FERMI LINUX LTS FAQ
At the time of this writing the only LTS release was 3.0.1, but these
questions and answers should be generic enough to include any future
releases.
Q. What is Fermi Linux LTS?
A. Fermi Linux LTS (Long Term Support) is in essence RedHat Enterprise, recompiled.
What we have done is taken the source code from RedHat Enterprise (in
srpm form) and recompiled them. The resulting binaries (now in
rpm form) are then ours to do with as we desire as long as we follow
the License from that original source code, which we are doing.
We are choosing to bundle all these binaries into a linux distribution
that is as close to RedHat Enterprise as we can get it. The goal
is to ensure that if a program runs and is certified on RedHat
Enterprise, then it will run on the corresponding Fermi Linux LTS
release.
Q. Is that legal?
A. Yes
Q. Are you sure?
A. Yes
Q. I really don't want to get into legal trouble, please convince me that this is legal.
A.
What we are
doing is getting the source rpm of each RedHat Enterprise package, from
a publicly available area. Each of these packages, except for a
few, have the GPL license. This license states that we can freely
distribute that package. We are recompiling those packages
without any change. Hence, we can freely distribute those rpm's
that were built. The packages that have limits on them (the
redhat-logo's, anaconda-images, and a few others) we are changing
according to the license agreement that comes with those
packages. There are a couple other packages, that references
RedHat's logo's and/or services, that we feel obliged to change even
though legally we do not have to.
So in the end we are left with a bunch of rpm's that are freely distributable.
And although these rpm's are basically identical to RedHat's Enterprise
Linux, they were built by us, and are freely distributable. We can do with
them what we want.
Now comes the interesting part. RedHat's installation program, anaconda, is
also open source. It actually has a very large open source community. We are
choosing to use anaconda to install our version of linux. We could very well
choose any installation program to do the install. Mandrake's install is also
open source, but we aren't as familiar with it, so we decided to go with the
installation program we are familiar with.
So in short. Fermi Linux LTS can be freely distributable. Although it
is basically identical to RedHat Enterprise Linux, it is in essence a
completely different release, just with the same programs, packaged the same way.
Q. What platform do you build your rpm's on?
A. Fermi Linux LTS 3.0.x rpm's are built on a machine running Fermi Linux LTS 3.0.1.
The machine started off running the last publically available RedHat
Enterprise 3 beta release. When RedHat Enterprise 3 was released,
we got the source rpm's and recompiled them on that public beta.
We then installed all the rpm's we just made, and then remade all the
rpm's. We then did the exact same thing two more times.
This ensures that the compiler is built with the right libraries, and
the libraries are built with the right compiler.
Q. Can I use part or all of the Fermi Linux LTS release?
A. Yes
We have built Fermi Linux LTS for Fermilab's use, and that is our
ultimate goal. But we have no problems with others benefiting
from our work. We have spearheaded
Scientific Linux for those that
want the stability of Fermi Linux LTS, but without all the Fermi
modifications.
Q. Where can I get support for Fermi Linux LTS?
A.
Fermilab's support people are paid to support linux users affiliated with Fermilab, not the worldwide linux community. We do not have anything setup to support those not affiliated with Fermilab.
If you are not a Fermilab affiliate, you might want to check out Scientific Linux.
If you find that you need more support, please purchase a linux distribution that will be able to give you the support you need.
Q. What about updates?
A.
Updates are currently available without any restrictions.