles source code to install and update installed software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fermilab</span> High-energy particle physics laboratory in Illinois, USA

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been operated by the Fermi Research Alliance (FRA), a joint venture of the University of Chicago, and the Universities Research Association (URA); although in 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) opened bidding for a new contractor due to concerns about the FRA performance. Fermilab is a part of the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor.

<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 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 serves as its upstream source. 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.

Wind River Systems, also known as Wind River, is an Alameda, California–based company, subsidiary of Aptiv PLC. The company develops embedded system and cloud software consisting of real-time operating systems software, industry-specific software, simulation technology, development tools and middleware.

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">Scientific Linux</span>

Scientific Linux (SL) is a discontinued Linux distribution produced by Fermilab, CERN, DESY and by ETH Zurich. It is a free and open-source operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

<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 source code of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

BioLinux is a term used in a variety of projects involved in making access to bioinformatics software on a Linux platform easier using one or more of the following methods:

OpenJDK is a free and open-source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition. It is the result of an effort Sun Microsystems began in 2006. The implementation is licensed under the GPL-2.0-only with a linking exception. Were it not for the GPL linking exception, components that linked to the Java Class Library would be subject to the terms of the GPL license. OpenJDK is the official reference implementation of Java SE since version 7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trisquel</span> Linux distribution based on Ubuntu

Trisquel is a computer operating system, a Linux distribution, derived from another distribution, Ubuntu. The project aims for a fully free software system without proprietary software or firmware and uses a version of Ubuntu's modified kernel, with the non-free code removed. Trisquel relies on user donations. Its logo is a triskelion, a Celtic symbol. Trisquel is listed by the Free Software Foundation as a distribution that contains only free software.

<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.

IcedTea is a build and integration project for OpenJDK launched by Red Hat in June 2007. IcedTea also includes some addon libraries: IcedTea-Web is a free software implementation of Java Web Start and the Java web browser applet plugin. IcedTea-Sound is a collection of plugins for the Java sound subsystem, including the PulseAudio provider which used to be included with IcedTea. The Free Software Foundation recommends that all Java programmers use IcedTea as their development environment.

<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.

<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. "Physics computing innovation benefits multitude". 30 September 2013.