Fedora 11 installation experience

English Open Chat
#1

Well, i downloaded yesterday the Fedora 11 Leonidas x86_64 DVD.
I’d like to share some experience about the installation of that distro. The screens are from a VirtualBox but i’d share actual installation experience.

We are greeted with a nice boot screen where we can choose what to do with the DVD
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9996/bootscreen.png](http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bootscreen.png)](http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bootscreen.png)
So we choose install or upgrade

We are asked to check the media (great idea actually as many issues come from a badly burned media)
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/304/checkmedia.th.png](http://img410.imageshack.us/my.php?image=checkmedia.png)
We can either check it or skip (if we use it second or more times and it’s been proven fine)

Then we have a greeting screen where we just click “next”
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/5392/greetingnext.th.png](http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=greetingnext.png)

After that we are choosing the language and our keyboard layout, pretty standard with every distro.

Then we choose name for our machine. If we are not logging to any network services like ActiveDirectory etc. then it doesn’t matter what we will put in here.
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/429/namemach.th.png](http://img188.imageshack.us/my.php?image=namemach.png)

Next are the clock settings:
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/4277/clock.th.png](http://img188.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clock.png)
Now let’s stop here, we can’t set any NTP settings yet (it’s alter possible after an actual reboot), the map is pretty clunky and it zooms in when we click somewhere, pretty standard but i personally don’t like it.

Next up is root’s password: it checks if it is not too simple, if it has at least six characters so pretty standard, we can debate here if it is better to have separate passwords for a user and root, i think it’s better to have a separate password as if the user get’s compromised somehow then the root password is still safe but it is up to everyone’s mind
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1379/root.th.png](http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=root.png)

Now this one is great because we are able to encrypt the root partitions where in openSUSE it is not possible from within the installer (there’s more fiddling around involved with openSUSE).
The standard layout is created on top of an LVM which is great, the standard filesystem chosen is ext4.
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9751/partitioner.th.png](http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=partitioner.png)
The layout is simpler and looks more like a toy and not like a professional tool. It allows to make the same stuff as openSUSE’s installer but to me personally openSUSE’s installer is easier, looks more professional and “easier for eyes”.

Next we have GRUB installation:
http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8413/grub.th.png](http://img229.imageshack.us/my.php?image=grub.png)
I don’t have good experience with it since it didn’t openSUSE(which was installed at both the MBR and /boot partition) so here we have a BIG minus and secondly it failed miserably and i ended up with unbootable system, nothing was booting at all.

Next is choosing the packages to install:
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8343/packinst.th.png](http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=packinst.png)
Now we have to stop here for a minute:
1.We can choose additional repositories (NFS, HTTP/FTP or CD/DVD) as an installation source - GOOD
2.We can customize the installation - GOOD
Let’s go, next we have the choice on what to install,
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8014/packinst1.th.png](http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=packinst1.png)
the BAD thing is that if we choose KDE then it is still installing A LOT of GNOME applications so this is BAD, it is nowhere near easy as in openSUSE, we have to browse through all those sections to customize it, and if we have online repositories then it can get really messy since there will be A LOT to choose from.
When i chose to have the onine repositories then it was checking for dependencies a LOOOOONG time.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7753/inst.th.png](http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=inst.png)
After customizing we choose to install everything, BAD thing is that it doesn’t say if it is actually installing the package or downloading to install. I was left waiting for java jdk package to install while it was downloading it but showing as “Installing”, confusing? YES
The installation time is pretty slow but we can shorten it by choosing less packages and by not using online repositories and only a local CD/DVD. We can’t choose a local installation source like a hard disk, samba share or nfs share? BAAAD

So there we are, system is installed but i was left with a completely unbootable state what left me unimpressed :slight_smile:

I invite everyone who ever used or not Fedora 11 to discuss it :slight_smile:

P.S. I don’t know why the thumbnails don’t work as i pasted them as in other threads where they worked just fine.

#2

I tested Fedora 11. I didn’t like it. I prefer OpenSUSE better.

#3

I just installed F11 last night on my IBM T30 and I was even more impressed with it than I was just a short while ago with Mint 7. Loved the ability to encrypt at the get go, loved how everything was detected, loved that I only needed to add a few things: vlc, flash, skype, and xchat, and I was all set. The best part of all was how extremely fast the GUI responded (not as fast as Arch but close) and, most importantly, that flash playback works on ALL sites I visit…hulu, youtube, and some the decorum does not permit me to mention :wink: Again, very impressed with this release and if it can work so well on such an old notebook, I am sure those with even better spec’d hardware will find it even more appealing.

Other distros should take notes…

#4

Yes, encrypting of the root partition is great, it should be somehow incorporated into openSUSE. Also i looked at kernel config file of Fedora 11 and they set voluntary preemption and 1000Hz and that’s why it may be more snappy than openSUSE. But i’m staying with openSUSE for now :slight_smile: YaST is the deal breaker for me, i have looking for packages in Fedora (GUI).

#5

I still like openSUSE on my workstation at the office, which is where I am typing from and looking forward to the next release. So far, F11 seems to work the best for my personal, multimedia driven needs. Since I admin SLES servers within my firm, I like having openSUSE around.

#6

I’ve read some reports about the installer crashing and some reports on the partitioner wiping out partitions. The last one sounds a bit strange, but two reports I’ve read so far, one from a Ars Technica user. Fedora is nice, but not really my thing as they mostly focus on GNOME (which I don’t like) and their KDE is often unpolished / less integrated into the system. Also, compiling a fedora kernel is not as easy as a SUSE one, and of course they don’t have anything close to YaST. Granted, YaST isn’t perfect, but it still provides a central place where one can configure many things if needed. In contrast, Fedora seems to think that having 10-20 different small GUI programs for configuring various (system) things is a better solution

#7

I downloaded the Fedora 11 LiveCDs (KDE and Gnome) and used UNetbootin to place it on a USB drive.

Running it from the USB drive was pretty good. It installed with the only “hitch” being an SELinux warning that didn’t halt anything.

Except for KMail crashing on me while connecting to my Gmail account via IMAP, the only problems I have is getting used to KDE (usually am using Gnome) and the packaging/Yum/Package manager.

I put this one above Kubuntu but not sure where to put this regarding openSUSE. I think I need to get more familiar with Yast to give a proper comparison.

Oh, and unlike Ubuntu, my Broadcom wireless stays connected so far.

#8

Out of all the distros I have used, F11 has the most accurate wifi display. Most of the others showed my lower connection in the same areas where they were redlining under various Window OSes. I knew this was horse**** and, thankfully, I now seem to be getting the correct signal strength. So many things to like about this but, as I said, the most important to me is the multimedia with particular regards to flash being vastly superior “out of the box” than all the others.

#9

I’ve also heard about the installer wiping out partitions. That’s why it got delayed. While the KDE at Fedora is quite polished and takes less memory than in openSUSE the thing i don’t like in it is the package management, i know that there is a learning curve (YUM) but the GUI software management tool is just crap. One good thing in it is that there is no conflict between YaST and kde system settings. openSUSE has to work it out. And it is quite snappy as is every fresh installation :wink:

P.S. Regarding the flash i can’t say nothing becuase i use the 64 bit edition and no distro is allowing the alpha edition to officially install :wink:

#10

then they must have improved KDE integration / polishing. Last time I tried Fedora, which was about two years ago, their KDE was really a poor excuse at that time. It’s good to see their KDE team putting a lot of effort even when that team is a small one compared to the GNOME one :slight_smile:

#11

I think that KDE is improving more and more than Gnome which is moving forward very slow and KDE is just rushing!! While Gnome is quite stable then it is so boring :slight_smile:

KDE is most innovative in my opinion :slight_smile:

I wish openSUSE 11.2 would incorporate KDE 4.4 despite it having the Beta status. Using the KDE 4.3 Beta 2 all i can say WoW. While KDE 4.0 was really pathetic then 4.3 and later will show everyone what DE is the best :slight_smile:

#12

I think KDE’s push includes some momentum started with moving the KDE 4 and all the controversy that comes with it.

#13

Anyway, Fedora 11 is most innovative out of all distros, with each release they introduce something that will influence Linux as a whole and other distro’s by the way. I mean like DeviceKit, plymouth etc. They deserve something for that :slight_smile:

openSUSE isn’t too innovative in that case, they just use all the upstream project and don’t come out with their own ideas, maybe that’s because Novell actually ignores their Linux department even though the net income grows steadily every year. Looking at installation difference between Fedora 11 and openSUSE 11.1 i think that if Novell would try a bit harder then Red Hat would lose.

#14

This is one of my biggest issues with Linux in general. I just know that a killer distro could be made to rival any OS and it should have already appeared but, sadly, hasn’t. Whether it be political, financial, or otherwise, Linux cannot take over the desktop in its current state. I know Linux is all about choice but how many window managers, front end GUIs, kits do we really need? If we could just get one kick ass package to rule them all you will see inroads being made very quickly. I won’t hold my breath though.

#15

Well, Red Hat, Novell and other companies need some tools that differ from the competitors. Thus we will never have the same system layout while DE can be the same:)

#16

Hi
Installed it on a vmware machine… reminded me of Ubuntu…eeek!? But
still need to get some time to have a play :wink:

If you want innovation have you tried SuSE Studio yet, if not I suggest
you get on the beta list and give it a whirl, talk about
customization!!!

Maybe all the good stuff is saved for us SLE users :wink:

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.27.23-0.1-default
up 2 days 9:34, 3 users, load average: 1.09, 1.29, 1.32
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - Driver Version: 185.18.14

#17

Well, i already am on suse studio and i tried a customized distro but there is a problem, it wasn’t pulling many dependencies which would normally be installed with a DVD so i ended up installong even more stuff after using the suse studio live cd :slight_smile:

SLE is based on openSUSE so you don’t get much more than we except support which has probably higher priority :slight_smile:

#18

I have been running F10 since December 08’
Installed Gnome but added kde later but at that time kde 4.1.3 and it was not so good.
I use this ref/guide: Fedora11 - Fedora Guide

Also added testing kde from here: KDE Packaging Project
Not the unstable testing though.

I have to say they have come a long way with kde @ Fedora and you can download the kde cd of course.

Currently I’m not inclined to try F11, as my box is running so sweet. But my main working machine is a laptop running openSUSE 11.1 - So no cries of ‘Apostasy’ having a openSUSE Mod who’s not using openSUSE - I am.

I certainly agree - YAST - makes openSUSE. And Fedora is certainly lacking in this area.

Thanks for starting this* Bender* - I was wondering about it.

#19

You’re welcome :slight_smile: I hope some devs will also read it as we can all share some good ideas from other distros and improve here and there, it’s all GPL baby rotfl!

While the ghost of community lives in all of us then that ghost is almost nonexistent in companies behind those distro’s :slight_smile: They don’t create this because they have a good heart, they create it and use us “beta testers” for their sake, i guess that’s fair and if it wouldn’t be backed by big companies many distributions would die though Linux Mint and maybe some more are saying that it’s possible after all.

I like latest decisions behind openSUSE to “split” the distro to many “slices” and to make it possible to “normal” people to contribute :slight_smile: I’d really like everyone to have some influence on how the distro will be buil etc. through some community “court” that would decide what would be useful and what not but i guess it’s already implemented in some places?

Anyway in the perfect world i’d like to see everyone contributing to one project BUT make it highly customizable so that veryone could be satisfied, like a default and experienced level of installation for newbies or experienced users. I guess the amount of distributions is actually hurting GNU/Linux adoption.
Yeah yeah, some will start crying that it’s all about a choice but having one highly customizable distro wouldn’t take that freedom away or would it??

#20

I have read the whole topic and so far I could catch there some interesting opinions. I tried Fedora 10 half a year ago, but it didn’t overally impress me. Now I’m considering trying Leonidas, but only with KDE 4 - as some of you said, GNOME is stable and boring :wink: I totally agree. Therefore I’ve decided for openSUSE with KDE 4 + YaST is da best tool! Currently I cannot wait until 11.2 will be released… Milestone 2 is a step forward, but it needs some more polishing. On the other hand I’m using Windows 7 RC x64 only for playing certain Steam games or testing new pieces of SW like Visual Studio, Office or Live apps suite. Anyway Kernel 2.6.31 will be fantastic 'cos of SB X-Fi driver :stuck_out_tongue: - strongly believe it’ll be included with 11.2, too. Btw, community about SUSE is really priceless and promoting this distro in my country makes me kinnda happy. Good luck to our KDE Team.