Firefox 4 in Fedora

There are two ways to install Firefox 4.0 Beta7 In Fedora using a repository.
There is a Remi repository and a Spot repository.
In my opinion The Spot option is your best choice, and Remi the easiest, since all you have to do to set up the Remi repository is to install a remi-release-rpm matching the Fedora version you use; Fedora 12 users should opt for Remi since Spot only has repo’s available for Fedora 14 and -13.

The Spot version of Firefox is smoother and the opening and closing of tabs look better (animated).

For the spot repository do as normal user in your terminal (fedora 13 and 14 only!)

wget http://repos.fedorapeople.org/repos/spot/firefox4/fedora-firefox4.repo

Then as root:

mv fedora-firefox4.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/

yum install firefox4

Installing Firefox from the Remi repo is after installing the remi-release-rpm also yum install firefox4.

Enjoy,

Tuxicity.

To my surprise wget is not in the default Fedora 14 installation, so if you choose for the Spot repo option first as root:

yum install wget

Change Bootsplash in Fedora 14

The default bootsplash ( or Plymouth theme) in Fedora 14 is pretty boring, not to say ugly.

Fedora has more themes available, to install them all; As root:

yum install plymouth-theme-charge plymouth-theme-fade-in plymouth-theme-script plymouth-theme-solar plymouth-theme-spinfinity

That is 5 themes to choose from!
I chose plymouth-theme-spinfinity for its professional look. It requires two commands to do this.

As root;

plymouth-set-default-theme spinfinity
/usr/libexec/plymouth/plymouth-update-initrd

That should to it, if you decide to use another theme don’t forget to do the second command to make it work.

Have fun,

Tuxicity.

Thanks to The Fedora Design team!

How to create a custom DVD using DeVeDe

This guide describes how to create a dvd with a menu using DeVeDe. It allows you to create DVDs and CDs (VCD, sVCD or VCD). It supports any of the formats supported by mplayer such as mpeg, avi, asf, wmv, wma, quicktime, mov, realtime, ogg, and matroska.

read more | digg story

DeVeDe is available for Debian in this repository.

First experimental KDE 4 svn rpms for Fedora

Chitlesh Goorah has prepared a set of Fedora rpm packages containing a checkout of the KDE 4 developmetn trunk of the KDE svn.

Of course these packages do install KDE 4 only to some /opt/ directory and are strictly for demonstration and development only. However installs them should be very clear about what he/she does.

• Read the whole story here.

Where Fedora Went Wrong

Last month Eric S. Raymond made a public announcement on the Fedora developer’s list that he was giving up on Fedora Core and that from now on Ubuntu is his distribution of choice.

Eric S. Raymond blamed Yum and RPM.

The writer of this story disagrees and believes its not the RPM package system, or Yum being to complex, she says:

“The problem is insufficient testing and just plain sloppy repository management.”

• Read the Original story here.

How To Get Better ATI Linux Support

Michael Larabel explains what actions to take to get better ATI support for Linux.

He dismisses the approach of Jonathan Steffan who is working on new Fedora XGL packages.

Apparently the “ATI Linux Driver Feedback” form is not the way to go.

“If you want action, contact ATI/AMD’s OEMs, AIBs, and ODMs”, Michael Larabel states.

The story includes an “example message” and links to the contact pages of major companies.

Good read/howto if you are ready to complain about your ATI compatability issues.

• Original Post:“How To Get Better ATI Linux Support”

Tuxicity.

Fedora v. Ubuntu: A Performance Look

We have compared the 32-bit and 64-bit performance of Ubuntu and started a performance comparison of Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu, but how does the performance of the upcoming Feisty Fawn release compare to that of Fedora 7? In this article we have enclosed benchmarks from Fedora Core 6, Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft, Fedora 7 Test 2, and Ubuntu Feisty Fawn Herd 5. In gaming and desktop benchmarks, which of these Linux distributions is faster? We hope to answer that question today.

read more | digg story

Fedora turns 2 million

Fedora Core 6 has hit 2 million installations. Pretty impressive. Ubuntu lists 17,000+ registered machines, with a total user count of over 8 million, according to Mark Shuttleworth.

read more | digg story

Choosing the Right Linux Distribution

Ready to use Linux? Choosing the right version for your needs can be seriously daughnting. Jethro Carr presents helpful tips for choosing the right Linux distro for your needs. He provides details regarding: purposes of different flavors, package management, stability, and personal experiences with numerous versions.

read more | digg story

a word of thanks for those who work instead of rant (or, do as ESR says, not as ESR does)

Original from Luis Villa’s Blog:

[T]o get attention from us, it is necessary to demonstrate the kind of attitude that leads to competence — alert, thoughtful, observant, willing to be an active partner in developing a solution.

–Eric S. Raymond, How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

Like a lot of what ESR used to write, this is remarkably good advice- clearly written, straightforward, and demonstrating a lot of insight into how functional software communities work. Thankfully, lots of people still do as ESR says, not as ESR does. Here is a brief story about one such exchange.

read the rest here..