A few months ago I decided to update the Linux version on the desktop computer in my home office. I used it as a chance to decide if I wanted to stick with Fedora or move to Ubuntu. We are moving from CentOS to Ubuntu at work and so I wanted to start with Fedora just to be able to compare and contrast multiple flavors of Linux.
Unfortunately the upgrade from Fedora Core 10 to Fedora Core 18 was not painless. There was the problem with importing my old e-mail that I was able to figure out. The worst problem appeared about a week after the upgrade. For some reason, my Firefox browser kept crashing. I thought I could just download Google's Chrome, but that didn't even load. Previously I had been running the 32-bit version of Linux and upgraded to the 64-bit version. I figured there was some library mismatch in the 64-bit versions of the software and that by constantly sending crash reports to the developers, it would eventually get fixed. In the mean time, I just used the browser on my laptop.
I work in the Bay area during the week and fly back to Utah on weekends. Every Saturday, I would patiently update my system only to discover the bug with my browser hadn't been fixed. One perk I have with my job is that I get to work from home one week per month and this was that week. On Monday, I gave the old update a shot and cranked up the browser. I let it sit there and several minutes later the browser was still running. Next I cranked up Pandora and filled my office with music. It has been running all week with no crashes. I have yet to give Chrome a try, but I don't like Chrome and avoid it if I can.
Running the latest versions of software can be a little dangerous sometimes, as I was reminded. However you can send in the bug and crash reports. Eventually things will get fixed and the updated software becomes the stable version. Just be sure you have a second computer to use in case things don't work.
Showing posts with label Fedora. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fedora. Show all posts
Friday, August 16, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Time To Upgrade Linux
I found a new program to help me program my VHF ham radio and tried to install it on my Linux system at home this week. The flavor of Linux I like to run at home is Fedora and I was still on Fedora Core 10. The latest version right now is Fedora 18. That represents a significant difference. When I tried to install my ham radio software called Chirp, I needed to upgrade a bunch of different libraries. Instead of just upgrading the libraries, I decided to update the whole operating system.
Right now there are two major releases of Linux that most people consider: Fedora or Ubuntu. We are moving to Ubuntu at work and so I will be updating my computer there from CentOS, which is very similar to Fedora. As I will have computer running Ubuntu, I figured I would keep my home desktop on Fedora. That way I can compare both systems and find out for myself which flavor of Linux is really better.
Before deciding on the upgrade, I researched both Linux distributions thoroughly. You had the usual religious battles between both groups combined with a bunch of "impartial" comparisons claiming it is a tie between the two. We will see how much truth there is to that.
Unfortunately the Linux upgrade did not go as smoothly as I had planned. I made sure to back up all of my data and directories. Then I backed up my e-mail. When I tried to restore my e-mail, none of my messages appeared on the new system. Fortunately there is a way to import raw mail files into my e-mail program (Evolution) and so I just had to restore each e-mail folder one at a time. It was fairly painless once I figured out how to do it. Now it is just a matter of loading up all of the programs I normally use.
One nice thing about upgrading Linux versions is that I can now access my Windows partition, not that I have missed it. When I installed Fedora Core 10, I saved a part of my hard disk for Windows, but was never able to access it. Now it has started working again. So if I need it, it is available. I sure hope I don't need it though. I hate Windows.
Right now there are two major releases of Linux that most people consider: Fedora or Ubuntu. We are moving to Ubuntu at work and so I will be updating my computer there from CentOS, which is very similar to Fedora. As I will have computer running Ubuntu, I figured I would keep my home desktop on Fedora. That way I can compare both systems and find out for myself which flavor of Linux is really better.
Before deciding on the upgrade, I researched both Linux distributions thoroughly. You had the usual religious battles between both groups combined with a bunch of "impartial" comparisons claiming it is a tie between the two. We will see how much truth there is to that.
Unfortunately the Linux upgrade did not go as smoothly as I had planned. I made sure to back up all of my data and directories. Then I backed up my e-mail. When I tried to restore my e-mail, none of my messages appeared on the new system. Fortunately there is a way to import raw mail files into my e-mail program (Evolution) and so I just had to restore each e-mail folder one at a time. It was fairly painless once I figured out how to do it. Now it is just a matter of loading up all of the programs I normally use.
One nice thing about upgrading Linux versions is that I can now access my Windows partition, not that I have missed it. When I installed Fedora Core 10, I saved a part of my hard disk for Windows, but was never able to access it. Now it has started working again. So if I need it, it is available. I sure hope I don't need it though. I hate Windows.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Linux Flavors
Yesterday my oldest son came into my office and started telling me how his day was. The topic of Red Hat Linux came up and he expressed a desire to have a copy. This started a whole discussion on the different flavors of Linux.
When I first installed Linux on one of my office machines over ten years ago, I went down to a local book store and bought a book about Linux. In the back of the book was a CD that came with a copy of the operating system. It was Slackware Linux and seemed to work just fine. I played around a bit but couldn't get the graphical user interface (GUI) working with my hardware. So I went to a computer store and bought a copy of Red Hat Linux. I think it was version 2. I was able to get the X windowing environment (Linux's GUI) running. Since then I have always been a fan of Red Hat Linux.
I purchased several more copies of Red Hat Linux before they decided to concentrate on becoming a server-centric operating system provider. Most of the work I do is for other people and they have their own servers. That means I don't really need a server-specific version of Linux. Not to worry, Red Hat created Fedora Core for people like me. It is freely downloadable from the Internet and so I don't have to get in my car and drive to the local computer store to get it.
About a year ago, one of my clients asked me to put together a staging server at my office. A staging server is used to test changes in software before they are moved into the production environment. This is very helpful if you want to upgrade your database software but need to ensure it will work before you make the change. Simply upgrade the staging server and run through a bunch of tests. Once you are satisfied the upgrade won't break anything, you can roll out the new database software to the production system.
My client is barely above water financially and so I wanted to save them a bit of money. The production servers run Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server but that costs about $2,500 per server (if I remember correctly . . . I just tried to look it up but you now have to purchase it from a reseller . . . what a pain). Since I really don't care about technical support for the staging server, I decided to load it with CentOS. CentOS basically looks like Red Hat Enterprise Linux but is free. That means if there are any problems you have to figure them out yourself. I wouldn't recommend it for a production environment unless you have one or two Linux experts on staff who are used to figuring things out for themselves. So far it has worked perfectly for my client's staging server. I told my son that if he really wants to give Red Hat Enterprise Linux a try, he should just use CentOS.
There are many different flavors of Linux and these only represent a handful of distributions available. I have a good friend who works for Cannonical who are the guys behind Ubuntu Linux. He keeps trying to get me to switch to his distribution. I am reluctant to do so because I am so familiar with what I am already using. Oh well, I would probably make a bad customer anyways because I try to avoid paying for anything.
When I first installed Linux on one of my office machines over ten years ago, I went down to a local book store and bought a book about Linux. In the back of the book was a CD that came with a copy of the operating system. It was Slackware Linux and seemed to work just fine. I played around a bit but couldn't get the graphical user interface (GUI) working with my hardware. So I went to a computer store and bought a copy of Red Hat Linux. I think it was version 2. I was able to get the X windowing environment (Linux's GUI) running. Since then I have always been a fan of Red Hat Linux.
I purchased several more copies of Red Hat Linux before they decided to concentrate on becoming a server-centric operating system provider. Most of the work I do is for other people and they have their own servers. That means I don't really need a server-specific version of Linux. Not to worry, Red Hat created Fedora Core for people like me. It is freely downloadable from the Internet and so I don't have to get in my car and drive to the local computer store to get it.
About a year ago, one of my clients asked me to put together a staging server at my office. A staging server is used to test changes in software before they are moved into the production environment. This is very helpful if you want to upgrade your database software but need to ensure it will work before you make the change. Simply upgrade the staging server and run through a bunch of tests. Once you are satisfied the upgrade won't break anything, you can roll out the new database software to the production system.
My client is barely above water financially and so I wanted to save them a bit of money. The production servers run Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server but that costs about $2,500 per server (if I remember correctly . . . I just tried to look it up but you now have to purchase it from a reseller . . . what a pain). Since I really don't care about technical support for the staging server, I decided to load it with CentOS. CentOS basically looks like Red Hat Enterprise Linux but is free. That means if there are any problems you have to figure them out yourself. I wouldn't recommend it for a production environment unless you have one or two Linux experts on staff who are used to figuring things out for themselves. So far it has worked perfectly for my client's staging server. I told my son that if he really wants to give Red Hat Enterprise Linux a try, he should just use CentOS.
There are many different flavors of Linux and these only represent a handful of distributions available. I have a good friend who works for Cannonical who are the guys behind Ubuntu Linux. He keeps trying to get me to switch to his distribution. I am reluctant to do so because I am so familiar with what I am already using. Oh well, I would probably make a bad customer anyways because I try to avoid paying for anything.
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