Fedora 7 Test 2 (6.91) has been released:
DVD and network installation are available. Please read the Important Warnings below in this announcement for more details.
http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/
The recommended method of download is via BitTorrent from this site.
http://fedora.redhat.com/Download/mirrors.html
HTTP, FTP, and RSYNC downloads are available from Fedora Project mirrors listed above. Note that not all mirrors may be synced at this time.
***Important Warnings about the Test Release***
Problems with mkinitrd
========
This test release has an rpm ordering issue that seems to affect some people with regard to mkinitrd being installed correctly. If your install seems to stall at installing the kernel and never continues, please try the updates image http://people.redhat.com/~katzj/updates-f7t2.img. Refer to http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Anaconda/Updates for more information on using updates images.
Upgrading with PATA Hard Disks
========
If you are using PATA (parallel or "original" style ATA) hard disks and you attempt to do a manual yum upgrade to this release, you may be unable to boot your system when finished. To avoid this problem, use the installer program (Anaconda) to upgrade your system instead of using yum.
New in Fedora 7 Test 2
========
This test release includes significant new versions of many key components and technologies. The following sections provide a brief overview of major changes from the last release of Fedora.
Merger of Core and Extras
========
* The Fedora Core and Extras software repositories are being merged, resulting in a shared infrastructure and a single repository of packages to which everyone is invited to contribute.
* Fedora 7 Test 2 is packaged initially as a Desktop/Development Workstation/Server implementation, called "Prime". This spin is delivered in DVD iso format only as a trial, see https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-February/msg00993.html
for the discussion on this.
* Many more packages are available in the development repositories.
* Three targetted spins are now under discussion: Fedora Prime, Fedora
KDE, and Fedora Everything. See
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureFedoraTargettedSpins for more details.
Live CD
========
* This test release includes an i386 ISO for a Desktop Live CD. This Live CD features the ability to install to a hard disk using the same graphical Anaconda installer as the non-live CD variant.
Desktop
========
* This test release features GNOME 2.17.91.
* A brand new Echo icon theme is included as the default in this release.
This icon theme is incomplete, but with appropriate feedback and progress, may become the default in the general release.
* KDE and Xfce, among several other packages, are included in the development repositories, but not on the media. They can be installed using the appropriate software management tools.
* Fast User Switching is now available via the fast-user-switch-applet.
See http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureFastUserSwitching for more details.
Performance
========
* System performance is generally slower in the test releases as compared to the general release since we enable several options that help with debugging.
System Administration
========
* System administration tools may be modified under the testing process.
System Level Changes
========
* Fedora 7 Test 2 features a 2.6.21rc1 based kernel. Current release information is being tracked on the kernel release notes source page.
(http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Beats/Kernel)
Amanda
Users who upgrade from older releases need to read the amanda.conf and amanda-client.conf man pages to learn about the the new syntax for calling amandad, as well as edit the /etc/xinetd.d/amanda configuration file to follow the new syntax.
Road Map And Release Schedule
========
* http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/7/
Intended Audience for Test Releases
========
Test 1 is targeted for developers, who use it "at their own risk", and contains many bleeding edge packages. Test 2 is for early adopters. Most things should work and we need to your find what is broken.
Test 3 is for early adopters. Most things should work and we need to your help to find what is broken.
Test 4 is for beta users. This is the time when we must have full community participation. Without this participation both hardware and software functionality suffers.
Quality Assurance for Test Releases
========
The Fedora Project has a process in place for ensuring the highest possible quality even in our test releases. Many bugs are identified, prioritized and fixed during the testing process. We also have a list of known bugs in this release. Refer to http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA/7/Test2TreeTesting for more details.
Translations of Release Notes
========
Due to the rapidly changing nature of test releases, translations of release notes for test releases are not practical. The initial goal is to have a translation of the release notes included in the test4 release and to allow community review and correction before the general release. As always, the general release is translated following the established practices for localization (l10n) and internationalization (i18n) (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/L10N), which result in comprehensive, high-quality release notes in a variety of languages.
DVD and network installation are available. Please read the Important Warnings below in this announcement for more details.
http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/
The recommended method of download is via BitTorrent from this site.
http://fedora.redhat.com/Download/mirrors.html
HTTP, FTP, and RSYNC downloads are available from Fedora Project mirrors listed above. Note that not all mirrors may be synced at this time.
***Important Warnings about the Test Release***
Problems with mkinitrd
========
This test release has an rpm ordering issue that seems to affect some people with regard to mkinitrd being installed correctly. If your install seems to stall at installing the kernel and never continues, please try the updates image http://people.redhat.com/~katzj/updates-f7t2.img. Refer to http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Anaconda/Updates for more information on using updates images.
Upgrading with PATA Hard Disks
========
If you are using PATA (parallel or "original" style ATA) hard disks and you attempt to do a manual yum upgrade to this release, you may be unable to boot your system when finished. To avoid this problem, use the installer program (Anaconda) to upgrade your system instead of using yum.
New in Fedora 7 Test 2
========
This test release includes significant new versions of many key components and technologies. The following sections provide a brief overview of major changes from the last release of Fedora.
Merger of Core and Extras
========
* The Fedora Core and Extras software repositories are being merged, resulting in a shared infrastructure and a single repository of packages to which everyone is invited to contribute.
* Fedora 7 Test 2 is packaged initially as a Desktop/Development Workstation/Server implementation, called "Prime". This spin is delivered in DVD iso format only as a trial, see https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2007-February/msg00993.html
for the discussion on this.
* Many more packages are available in the development repositories.
* Three targetted spins are now under discussion: Fedora Prime, Fedora
KDE, and Fedora Everything. See
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureFedoraTargettedSpins for more details.
Live CD
========
* This test release includes an i386 ISO for a Desktop Live CD. This Live CD features the ability to install to a hard disk using the same graphical Anaconda installer as the non-live CD variant.
Desktop
========
* This test release features GNOME 2.17.91.
* A brand new Echo icon theme is included as the default in this release.
This icon theme is incomplete, but with appropriate feedback and progress, may become the default in the general release.
* KDE and Xfce, among several other packages, are included in the development repositories, but not on the media. They can be installed using the appropriate software management tools.
* Fast User Switching is now available via the fast-user-switch-applet.
See http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/FeatureFastUserSwitching for more details.
Performance
========
* System performance is generally slower in the test releases as compared to the general release since we enable several options that help with debugging.
System Administration
========
* System administration tools may be modified under the testing process.
System Level Changes
========
* Fedora 7 Test 2 features a 2.6.21rc1 based kernel. Current release information is being tracked on the kernel release notes source page.
(http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Beats/Kernel)
Amanda
Users who upgrade from older releases need to read the amanda.conf and amanda-client.conf man pages to learn about the the new syntax for calling amandad, as well as edit the /etc/xinetd.d/amanda configuration file to follow the new syntax.
Road Map And Release Schedule
========
* http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/7/
Intended Audience for Test Releases
========
Test 1 is targeted for developers, who use it "at their own risk", and contains many bleeding edge packages. Test 2 is for early adopters. Most things should work and we need to your find what is broken.
Test 3 is for early adopters. Most things should work and we need to your help to find what is broken.
Test 4 is for beta users. This is the time when we must have full community participation. Without this participation both hardware and software functionality suffers.
Quality Assurance for Test Releases
========
The Fedora Project has a process in place for ensuring the highest possible quality even in our test releases. Many bugs are identified, prioritized and fixed during the testing process. We also have a list of known bugs in this release. Refer to http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA/7/Test2TreeTesting for more details.
Translations of Release Notes
========
Due to the rapidly changing nature of test releases, translations of release notes for test releases are not practical. The initial goal is to have a translation of the release notes included in the test4 release and to allow community review and correction before the general release. As always, the general release is translated following the established practices for localization (l10n) and internationalization (i18n) (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/L10N), which result in comprehensive, high-quality release notes in a variety of languages.
