Rhel on Life/tags/rhel/Recent content in Rhel on LifeHugoen-usMon, 15 Nov 2010 14:29:00 +0530RHEL 6 Is Out/post/2010/2010-11-15-rhel6-is-out/Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:29:00 +0530/post/2010/2010-11-15-rhel6-is-out/<p>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (RHEL 6) is out, and it brings a huge set of improvements over RHEL 5 for desktop users. Here is a curated list of highlights that I find particularly useful on an EL6 workstation:</p> <h3 id="core-system--filesystems">Core System &amp; Filesystems</h3> <ul> <li><strong>Upstart:</strong> Replaces traditional SysV init (<a href="http://upstart.ubuntu.com/wiki/">Upstart Wiki</a>)</li> <li><strong>Dracut:</strong> Modern event-driven initramfs generator (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Dracut">Dracut Wiki</a>)</li> <li><strong>ext4:</strong> Default robust filesystem (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Ext4">Fedora ext4 Feature</a>)</li> <li><strong>Btrfs:</strong> Available as a technology preview (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Btrfs_in_Fedora_13">Btrfs in Fedora</a>)</li> </ul> <h3 id="boot--graphics">Boot &amp; Graphics</h3> <ul> <li><strong>Plymouth:</strong> Smooth graphical boot flicker-free animations (<a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/Plymouth">Plymouth</a>)</li> <li><strong>Kernel Mode Setting (KMS):</strong> Native resolution and smooth transitions during boot (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/KernelModesetting">KMS</a>)</li> <li><strong>Xorg 1.7:</strong> <ul> <li><code>nouveau</code> open-source driver for NVIDIA cards (<a href="http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/">Nouveau</a>)</li> <li>R600 3D hardware acceleration for AMD/ATI Radeon (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/R600Accel">R600 Accel</a>)</li> <li><code>xrandr 1.3</code> dynamic monitor handling (<a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/319897/">LWN Article</a>)</li> <li>Native DisplayPort audio and video support</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3 id="performance--security">Performance &amp; Security</h3> <ul> <li><strong>Tickless Kernel:</strong> Significant power savings on idle systems (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureTicklessKernel">Tickless Kernel</a>)</li> <li><strong>Tuned:</strong> Adaptive power management profiles (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/PowerManagement">Power Management</a>)</li> <li><strong>PolicyKit &amp; XACE:</strong> Fine-grained privilege management without root elevation (<a href="http://hal.freedesktop.org/docs/polkit/">Polkit</a>)</li> </ul> <h3 id="desktop--multimedia">Desktop &amp; Multimedia</h3> <ul> <li><strong>GDM PAM Stacks:</strong> Support for multiple authentication backends (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/MultiplePAMStacksInGDM">Multiple PAM in GDM</a>)</li> <li><strong>ConsoleKit Fast User Switching:</strong> Seamless desktop switching (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Desktop/FastUserSwitching">Fast User Switching</a>)</li> <li><strong>PulseAudio:</strong> <ul> <li>Unified volume control across applications (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/VolumeControl">Volume Control</a>)</li> <li>Glitch-free audio playback via timer-based scheduling (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/GlitchFreeAudio">Glitch-Free Audio</a>)</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>IBus:</strong> Modern input method framework replacing SCIM (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/IBus">IBus</a>)</li> <li><strong>Evolution 2.28:</strong> Native support for Microsoft Exchange 2007+ via OpenChange (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/OpenChange">OpenChange</a>)</li> <li><strong>OpenOffice.org 3.x:</strong> Native support for reading and writing Office Open XML (<code>.docx</code>, <code>.xlsx</code>) documents</li> <li><strong>NetworkManager:</strong> System-wide connection profiles managed independently of user logins (<a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/NetworkManagerSystemConnections">System Connections</a>)</li> </ul> <h3 id="desktop-environments">Desktop Environments</h3> <ul> <li><strong>GNOME 2.28</strong> (major upgrade from 2.16 in RHEL 5)</li> <li><strong>KDE 4.3</strong></li> <li><strong>Xfce</strong> available via EPEL</li> <li><strong>SPICE:</strong> High-performance remote desktop protocol support</li> </ul> <hr> <ul> <li><strong>Official Press Release:</strong> <a href="http://www.redhat.com/about/news/prarchive/2010/flexibility-and-portability.html">Red Hat Flexibility and Portability</a></li> <li><strong>Product Overview:</strong> <a href="http://www.redhat.com/rhel/desktop/">Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop</a></li> </ul>Key Mapping on RHEL 5/post/2008/2008-07-14-key-mapping-on-rhel5/Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:47:00 +0530/post/2008/2008-07-14-key-mapping-on-rhel5/<p><a href="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=450326">Multimedia keys</a> [1] did not work on RHEL 5, which was missing the <a href="http://people.freedesktop.org/%7Ehughsient/quirk/quirk-keymap-index.html">keymap quirk</a> [2] patch written by rhughes. Backporting was fun while it lasted—now my life feels hollower than ever.</p> <hr> <p>[1] <a href="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=450326">https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=450326</a><br> [2] <a href="http://people.freedesktop.org/~hughsient/quirk/quirk-keymap-index.html">http://people.freedesktop.org/~hughsient/quirk/quirk-keymap-index.html</a></p>