Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. Fedora is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is built by people across the globe who work together as a community: the Fedora Project. The Fedora Project is open and anyone is welcome to join.

The Fedora Project is out front for you, leading the advancement of free, open software and content.

What is Fedora?

An operating system, a set of projects, and a mindset.

What is Fedora? Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. Fedora is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is built by people across the globe who work together as a community: the Fedora Project. The Fedora Project is open and anyone is welcome to join. The Fedora Project is out front for you, leading the advancement of free, open software and content.

The operating system is Fedora. It comes out twice a year. It's completely free, and we're committed to keeping it that way. It's the best combination of robust and latest software that exists in the free software world.

The mindset is doing the right thing. To us, that means providing free and open software and content, at no cost, freely usable, modifiable, redistributable, and unencumbered by software patents.

History

The Fedora Project was created in late 2003, when Red Hat Linux was discontinued. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) would continue to be Red Hat's only officially supported Linux distribution, while Fedora was to be a community project and distribution. RHEL branches its releases from versions of Fedora.

The name of Fedora derives from Fedora Linux, a volunteer project that provided extra software for the Red Hat Linux distribution, and from the characteristic fedora used in Red Hat "Shadowman" logo. Fedora Linux was eventually absorbed into the Fedora Project. Fedora is a trademark of Red Hat. Although this has previously been disputed by the creators of the Fedora repository management software, the issue has now been resolved.

Distribution

The Fedora Project distributes Fedora in many different ways:

• Fedora DVD - a DVD of all major Fedora packages at time of shipping;
• Live Images - CD or DVD sized images that can also be easily installed to a USB device;
• Minimal CD or USB image - used for installing over HTTP, FTP or NFS;
• Rescue CD or USB image - used if some part of the system has failed and needs to be fixed, or for installing over the Internet.

The Fedora Project also distributes custom variations of Fedora which are called Fedora spins. These are built from a specific set of software packages and have a combination of software to meet the requirements of a specific kind of end user. Fedora spins are developed by several different Fedora special interest groups. These are available from their Fedora Spins website.

Software package management is primarily handled by the yum utility. Graphical interfaces, such as pirut and pup are provided, as well as puplet, which provides visual notifications in the panel when updates are available. apt-rpm is an alternative to yum, and may be more familiar to people coming from a Debian/Ubuntu background, where apt-get is used to manage packages. Additionally, extra repositories can be added to the system, so that packages not available in Fedora can be installed.

Software repositories

Before Fedora 7, there were two main repositories - the Fedora Core and Fedora Extras. Fedora Core (also the name of the distribution) contained all the base packages that were required by the operating system, as well as other packages that were distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs. Fedora Extras, the secondary repository that was included from Fedora Core 3, was community-maintained and not distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs. Since Fedora 7, the Core and Extras repositories have been merged, hence the distribution's dropping the Core from its name.

Also prior to Fedora 7 being released, there was a third repository called Fedora Legacy. This repository was community-maintained and was mainly concerned with extending the life cycle of older Fedora Core distributions and selected Red Hat Linux releases that were no longer officially maintained. Fedora Legacy was shut down in December 2006.

Security features

One of the many security features in Fedora is Security-Enhanced Linux, a Linux feature that implements a variety of security policies, including U.S. Department of Defense style mandatory access controls, through the use of Linux Security Modules (LSM) in the Linux kernel. Fedora is leading the way with SELinux-based distributions, having introduced it in Fedora Core 2. It was disabled by default, as it radically altered how the operating system worked, but was enabled by default in Fedora Core 3 and introduced a less strict, targeted policy. Fedora also has methods in place to prevent buffer overflow exploits and root kits from functioning. Compile time buffer checks, Exec Shield and restrictions on how kernel memory in /dev/mem can be accessed help to prevent this.

Releases

First four cores

Fedora Core 1 was the first version of Fedora and was released on November 6, 2003, and was codenamed Yarrow. Fedora Core 1 was based on Red Hat Linux 9 and shipped with version 2.4.19 of the Linux kernel, version 2.4.0-1 of the GNOME desktop environment, and version 3.1.4-6 of KDE (the K Desktop Environment).

Fedora Core 2 was released on May 18, 2004, codenamed Tettnang. It shipped with version 2.6 of the Linux kernel, GNOME 2.6, KDE 3.2.2, and SELinux (SELinux was disabled by default due to concerns that it radically altered the way that Fedora Core ran). XFree86 was replaced by the newer X.org, a merger of the previous official X11R6 release, which additionally included a number of updates to Xrender, Xft, Xcursor, fontconfig libraries, and other significant improvements.

Fedora Core 3 was released on November 8, 2004, codenamed Heidelberg.This was the first release of Fedora Core to include the Mozilla Firefox web browser, as well as support for the Indic languages. This release also saw the Lilo boot loader deprecated in favour of GRUB.^[24]SELinux was also enabled by default, but with a new targeted policy, which was less strict than the policy used in Fedora Core 2. Fedora Core 3 shipped with version 2.6 of the Linux kernel, version 2.8 of GNOME and version 3.3.0 of KDE. Fedora Core 3 was also the first distribution to include the new Fedora Extras repository.

Fedora Core 4 was released on June 13, 2005, with the codename Stentz. It shipped with version 2.6.11 of the Linux kernel, version 3.4 of KDE and version 2.10 of GNOME. This version introduced the new Clearlooks theme, which was inspired by the Red Hat Bluecurve theme. This release also shipped with the latest version of the office suite, OpenOffice.orgXen, a high performance and secure open source virtualization framework. It also introduced support for the PowerPC CPU architecture, and over 80 new policies for SELinux. 2.0, as well as

None of these distributions are maintained by the Fedora Project.

Last two cores

The last two cores introduced specific artwork that defined them – Fedora Core 5 was Bubbles, and Fedora Core 6 was DNA. This is a trend that has continued in later Fedora versions.

Fedora Core 5 was released on March 20, 2006, with the codename Bordeaux, and introduced the Fedora Bubbles artwork. It was the first Fedora release to include Mono and tools built with it such as Beagle, F-Spot and Tomboy. It also introduced new package management tools such as pup and pirut (see Yellow dog Updater, Modified). It also was the first Fedora release not to include the long deprecated (but kept for compatibility) LinuxThreads, replaced by the Native POSIX Thread Library. It is no longer maintained by the Fedora Project.

Fedora Core 6 was released on October 24, 2006, codenamed Zod. This release introduced the Fedora DNA artwork, replacing the Fedora Bubbles artwork used in Fedora Core 5. The codename is derived from the infamous villain, General Zod, from the Superman DC Comic Books.^[32] This version introduced support for Compiz (a compositing window manager for the X Window System) and AIGLX (a technology that enables GL-accelerated effects on a standard desktop). It shipped with Firefox 1.5 as the default web browser, and Smolt, a tool that allows users to inform developers about the hardware they use. According to the Fedora Project, there are nearly three million users of Fedora Core 6. As of 7 December 2007, this release is no longer supported by the Fedora Project.

Fedora 7

Fedora 7, codenamed Moonshine, was released on May 31, 2007. The biggest difference between Fedora Core 6 and Fedora 7 was the merging of the Core and Extras repositories, and the new build system put in place to manage those packages. This release uses entirely new build and compose tools that enable the user to build fully-customized Fedora distributions that can also include packages from any third party provider.

There are three official spins available for Fedora 7:

• Live – two Live CDs (one for GNOME and one for KDE);
• Fedora – a DVD that includes all the major packages available at shipping;
• Everything – simply an installation tree for use by yum and internet installations.

Fedora 7 features GNOME 2.18 and KDE 3.5.6, a new theme entitled Flying High, and Firefox 2.0. Fast user switching is, for the first time, fully integrated and enabled by default.Also, there were a number of updates to SELinux, including a new setroubleshoot tool for debugging SELinux security notifications, and a new, comprehensive system-config-selinux tool for fine-tuning the SELinux setup. Fedora 7 is currently supported by the Fedora Project.

Fedora 8

Fedora 8, codenamed Werewolf, was released on 8 November 2007.

Some of the new features and updates in Fedora 8 include:

• PulseAudio – a sound daemon that lets you control the audio in different applications. Fedora is the first distribution to enable it by default.
• system-config-firewall – a new firewall configuration tool that replaces system-config-securitylevel from previous releases.
• CodecBuddy – a tool that guides users using content under proprietary or patent encumbered formats to open formats. It can optionally install multimedia codecs at the user's request.
• IcedTea – a project that attempts to bring OpenJDK to Fedora by replacing encumbered code.
• NetworkManager – faster, more reliable connections; better security (through the use of the keyring; clearer display of wireless networks; better D-Bus integration.
• Better laptop support – enhancements to the kernel to reduce battery load, disabling of background cron jobs when running on the battery, and additional wireless drivers.

Fedora 8 also includes a new desktop artwork entitled Infinity, and a new desktop theme called Nodoka. A unique feature of Infinity is that the wallpaper can change during the day to reflect the time of day.

Fedora Core 1

Fedora Core 4

Fedora Core 5


Fedora Core 6


Fedora Core 7


Fedora Core 8

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Debian ,The Universal Operating System for your computer

What is Debian?


Debian is a free operating system (OS) for your computer. An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run.

Debian uses the Linux kernel (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU project; hence the name GNU/Linux. Debian GNU/Linux provides more than a pure OS: it comes with over 18733 packages, precompiled software bundled up in a nice format for easy installation on your machine. Read more... Getting Started

The latest stable release of Debian is 4.0. The last update to this release was made on July 26th, 2008.

If you'd like to start using Debian, you can easily obtain a copy, and then follow the installation instructions to install it. If you're upgrading to the latest stable release from a previous version, please read the release notes before proceeding. To get help in using or setting up Debian, see our documentation and support pages. Users that speak languages other than English should check the international section. People who use systems other than Intel x86 should check the ports section.

News
[28 Dec 2007] Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 updated
[27 Dec 2007] Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 updated
[17 Aug 2007] Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 updated
[25 Apr 2007] Debian participates in Google's Summer of Code
[08 Apr 2007] Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 released
[07 Apr 2007] Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 updated
For older news items see the News Page. If you would like to receive mail whenever new Debian news comes out, subscribe to the debian-announce mailing list. Security Advisories
[27 Jan 2008] DSA-1477 yarssr - missing input sanitising
[27 Jan 2008] DSA-1476 pulseaudio - programming error
[26 Jan 2008] DSA-1475 gforge - missing input sanitising
[23 Jan 2008] DSA-1474 exiv2 - integer overflow
[23 Jan 2008] DSA-1444 php5 - several vulnerabilities
[21 Jan 2008] DSA-1473 scponly - design flaw
[21 Jan 2008] DSA-1472 xine-lib - buffer overflow
[21 Jan 2008] DSA-1471 libvorbis - several vulnerabilities
[21 Jan 2008] DSA-1466 xorg-server - several vulnerabilities
[20 Jan 2008] DSA-1470 horde3 - missing input sanitising
[20 Jan 2008] DSA-1469 flac - several vulnerabilities
[20 Jan 2008] DSA-1468 tomcat5.5 - several vulnerabilities
[19 Jan 2008] DSA-1467 mantis - several vulnerabilities
[17 Jan 2008] DSA-1465 apt-listchanges - programming error
[15 Jan 2008] DSA-1464 syslog-ng - null pointer dereference
For older security advisories see the Security Page. If you would like to receive security advisories as soon as they're announced, subscribe to the debian-security-announce mailing list.Why Linux? Why Debian?

By Manoj Srivastava (srivasta at debian.org)

I am perhaps not the best person to talk about a dispassionate comparison of operating system choices, partially because I am not unbiased, and partially because of my limited experience with any OS that is not my primary choice. I am also not a prime candidate for advocacy of my choices, since the reasons I have chosen what I like are unlikely to be universal, and the environment in which I originally made my decision (since there is a modicum of historical inertia that keeps me where I am) no longer exists.

However, I have tried to make this talk have a broader perspective than my views alone, and have solicited the opinions of other folks that have made the same choices that I have -- but given how subjective this topic is, I am going to speak here mostly from my perspective, and the perspective of people who have already selected Debian.

Given the nature of the primary audience for this talk, I am not going to spend much time expanding on why one should choose a UNIX like OS over Microsoft's operating systems. Suffice it to say that the following criteria pointed me unequivocally away from Windows: Security. Flexibility. Control of features. Philosophy. Cost. Speed. Efficiency. Reliability. Availability and choices in application software. Susceptibility to Worms and Viruses. Openness and speed of resolution of known flaws. Clustering. Multi-user OS. Not having the GUI or a HTTP browser as an integral part of the OS.

http://www.michaelhorowitz.com/Linux.vs.Windows.html provides a relatively unbiased comparison of Linux and windows, and can serve as an introduction of Linux to windows users. It does have more of a commercial bent than is appropriate for this talk (the concern of the market success of Linux distributions/companies, for example).

Philosophy and Community

Ultimately, philosophy is the most durable differentiating criterion between the operating systems we are considering. Performance numbers change. Ease of use, reliability, availability of software -- all these characteristics change over time, and you have to go out and re-evaluate them over time.

I must confess that philosophy and community is what led me originally into the Linux camp, and then to Debian; and I think these are still the most important criteria, and are often underrated.

Why is free software a good thing? Over nearly two decades that I have been involved with free software, I have asked people this question (and often been surprised by the answers). The popular answer seems to be because it is cool, or because it is zero cost. The motivations of the authors also are varied, but the coin that they get paid in is often recognition, acclaim in the peer group, or experience that can be traded in in the work place.

But I think that is missing the critical raison d'être for free software -- the standing on the shoulder of giants aspect. I like to give the analogy to the manner in which academic research is conducted. If researchers were doomed to reinvent the wheel, and discover for themselves everything beyond what existed in the textbooks, then progress in the research community would be stunted. Most of my peers got their start in research by doing literature searches, looking for interesting investigations, and perhaps correlating unrelated papers, building on the ideas and techniques of other researchers in the field. The secrecy shrouding research in most labs exists only till the moment of publication -- and then people share their techniques, and ideas, and results -- indeed, reproducibility is a major criteria of success.

Contrast this with proprietary software, where we do all begin from scratch -- I believe we could soar, if only we could freely share and build upon the ideas and labours of others. This would lower the time, effort, and cost of innovation, allow for best practices and design patterns to develop and mature, and reduce the grunt programming that raises the barrier to developing solutions in house.

We just have to ensure that the incentive for achievement still exists (and it need not be purely a profit motive).

This belief led me to chose the GPL, and free software foundation view of things, as opposed to the BSD licence, which are also free software licenses, and led eventually to choosing Debian. In my personal opinion, the BSD license has been more about personal pride in writing free software, with no care as to where the software went; I want more than that. I want my labours to help build a synergistic community; to feed back into a well spring of useful software.

Debian is an exercise in community barn building; together, we can achieve far more than we could on our own. The Debian social contract is an important factor in my choice of Debian, with its blend of commitment to free software, and pragmatic recognition that there are going to be cases where usability demands software that does not meet our guidelines.

Community is the other reason I went to Linux rather than the BSD's. At the time I was looking around for a free UNIX like OS to put on my brand new university issued 386, the BSD's were far more robust, and performed far better, and I had friends who swore by the BSD's. What turned me off was the caste system that permeated the BSD community. There were core developers up on high, and you went down to lowly newbie wannabe contributors. The Linux community, though rambunctious, seemed far more inclusive -- your pedigree mattered less than the code you produced. And I could contribute immediately to developing the OS I would be running. I guess this is another reason I like Debian -- I have been there long enough to guide it into being the OS that is laid out the way I think.

Utility and usability

Assuming I have not totally lost the pragmatists amongst you, the criteria that the vast majority of people hold highest while choosing an operating system are, after cost, utility and usability. Of course, utility depends on what your goals and requirements are, but there broad areas we can still address.

There is more to an operating system than a kernel with a hodge-podge of software thrown on the top - systems integration is a topic usually given short shift when discussing the merits of a system. But a well-integrated system - where each piece dovetails with and accommodates other parts of the system - has greatly increased utility over the alternative.

Debian, in my experience, and the experience of a number of my respondents, is the best integrated OS out there. Debian packages trace their relationships to each other not merely through a flat dependency/conflicts mechanism, but a richer set of nuanced relationships - Pre dependencies, ordinary dependencies, recommendations, suggestions, conflicts, and enhances relationships. Apart from this, packages are categorized according to priority (Essential through extra), and their function. This richness of the relationships, of which the packaging system is aware and pays attention to, indicates the level at which packages fit in with each other.

Debian is developed by about 1000 volunteers. That means that every developer is free to maintain programs he is interested in or he needs for his special tasks in real life. That's why Debian is able to cover different fields of specializations - its developers just want to solve their own special problems. This broad focus is different from commercial distributions which just try to cover mainstream tasks.

I have found that the Debian machines at work take less hand holding, are easier to update, and just plain don't break as often as the Red Hat and Mandrake boxes I manage. I am told that dealing with SunOS, for example, is far more, umm, interesting.

One of the reasons for selecting Debian over other distributions is its sheer size of the project which strongly suggest that Debian won't suddenly disappear and one is suddenly left without any support. Debian can't go bankrupt. Its social contract doesn't allow the project to abruptly decide not to support non enterprise versions of the distribution. I do not want my OS to be held hostage to anyones business plan!

You can fine-tune the degree of risk you want to take, since Debian has three separate releases: Stable, Testing, and Unstable. On some of our machines (the server, the kiosk machines) we run 'stable'. Some of the other systems (individual work-stations) run various combinations of testing/unstable. (Note that there are no security updates for testing). I run some stuff from experimental on my own work-station. What's great is the ability to make finely graded decisions for different machines serving different functions. But even the more adventurous choices are solid enough that they virtually never break. And `stable' just never breaks ;-).

Debian provides a great deal of feedback upstream. For example, the XFree project does not itself maintain or debug X on all the architecture Debian supports -- it relies on Debian for that. There have been a number of deep fixes to libc (there was a recent reference counting flaw in glibc when dlopening a shared object with certain ELF dependencies discovered by the Debian developers). This attention to detail is hard for any other Linux distribution to match. The level of knowledgeable, fast, and friendly help available for end users is just extraordinary -- and nothing I have been able to match from old style commercial companies like DEC -- unless you are paying them really big bucks. This can provide third party support without in house expertise, for businesses building upon Debian.

For derivative systems, DFSG and "main" simplify building systems with predictable licensing.

Quality of implementation

People often say how they came to Debian because of apt-get, or that apt is the killer app for Debian. But apt-get is not what makes the experience so great: apt-get is a feature readily reproduced (and, in my opinion, never equalled), by other distributions -- call it urpmi, apt4rpm, yum, or what have you. The differentiating factor is Debian policy, and the stringent package format QA process (look at things like apt-listchanges, apt-list-bugs, dpkg-builddeps, pbuilder, pbuilder-uml -- none of which could be implemented so readily lacking a policy (imagine listchangelog without a robust changelog format)). It is really really easy to install software on a Debian box.

This resembles cargo cult (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult) religions: that is, apt-get is the visible aspect of Debian's policy system, the same way that cargo-cult practices saw runways and other characteristics as the source of western goods ("cargo"), and built their own replicas, complete with fake wooden headphones for control towers. In the same way, other distributions have created the shallow visible aspect of Debian's packaging infrastructure, without addressing the deep issues of policy. Worse: the conflicts of technical requirements and marketing / economic imperatives often work at cross purposes. Less perversely for most GNU/Linux distros than for proprietary software, but still clearly present.

Red Hat, Mandrake, and other distributions in the class have really massive base installations. Why? I do believe it's because it's a PITA to install software. Even with RPM, it's a kludgey procedure, impossible to codify. With Debian, it was a breeze.

So the killer app is really Debian policy, the security team, the formal bug priority mechanisms, and the policy about bugs (namely: any binary without a man page is an automatic bug report. Any interaction with the user not using debconf is a bug). As the Wiki page Why Debian Rocks (http://twiki.iwethey.org/Main/WhyDebianRocks) puts it:

This is the crux, the narthex, the throbbing heart of Debian and what makes it so utterly superior to all other operating systems. Policy is defined. It is clear. It is enforced through the tools you use every day. When you issue apt-get install foo, you're not just installing software. You're enforcing policy - and that policy's objective is to give you the best possible system.

What Policy defines are the bounds of Debian, not your own actions on the system. Policy states what parts of the system the package management system can change, and what it can't, how to handle configuration files, etc. By limiting the scope of the distribution in this way, it's possible for the system administrator to make modifications outside the area without fear that Debian packages will affect these changes. In essence, Policy introduces a new class of bugs, policy bugs. Policy bugs are release-critical -- a package which violates policy will not be included in the official stable Debian release.

Let me reiterate, because that is the whole secret: A package which violates policy will not be included in the official stable Debian release.

Add to that the Debian QA team which does non maintainer uploads (NMUs), helps with bug cleanup, performs security updates, and ensure that there is someone looking at the system holistically, and working to create an integrated OS, as opposed to merely fixing individual packages in isolation. That is what makes people swear by Debian. There are a lot of tools in the QA subsystem to help developers take care of their packages -- just look at http://qa.debian.org/developer.php?login=srivasta

The evaluation process each package has to undergo in the unstable distribution before it makes it into testing adds to the quality of the finished product. Once a package has not shown any important problem for a certain time period, it goes into the testing distribution. This distribution is the release candidate for the future stable distribution, which is released only when all release critical bugs are resolved. This careful testing process is the reason why Debian has a longer release cycle than other distributions. However, in terms of stability this is an advantage. (Note: RH Enterprise Linux is apparently shooting for 12 - 24 month release cycles. Closer to what Debian's historically had.)

The fact that Debian supports as many architectures as it does also feeds into the quality of packages: Porting software often uncovers flaws in the underlying code. Add to the fact that all software in Debian goes though 10 or so automatic build daemons, and needs be bug free when building on these different environments, requires that the build and install scripts be very robust, and requires a very strict tracking of build time dependencies. Add source archive mirrors and version tracking, and you have a fairly robust system (snapshot.debian.net provides for easy rollbacks)

The Debian bug tracking system is a key to the quality of the distribution. Since releases are linked to the numbers of release critical bugs in the system, it ensure that the quality of the release is better than any proprietary UNIX I have run. The Release Manager is fairly ruthless about throwing out any non essential package with RC bugs if they do not get fixed -- or delaying the release if it is a critical package with the bug.

Compared to commercial Linux distributions, Debian has far higher developer to package ratios. Added to the lack of business cycle driven deadlines, Debian tends to do things right, rather than do things to get a new version out in time for Christmas.

According to a recent Slashdot story, there are more distributions based on Debian now than there are for the market leader, RedHat (63 and counting, including Ubuntu, Xandros, Knoppix, Lycoris, Lindows (Lind--s ?), Libranet, mophix ...).

Fault recovery is absolutely bar-none the best. (see http://www.linuxworld.com/story/32607.htm) See also the script (http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Debian/package-database-rebuild.html) about recovering a Debian system without having a backup of /var/lib/dpkg.

Feature set and Selection of Software

Debian has over 10000 packages now. The chances are that anything you need is already packaged and integrated into the system, with a person dedicated to keeping it (and a small number of other packages) up to date, integrated, and bug free.

Debian has a huge internationalization effort, translating not only the documentation (I have people who send me translated manual pages for the packages I maintain), but also the configuration and install scripts (all debconf interaction can be fully internationalized). It helps to have a massively geographically distributed community -- we have native speakers in tonnes of languages. I think the internationalization effort in Debian matches that for Gnome and KDE.

Other notables, for which I have too little time to pay proper attention to, are: The Debian documentation project, Alioth, Debian installer, Debian CD, Lintian, and the package tracking system.

Some other things which will keep me using Debian until they're supported by something else:

1. debconf and the ability to pre-seed the database
2. make-kpkg with all the install-time prompts turned off
3. /usr/share/doc/{Changelog.Debian,changelog,copyright,README.Debian}

Debian also has a great set of tools for kernel or distribution hackers and systems integrators debbootstrap, chroots, user mode Linux, Xen. All kinds of neat tools to help hack on installation mechanisms, kernels and drivers.

There are a number of niche communities that have found a home with Debian. These are sub projects; Debian-Jr, Debian-med, Debian-Edu, Debian-non-profit, and Debian-lex. A number of Debian developers are blind, and as a result, Debian is very very friendly to the blind. There is additional material on Custom Debian distributions (http://people.debian.org/~tille/debian-med/talks/paper-cdd/debian-cdd.html/)

Kernels

The BSD kernels, from all accounts, seem to be stabler, and of better quality than Linux kernels seem to be. BSD kernels are much easier to read and understand. On the flip side, Linux kernels more feature rich, and the quality has improved significantly, seem to perform much better, and better hardware support than the BSD kernels do. Indeed, I've heard comments that when it comes to driver support, the BSD's are where Linux was 5 years ago. I'll talk more about hardware support below. Personally, the supposed added bugginess of the Linux kernels have not exceeded my threshold of acceptability. And, overall, I don't think that a Debian box feels any less robust and stable than, say, a FreeBSD box. Of course, the recent spate of holes in Linux kernels are beginning to strain that. (However, we should keep in mind that having more features is a contributory factor: the two latest holes were in the mremap(2) call that is not available for any of the *BSD.)

Of course, Debian Gnu/FreeBSD may provide the best of both worlds.

User Land

The BSD user land is different from the GNU user land. I have grown up with the GNU user land installed on Ultrix/Aix/HP-UX boxes for consistency, and for me the GNU userland feels far more comfortable.

It should be noted that you can install the GNU userland on a BSD box, and a number of people do so (/usr/local/gnu/*, for example). Of the installations that do have both sets of utilities installed, the reports are that the user-base overwhelmingly uses the GNU utilities, even though that's not the default. In general, the FreeBSD utilities appear to be lighter weight but feature poor, and on modern hardware the small amount of memory savings just doesn't matter.

It also doesn't help that they don't provide good command line help; it's much easier to tell a newbie that if they type foo --help they will get something that might be useful.

OpenBSD's base userland is quite complete. I prefer the GNU userland because I am used to it, but OBSD's base system is quite workable. FBSD is quite a different story - In FBSD they strive to produce a minimal base system, and they don't expect people to only use that - they expect people to install many ports. FreeBSD becomes the most Debian-like system in the BSD family - you have a base system and you build on top of that. Its userland is whatever you choose it to be.

Maintenance and administration

Upgrades have been said to be the killer advantage for Debian. More than most other OS's, the network is the distribution and upgrade mechanism for Debian. Policy, the thought that has gone into the maintainer scripts, and the ways in which they can be called, the full topographical sorting over the dependency web done by apt and friends, all work together to ensure that upgrades in place work smoothly (I've never had to reinstall my machines, though some have been upgraded in place for over 5 years). Reinstalls are not unheard of in an recommended BSD upgrade path (Since 2.8 or 2.9, OpenBSD said at least two times to i386 users "upgrade not supported / not recommended, do a fresh install").

This ease of upgrades also plays into security of the system; security upgrades are far more convenient on Debian than they are on other systems, thanks to the Security team. For us mere mortals not on vendor-sec, having security.debian.org in our sources list ensure that our boxes get updated conveniently, and quickly, after any exploit is made public -- since the security team was already working on a fix before the details went public. This means that systems get updated in minutes, whereas the recommended way to do an upgrade on a BSD OS involves recompiling the entire system (at least, the "world").

Debian attempts to ensure smooth upgrades skipping a major release - which is not something that I have seen supported elsewhere. I keep coming back to quality of packaging

Administering Debian is the primary reason most people stay with it. I know no other distribution where you can type in apt-get install sendmail, and walk away with a fully functional mail server, complete with SASL and TLS, fully configured, complete with certificates. All administration can be done over SSH given only dial-up speeds.

The Debian guarantee that user changes to configuration files shall be preserved, and that all configuration files shall live in /etc (as opposed to being all over the file system) makes for easier backups (I have my /etc living under version control).

Debian is compliant with the FHS, and LSB compliance is a release goal.

The distributed nature of Debian development and distribution makes it really easy to set up a separate repository of custom packages that can then be distributed in house; and the policy and build mechanisms ensure that third parties can build the system just as easily in a reproducible fashion.

Portability and Hardware Support




Linux tends to support more of the esoteric hardware than BSD does. whether that is a problem, depends on your needs. Support for the high quality hardware is mostly the same. A notable exception is for RAID hardware; the 3ware RAID cards are just becoming supported in BSD, but have had Linux support for a while. IBM's assurance of Linux support on all their hardware, and that of HP, is also an advantage for Linux. I also like the multiple journaling file systems that have come into the Linux kernel recently. For desktop, the killer factor is drivers. And Linux leaves all the other X86 Unixes behind by a mile.

When it comes to portability, NetBSD is supposed to be the byword. However, I went and had a good, hard look at what is supported by NetBSD, and Debian: I found that Debian supports ibm s/390 and ia64, while NetBSD has support for sun2 (m68010), PC532 (whatever that is [apparently a custom machine of which only 200 models were ever made]), and VAX. I am sure which set I am more interested in (though it might be cool to have a VAX puttering around in the basement). Note that what NetBSD call architectures are often labeled sub-architectures by Debian, and thus do not count in the 11 supported architecture count.

Source Builds

I have heard a lot of things about the ports mechanism of BSD, and the portage systems of gentoo. I have also heard about how people have problems actually getting things to compile in the ports system. Apart from the fact that compiling everything rapidly gets old (I have been there, done that, when I used Soft Landing Systems (SLS) distribution back in '93).

It is not as if you can't do a port like auto build of Debian -- we have auto-builders on 11 architectures that do that, continuously, every single day -- the question is why would one want to? I have yet to see a single, replicable test demonstrating any palpable performance improvement by local, tailored optimized compilations -- and certainly none that justifies, in my eyes, the time spent tweaking and building the software all over.

Someone said that when they were younger and felt like playing a prank they would adjust some meaningless parameters on someone's computer and tell them "this will make it run about 5% faster, but you probably won't notice it". With such a challenge they usually responded by becoming totally convinced that their machines had been improved considerably and that they could feel the 5% difference!

Conventional wisdom seems to indicate overall system performance increases are less than 1%. Specific programs can benefit greatly, though, and you can always tweak a critical app for your environment in Debian. I think whatever time is saved by running an optimized system is more than compensated for by the time spent building the system, and building upgrades of the system (I've heard of people running doing their daily update in the background while doing other things in the foreground.)

Not to mention how integration suffers by not having a central location where interoperability of the pieces can be ever tested well, since every system would differ wildly from the reference.

A source build system is also far more problematic when it comes to major upgrades -- I have anecdotal evidence of it not being as safe and sane as the Debian upgrade mechanisms.

Anyway, if I do want to build packages from source on Debian, I can use apt-get source -b, apt-src, or any of a number of tools. And when doing local builds I do trust that locally built deb's will be installed in a safe and sane way, replacing properly the old stuff. The build depends pull in any required dependencies for builds, and I routinely build in pbuilder-user-mode-linux to ensure uniform builds.

The real point here is that Gentoo is a distro for hobbyists and übergeeks / hard-core linux users, who can spare the time building their apps. I know Gentoo also provides pre compiled binaries -- but does that not defeat their supposed advantage? For an enterprise environment where down time does cost money this is simply inadmissible and Debian provides the best solution. Those of use which administer more than a handful machines can really appreciate how convenient it is to be able to issue apt-get update && apt-get upgrade at once instead of having to go downloading, configuring, compiling and installing software machine per machine, without any sort of automated help ( I am not completely doing justice to emerge / portage here, but the point is clear, I hope ). I can emphasize this enough: for "serious"/production usage, binary distros are the best and only viable solution; Amongst them, Debian ( not only because of APT but also because of all the hard work done by DD to ensure correctness of the packaging ) is the best [I have tried SuSE, RedHat and Mandrake, and I wouldn't go back even if offered lots of money; Gentoo is not an option either]

Security and Reliability

There is always a trade off between security and convenience -- the ultimately secure computer is one that is never turned on. Secure, but not very useful. You have to decide where your comfort zone lies.

What does one think of when one says Security and Unix like OS? OpenBSD, with some justification. It is audited and has the small size, small system requirements AND the pure text based install. If you stick to the core install, you get an audited system, with no services turned on by default and an assurance that there are no holes in the default install that can lead to a remote root compromise. However, you tend to end up with old software, and the default install really does very little. W^X and protection against stack overflows (ProPolice) on OpenBSD http://www.openbsd.org/33.html, and exec-shield and Adamantix (PaX) patches for Linux (you may have to recompile your kernel on Debian for these). Most people agree that the secure and audited portion of OpenBSD does not provide all the software they require. Also, OpenBSD's performance numbers are, umm, poor, compared to SELinux on a 2.6.3 kernel.

OpenBSD's secure reputation is justified - but only when you know the project, when you are familiar with what does it really cover. OpenBSD may be a great firewall, maybe even mail or static Web server - As long as you keep out of the ports tree, you do have an audited, security-conscious system. I know few applications, however, for such a system. The OpenBSD userland ports break more often than stable Debian -- but, in OpenBSD, ports are officially not part of the system, and should a security problem appear in one of them, you are on your own.




Arguably, Debian stable equals or beats the exact claims -- and there appears to be little real world difference between Debian and openbsd at this time. One has to work a bit to harden the default Debian install with just Standard priority packages, but this is just a few minutes work for experienced admins. Code audits are in a more advanced stage for OpenBSD; though one must bear in mind that despite all the audits there have been high profile bugs in OpenSSH recently -- so take the audited label with a pinch of salt.

The Debian GNU/Linux distribution has a strong focus on security and stability. We have an Security team, automated build systems to help the security team quickly build versions across all the architectures that are supported, and policy geared towards those goals. Here is more on a security oriented comparison (http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2003/debian-user-200308/msg00541.html) of OpenBSD and Debian.

Even though you don't quite need a tool chain on every target BSD system to roll out security updates ("make release", or "make package" to build on one machine and install elsewhere), it is quite a bit more inconvenient than the Debian packaging system. Debian handles binary package distribution much better. One can have his own aptable archive and feed all productive servers from is, using Debian's native mechanisms.

When it comes to real security, however, without mandatory access controls you have very little assurance. So SELinux (and the still nascent TrustedBSD) would be far better choices than OpenBSD or base Debian Stable.

Even without SELinux, I find the rock solid stability of Debian stable, with the peace of mind that comes from back ported security fixes provided by the Security team, very persuasive. It is easy for an untrained recipient to keep up to date with security; and reduces the likelihood of compromise. This is very important in a commercial environment with a large number of computers, where is it important that the software NOT be upgraded every few months.

There is another benefit of the Debian's Security team when it comes to the stable distribution. There is, however, only one version of the ports tree. Whereas in Debian, you have multiple versions of, e.g., apache, KDE, and X11 -one for every suite with security updates for the stable suite- there is no such thing on FreeBSD. Although, of course, the port makefile will be updated if a vulnerability has been found in a given package, the only way to plug the hole on your system in such a situation is to install the new version of the package, with all possible problems that may cause. Compare to Debian, where you have the ability to install the same version of the software, with the security fix back-ported. Also, if you're working with a ports-installed version of the vulnerable package, you'll stay vulnerable for as long as the compilation runs, which may or may not be a considerable amount of time.

I have some data comparing Linux distributions and the time to patch known security vulnerabilities, no data of BSDs, however. It's available at http://people.debian.org/~jfs/debconf3/security/data/.

Scalability and Performance

I was not initially going to talk at all about performance and numbers, since these have mattered little to me personally, and performance numbers change from release to release. However, I realize that these are important decision criteria for some people, and I have attempted to look up a recent look at the numbers.

The full set of benchmarks, complete with code, is available here. http://bulk.fefe.de/scalability/ Here are his words, from the conclusion section, updated to reflect the latest benchmarks.

Linux 2.6 scales O(1) in all benchmarks. Words fail me on how impressive this is. If you are using Linux 2.4 right now, switch to Linux 2.6 now!

NetBSD has better scalability than FreeBSD.

FreeBSD 5.1 has very impressive performance and scalability. (Note that it is as yet unreleased) I foolishly assumed all BSDs to play in the same league performance-wise, because they all share a lot of code and can incorporate each other's code freely. I was wrong. FreeBSD has the second best performance of the BSDs and it even comes close to Linux 2.6.

Linux 2.4 is not too bad, but it scales badly for mmap and fork.

OpenBSD 3.4 performed really poorly in these tests. The disk performance sucks, the kernel was unstable, and in the network scalability department it was even outperformed by it's father, NetBSD. OpenBSD also gets points deducted for the sabotage they did to their IPv6 stack. If you are using OpenBSD, you should move away now.

Conclusion

There is no other OS or distribution that I know of which has just this mix of properties (ease of maintenance, affordability, stability, size, customizability, strong support). For the most part, I do not want to tinker with and Debug my workstation, I want to get my job done, easily, safely, and with minimal concern about the infrastructure I use. Debian helps me accomplish that.

And that's still the primary reason I use it today, from a technical standpoint. Software installation and upgrade. The packages are top-notch, they as a rule install and upgrade perfectly. Software maintenance is still a really large part of any sysadmin's job, and with Debian it's simply trivial. It's a non-issue. Don't even bring it up when talking about any problems with Debian, it's not worth the effort. Borderline flawless.Debian is released on a regular basis. During development of a release, there are a set of development releases that always exist. These are stable (the current release), testing, the next release which is currently in development, and unstable, the release which is constantly updated and in active development. Only stable is recommended for production use.

Official history

The Debian Project was officially founded by Ian Murdock on August 16th, 1993. At that time, the whole concept of a "distribution" of Linux was new. Ian intended Debian to be a distribution which would be made openly, in the sprit of Linux and GNU (read his manifesto provided as an appendix to this document for more details). The creation of Debian was sponsored by the FSF's GNU project for one year (November 1994 to November 1995).

Debian was meant to be carefully and conscientiously put together, and to be maintained and supported with similar care. It started as a small, tightly-knit group of Free Software hackers, and gradually grew to become a large, well-organized community of developers and users.

When it began, Debian was the only distribution that was open for every developer and user to contribute their work. It remains the most significant distributor of Linux that is not a commercial entity. It is the only large project with a constitution, social contract, and policy documents to organize the project. Debian is also the only distribution which is "micro packaged" using detailed dependency information regarding inter-package relationships to ensure system consistency across upgrades.

To achieve and maintain high standards of quality, Debian has adopted an extensive set of policies and procedures for packaging and delivering software. These standards are backed up by tools, automation, and documentation implementing all of Debian's key elements in an open and visible way...

Quick Install

The main goal of this portal is to guide your first steps with Debian. It explains basis of installation and how it works. This portal fits for beginner. So it uses a simplified informatic language. We recommand to read introduction of Debian before to start here.

Official installation manual

Debian GNU/Linux is distributed freely over the Internet. Debian has a reputation for being harder to install than other Linux distributions. Some would say that the reputation is ill deserved. Others point out that installation is something that typically only happens once in the lifetime of a Debian GNU/Linux system. Once the initial install has been done, further upgrades and maintenance happen on the fly. It's possible to upgrade major software components, or even transition between releases of Debian without rebooting the system. Other than kernel or hardware upgrades, there are few if any routine maintenance reasons to take down a Debian system. The Debian install is also particularly versatile. It's possible to install from floppy, CDROM, over a network, bootstrapped from within another Linux distribution over a laplink (aka nullmodem) cable, or from within a DOS or legacy MS Windows system. Most people probably want to get the small network install CD, then let it download the remaining files over a broadband internet connection (<600mb style="text-align: center;">Current releases

• oldstable - The previous stable release (3.1) (sarge)

• stable - The current stable release (4.0) (etch)

• testing - The next generation release (lenny)

• unstable - The unstable development release (sid), where new or updated packages are introduced

• experimental - Not really a release, but where packages are tested if they are not suited for unstable.

Latest Post
21/08 – Debian, the Universal Operating System for your Computer 20/08 – Zenwalk 5.2 released 16/08 – Upgrading/Downgrading MySQL 16/08 – Gammu All Mobiles Management Utilities 08/07 – MySQL Post-Installation Setup and Testing 06/07 –Bb2 Evolution is a Powerfull Blog Tool you can install on your own website 24/06 – Serendipity is a PHP Powered Weblog Application 24/06 – Tripwire, Open Source version of the original Unix file Integrity Scanner 10/05 – Bastrama is a Command-line tool to Manage Backup Files 03/05 – DIBS is a Backup System thats projects or Data by Giving your Files to Peer 02/05 – Black Cat Linux is Russian Company Developing ASPLinux Distribution 30/04 – Enigmail, extension to the Mail Client of Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla SeaMonkey 29/04 – Repository for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron 27/04 – Gimmix, Graphical Music Player for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron 26/04 – Open Source Software Collection: Ten Alternatives You Need 26/04 – Sound Converter, The Sound Conversion Application for the GNOME Environment 24/04 – Timidity ++ is an Open Source MIDI to WAVE converter and player 23/04 – Ubuntu Start Manager for the bootloader (Grub o Grub2) and boot splash (Usplash or Splashy) 23/04 – Gvtray for Xubuntu, a volume control for four system tray 22/04 – a MSN is a Windows Live Messenger clone licensed under the GPL 21/04 – Software Packages in Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron 20/04 – VLC VideoLan Media Player 0.86 f release for Ubuntu Linux 20/04 – 35 Cools Applications to install on the most popular Linux distribution: Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron
	Linux Links
	15/08 – Spket IDE 1.6.12 is Powrful Toolkit for JavaScript and XML Development 15/08 – The Eric Python IDE: new release 4.4.10 15/08 – The Scoop on AnjutaDevStudio 14/08 – Web Browsers for Linux 14/08 – Linux and U Email Clients 14/08 – Linux Administration System 14/08 – Backup for Linux Systems 14/08 – A Summary of Cd Dvd Burning Currently Available for Linux 09/08 – Sound Converter for Gnome 09/08 – Browsers Internet for Linux 09/08 – Kddgz, a KDE Application to Make Backup and to Restore Hard Disk Partition Images 02/08 – MySQL Table Types 13/07 – KFormula is a Formula Editor for KDE and can be Used to Create and Edit Mathematical Formulas 13/07 – Karm PopUp in KDE 13/07 – Karbon is the Vector Drawning Application in KDE and part of Koffice Suite 13/07 – Release Kexi2 Alpha 7, component of Koffice 13/07 – GQViews is a Convenient Configurable Images Browser that runs well Regardless of Desktop Environment 09/07 – Linux: Keystrokes for Navigating Command Lines 09/07 – Using the Linux Shell 09/07 – Starting with Linux 09/07 – Apache TomCat is a Servlet Container Developed by Apache Software Foundation (ASF) 08/07 – Bonfire Application to Burn Cd/Dvd for the Gnome Desktop 07/07 - News and features List of Linux and BSD Distributions 05/07 – SkypStone is a Gtk+ Web Browser that Embeds Mozilla's rendering component Gecko 05/07 – VirtualBox is a Family oy Powerfull x86 Virtualization Products for Enterprise as well as Home use 05/07 – VirtualBox: Installation Instructions in two Separate Chapters for Linux and Windows

Zenwalk 5.2 released

You can always move the MySQL form and data files between di erent versions on the same architecture as long as you have the sa

Zenwalk Linux (formerly Minislack) is a Slackware-based GNU/Linux operating system with a goal of being slim and fast by using only one application per task and with focus on graphical desktop and multimedia usage.

Zenwalk features the latest Linux technology along with a complete programming environment and libraries to provide an ideal platform for application programmers. Zenwalk's modular approach also provides a simple way to convert Zenwalk Linux into a finely-tuned modern server (e.g. LAMP, messaging, file sharing).

Zenwalk is a GNU/Linux operating system, designed to provide the following characteristics:

# Modern and user-friendly (latest stable software, selected applications)
# Fast (optimized for performance capabilities)
# Rational (one mainstream application for each task)
# Complete (full development/desktop/multimedia environment)
# Evolutionary (simple network package management tool - netpkg)

Hardware Requirements

Zenwalk GNU/Linux is optimized for the i686 instruction set, but backward compatible with i486. These are the minimal hardware requirements to run Zenwalk in Xwindow mode, with correct performance (some lower configs work - ie : PII - , but might be slow) :

* Pentium III class processor
* 128 Mb RAM
* 2Gb HDD

Zenwalk's Standard Edition is a complete GNU/Linux operating system for both Desktops and Laptop/Notebook systems but is also easily customizable for use in servers and multimedia centers.

Out of the box, you will be able to browse, mail, chat, listen to music, program in C, Perl, Python, Ruby,.. watch videos in various formats, write documents, print, scan, burn CD and DVD, connect your camera and edit your photographs, without adding anything. Coders will like the full set of development libraries and interpreters.

Screenshots
Click on the image below to travel to Zenwalk's screenshot gallery.

ISO mirrors

Location	Type	Mirror	ISO	MD5
Czech Republic - Prague	FTP	Silicon Hill	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
Czech Republic - Prague	HTTP	Silicon Hill	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
France - Marseille	HTTP	Tuxfamily	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
France - Paris	HTTP	Meeleweb	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
France - Paris	HTTP	Meticul	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
France - Paris	HTTP	Linuxish.net	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
Hungary	FTP	Linuxforum.hu	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
Portugal - Bragança	FTP	NUX-Instituto Politécnico de Bragança	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
Portugal - Bragança	HTTP	NUX-Instituto Politécnico de Bragança	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
U.S.A. - North Carolina	FTP	Ibiblio	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
U.S.A. - North Carolina	HTTP	Ibiblio	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
France	HTTP	IUT Belfort-Monbéliard	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5
France	HTTP	Enialis.net	zenwalk-5.2.iso	md5

Torrent

Location	Type	Mirror	Address	Md5 sum
France - E.U.	Torrent	torrent.trunat.fr	zenwalk-5.2.iso.torrent	zenwalk-5.2.md5

Zenwalk's Live Edition is a complete GNU/Linux operating system. Just as with Zenwalk's desktop Edition, out of the box, you will be able to browse, mail, chat, listen to music, program in C, Perl, Python, Ruby,.. watch videos in various formats, write documents, print, scan, burn CD and DVD, connect your camera and edit your photographs, without adding anything. Coders will like the full set of development libraries and interpreters. The Live Edition also includes extras such as system recovery tools, partition tools, video games and much more... Screenshots

ISO Mirrors

Location	Type	Mirror	Address	Md5 sum
U.S.A - Illinois	FTP	TDS.net	zenwalk-live-5.2.iso	d2f28d55fa04f619a11594b2bf2de559
U.S.A - Illinois	HTTP	TDS.net	zenwalk-live-5.2.iso	d2f28d55fa04f619a11594b2bf2de559
France - Paris	HTTP	linuxish.net	zenwalk-live-5.2.iso	d2f28d55fa04f619a11594b2bf2de559
France - Paris	HTTP	pnboy.pinguix.com	zenwalk-live-5.2.iso	d2f28d55fa04f619a11594b2bf2de559
Portugal - Bragança	HTTP	NUX-Instituto Politécnico de Bragança	zenwalk-live-5.2.iso	d2f28d55fa04f619a11594b2bf2de559
Portugal - Bragança	FTP	NUX-Instituto Politécnico de Bragança	zenwalk-live-5.2.iso	d2f28d55fa04f619a11594b2bf2de559

Zenwalk 5.2 Screenshots

Zenwalk Desktop	Zenwalk Accessories
Zenwalk Development	Zenwalk Graphic-Apps
Zenwalk Multimedia	Zenwalk Internet
Zenwalk Office	Zenwalk XFCE Settings

Latest Post
16/08 – Upgrading/Downgrading MySQL 16/08 – Gammu All Mobiles Management Utilities 08/07 – MySQL Post-Installation Setup and Testing 06/07 –Bb2 Evolution is a Powerfull Blog Tool you can install on your own website 24/06 – Serendipity is a PHP Powered Weblog Application 24/06 – Tripwire, Open Source version of the original Unix file Integrity Scanner 10/05 – Bastrama is a Command-line tool to Manage Backup Files 03/05 – DIBS is a Backup System thats projects or Data by Giving your Files to Peer 02/05 – Black Cat Linux is Russian Company Developing ASPLinux Distribution 30/04 – Enigmail, extension to the Mail Client of Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla SeaMonkey 29/04 – Repository for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron 27/04 – Gimmix, Graphical Music Player for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron 26/04 – Open Source Software Collection: Ten Alternatives You Need 26/04 – Sound Converter, The Sound Conversion Application for the GNOME Environment 24/04 – Timidity ++ is an Open Source MIDI to WAVE converter and player 23/04 – Ubuntu Start Manager for the bootloader (Grub o Grub2) and boot splash (Usplash or Splashy) 23/04 – Gvtray for Xubuntu, a volume control for four system tray 22/04 – a MSN is a Windows Live Messenger clone licensed under the GPL 21/04 – Software Packages in Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron 20/04 – VLC VideoLan Media Player 0.86 f release for Ubuntu Linux 20/04 – 35 Cools Applications to install on the most popular Linux distribution: Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron
	Linux Links
	15/08 – Spket IDE 1.6.12 is Powrful Toolkit for JavaScript and XML Development 15/08 – The Eric Python IDE: new release 4.4.10 15/08 – The Scoop on AnjutaDevStudio 14/08 – Web Browsers for Linux 14/08 – Linux and U Email Clients 14/08 – Linux Administration System 14/08 – Backup for Linux Systems 14/08 – A Summary of Cd Dvd Burning Currently Available for Linux 09/08 – Sound Converter for Gnome 09/08 – Browsers Internet for Linux 09/08 – Kddgz, a KDE Application to Make Backup and to Restore Hard Disk Partition Images 02/08 – MySQL Table Types 13/07 – KFormula is a Formula Editor for KDE and can be Used to Create and Edit Mathematical Formulas 13/07 – Karm PopUp in KDE 13/07 – Karbon is the Vector Drawning Application in KDE and part of Koffice Suite 13/07 – Release Kexi2 Alpha 7, component of Koffice 13/07 – GQViews is a Convenient Configurable Images Browser that runs well Regardless of Desktop Environment 09/07 – Linux: Keystrokes for Navigating Command Lines 09/07 – Using the Linux Shell 09/07 – Starting with Linux 09/07 – Apache TomCat is a Servlet Container Developed by Apache Software Foundation (ASF) 08/07 – Bonfire Application to Burn Cd/Dvd for the Gnome Desktop 07/07 - News and features List of Linux and BSD Distributions 05/07 – SkypStone is a Gtk+ Web Browser that Embeds Mozilla's rendering component Gecko 05/07 – VirtualBox is a Family oy Powerfull x86 Virtualization Products for Enterprise as well as Home use

Upgrading/Downgrading MySQL

You can always move the MySQL form and data files between di erent versions on the same architecture as long as you have the same base version of MySQL. The current base version is 3. If you change the character set when running MySQL (which may also change the sort order), you must run myisamchk -r -q on all tables. Otherwise your indexes may not be ordered correctly.

If you are afraid of new versions, you can always rename your old mysqld to something like mysqld-’old-version-number’. If your new mysqld then does something unexpected, you can simply shut it down and restart with your old mysqld!

When you do an upgrade you should also back up your old databases, of course.
If after an upgrade, you experience problems with recompiled client programs, like Commands out of sync or unexpected core dumps, you probably have used an old header or library file when compiling your programs. In this case you should check the date for your ‘mysql.h’ file and ‘libmysqlclient.a’ library to verify that they are from the new MySQL distribution.
If not, please recompile your programs!

If you get some problems that the new mysqld server doesn’t want to start or that you can’t connect without a password, check that you don’t have some old ‘my.cnf’ file from your old installation! You can check this with: program-name --print-defaults. If this outputs anything other than the program name, you have an active my.cnf file that will a ect things!
It is a good idea to rebuild and reinstall the Msql-Mysql-modules distribution whenever you install a new release of MySQL, particularly if you notice symptoms such as all your DBI scripts dumping core after you upgrade MySQL.

Upgrading From Version 3.23 to Version 4.0
You can use your old data files without any modification with Version 4.0. If you want to move your data from a MySQL 4.0 server to an older server, you have to use mysqldump.
Old clients should work with a Version 4.0 server without any problems.
The following lists tell what you have to watch out for when upgrading to version 4.0; • INSERT INTO ... SELECT had in 3.23 always IGNORE enabled. In 4.0.1 MySQL will stop (and possible rollback) in case of an error if you don’t specify IGNORE.
• ‘safe_mysqld’ is renamed to ‘mysqld_safe’.
• The old C API functions mysql_drop_db, mysql_create_db and mysql_connect are not supported anymore, unless one compiles MySQL with CFLAGS=-DUSE_OLD_FUNCTIONS. Instead of doing this, one should change the client to use the new 4.0
API.
• In the MYSQL_FIELD structure, length and max_length has changed from unsigned int to unsigned long. This should not cause any other problems than some warnings if you use these to printf() type function.
• You should use TRUNCATE TABLE when you want to delete all rows from a table and you don’t care of how many rows where deleted. (Because TRUNCATE TABLE is faster than DELETE FROM table_name).
• You will get an error if you have an active LOCK TABLES or transaction when trying to execute TRUNCATE TABLE or DROP DATABASE.
• You should use integers to store values in BIGINT columns (instead of using strings as you did in MySQL 3.23). Using strings will still work, but using integers is more e cient.
• Format of SHOW OPEN TABLE has changed.
• Multithreaded clients should use mysql_thread_init() and mysql_thread_end().
• If you want to recompile the perl DBD-MySQL module, you must get Msql-Mysql-modules version 1.2218 or newer, because the older DBD modules used the deprecated
drop_db() call.

MySQL Version 3.23 supports tables of the new MyISAM type and the old ISAM type. You don’t have to convert your old tables to use these with Version 3.23. By default, all new tables will be created with type MyISAM (unless you start mysqld with the --default-table-type=isam option). You can change an ISAM table to a MyISAM table with ALTER TABLE table_name TYPE=MyISAM or the Perl script mysql_convert_table_format.
Version 3.22 and 3.21 clients will work without any problems with a Version 3.23 server.

The following lists tell what you have to watch out for when upgrading to Version 3.23:
• All tables that uses the tis620 character set must be fixed with myisamchk -r or
REPAIR TABLE.
• If you do a DROP DATABASE on a symbolic linked database, both the link and the original database is deleted. (This didn’t happen in 3.22 because configure didn’t detect the readlink system call).
• OPTIMIZE TABLE now only works for MyISAM tables. For other table types, you can use ALTER TABLE to optimise the table. During OPTIMIZE TABLE the table is now locked from other threads.
• The MySQL client mysql is now by default started with the option --no-named- commands (-g). This option can be disabled with --enable-named-commands (-G).
This may cause incompatibility problems in some cases, for example in SQL scripts that use named commands without a semicolon! Long format commands still work from the first line.
• Date functions that work on part of dates (like MONTH()) will now return 0 for 0000- 00-00 dates. (MySQL 3.22 returned NULL).
• If you are using the german character sort order, you must repair all your tables with isamchk -r, as we have made some changes in the sort order!
• The default return type of IF will now depend on both arguments and not only the first argument.
• AUTO_INCREMENT will not work with negative numbers. The reason for this is that negative numbers caused problems when wrapping from -1 to 0. AUTO_INCREMENT is now for MyISAM tables handled at a lower level and is much faster than before. For MyISAM tables old numbers are also not reused anymore, even if you delete some rows from the table.
• CASE, DELAYED, ELSE, END, FULLTEXT, INNER, RIGHT, THEN and WHEN are now reserved words.
• FLOAT(X) is now a true oating-point type and not a value with a fixed number of decimals.
• When declaring DECIMAL(length,dec) the length argument no longer includes a place for the sign or the decimal point.
• A TIME string must now be of one of the following formats: [[[DAYS] [H]H:]MM:]SS[.fraction] or [[[[[H]H]H]H]MM]SS[.fraction]
• LIKE now compares strings using the same character comparison rules as ’=’. If you require the old behavior, you can compile MySQL with the CXXFLAGS=-DLIKE_CMP_TOUPPER ag.
• REGEXP is now case insensitive for normal (not binary) strings.
• When you check/repair tables you should use CHECK TABLE or myisamchk for MyISAM tables (.MYI) and isamchk for ISAM (.ISM) tables.
• If you want your mysqldump files to be compatible between MySQL Version 3.22 and Version 3.23, you should not use the --opt or --full option to mysqldump.
• Check all your calls to DATE_FORMAT() to make sure there is a ‘%’ before each format character. (Later MySQL Version 3.22 did allow this syntax.)
• mysql_fetch_fields_direct is now a function (it was a macro) and it returns a pointer to a MYSQL_FIELD instead of a MYSQL_FIELD.

• mysql_num_fields() can no longer be used on a MYSQL* object (it’s now a function that takes MYSQL_RES* as an argument. You should now use mysql_field_count() instead.
• In MySQL Version 3.22, the output of SELECT DISTINCT ... was almost always sorted.
In Version 3.23, you must use GROUP BY or ORDER BY to obtain sorted output.
• SUM() now returns NULL, instead of 0, if there is no matching rows. This is according to ANSI SQL.
• An AND or OR with NULL values will now return NULL instead of 0. This mostly a ects
queries that use NOT on an AND/OR expression as NOT NULL = NULL. LPAD() and RPAD()
will shorten the result string if it’s longer than the length argument.
2.5.3 Upgrading from Version 3.21 to Version 3.22
Nothing that a ects compatibility has changed between Version 3.21 and 3.22. The only pitfall is that new tables that are created with DATE type columns will use the new way to store the date. You can’t access these new fields from an old version of mysqld.

After installing MySQL Version 3.22, you should start the new server and then run the mysql_fix_privilege_tables script. This will add the new privileges that you need to
use the GRANT command. If you forget this, you will get Access denied when you try to use ALTER TABLE, CREATE INDEX, or DROP INDEX. If your MySQL root user requires a password, you should give this as an argument to mysql_fix_privilege_tables.

The C API interface to mysql_real_connect() has changed. If you have an old client program that calls this function, you must place a 0 for the new db argument (or recode the client to send the db element for faster connections). You must also call mysql_init() before calling mysql_real_connect()! This change was done to allow the new mysql_ options() function to save options in the MYSQL handler structure.
The mysqld variable key_buffer has changed names to key_buffer_size, but you can still use the old name in your startup files.

Upgrading from Version 3.20 to Version 3.21
If you are running a version older than Version 3.20.28 and want to switch to Version 3.21, you need to do the following:
You can start the mysqld Version 3.21 server with safe_mysqld --old-protocol to use it with clients from a Version 3.20 distribution. In this case, the new client function mysql_errno() will not return any server error, only CR_UNKNOWN_ERROR (but it works for client errors), and the server uses the old password() checking rather than the new one.
If you are not using the --old-protocol option to mysqld, you will need to make the following changes:
• All client code must be recompiled. If you are using ODBC, you must get the new MyODBC 2.x driver.
• The script scripts/add_long_password must be run to convert the Password field in the mysql.user table to CHAR(16).
• All passwords must be reassigned in the mysql.user table (to get 62-bit rather than 31-bit passwords).
• The table format hasn’t changed, so you don’t have to convert any tables.
MySQL Version 3.20.28 and above can handle the new user table format without a ecting clients. If you have a MySQL version earlier than Version 3.20.28, passwords will no longer work with it if you convert the user table. So to be safe, you should first upgrade to at least Version 3.20.28 and then upgrade to Version 3.21.
The new client code works with a 3.20.x mysqld server, so if you experience problems with 3.21.x, you can use the old 3.20.x server without having to recompile the clients again.
If you are not using the --old-protocol option to mysqld, old clients will issue the error message:
ERROR: Protocol mismatch. Server Version = 10 Client Version = 9
The new Perl DBI/DBD interface also supports the old mysqlperl interface. The only change you have to make if you use mysqlperl is to change the arguments to the connect() function. The new arguments are: host, database, user, password (the user and password arguments have changed places).

The following changes may a ect queries in old applications:
• HAVING must now be specified before any ORDER BY clause.
• The parameters to LOCATE() have been swapped.
• There are some new reserved words. The most notable are DATE, TIME, and TIMESTAMP.

Upgrading to Another Architecture
If you are using MySQL Version 3.23, you can copy the .frm, .MYI, and .MYD files between di erent architectures that support the same oating-point format. (MySQL takes care of any byte swapping issues.)


The MySQL ISAM data and index files (‘.ISD’ and ‘*.ISM’, respectively) are architecture dependent and in some cases OS-dependent. If you want to move your applications to another machine that has a di erent architecture or OS than your current machine, you should not try to move a database by simply copying the files to the other machine. Use mysqldump instead.
By default, mysqldump will create a file full of SQL statements. You can then transfer the file to the other machine and feed it as input to the mysql client.
Try mysqldump --help to see what options are available. If you are moving the data to a newer version of MySQL, you should use mysqldump --opt with the newer version to get a fast, compact dump.
The easiest (although not the fastest) way to move a database between two machines is to run the following commands on the machine on which the database is located:
shell> mysqladmin -h ’other hostname’ create db_name
shell> mysqldump --opt db_name \
| mysql -h ’other hostname’ db_name
If you want to copy a database from a remote machine over a slow network, you can use:
shell> mysqladmin create db_name
shell> mysqldump -h ’other hostname’ --opt --compress db_name \
| mysql db_name

You can also store the result in a file, then transfer the file to the target machine and load the file into the database there. For example, you can dump a database to a file on the source machine like this:
shell> mysqldump --quick db_name | gzip > db_name.contents.gz
(The file created in this example is compressed.) Transfer the file containing the database contents to the target machine and run these commands there:
shell> mysqladmin create db_name
shell> gunzip <> mkdir DUMPDIR
shell> mysqldump --tab=DUMPDIR db_name
Then transfer the files in the DUMPDIR directory to some corresponding directory on the target machine and load the files into MySQL there:
shell> mysqladmin create db_name # create database
shell> cat DUMPDIR/*.sql | mysql db_name # create tables in database
shell> mysqlimport db_name DUMPDIR/*.txt # load data into tables
Also, don’t forget to copy the mysql database, because that’s where the grant tables (user, db, host) are stored. You may have to run commands as the MySQL root user on the new machine until you have the mysql database in place.
After you import the mysql database on the new machine, execute mysqladmin flush privileges so that the server reloads the grant table information.

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Gammu All Mobiles Management Utilities

Gammu is a project which encompasses applications, scripts and drivers for managing various functions on cellular phones and similiar devices.

It is a stable and mature codebase with support for many models available on the market and provides functions unavailable in other similiar projects. Long term development is oriented towards making a shared API for classes of device rather than supporting single phone models (which are eventually made obsolete with the arrival of new models).

This software was earlier (up to version 0.58) named MyGnokii2, current name Gammu is not connected with Gammu from "Heretics of Dune" written by Frank Herbert. We name this "main" project core too, because there are various other projects based on it available now.

Download

• Sources
  • Current stable version 1.20.0 (bzip2) via http or ftp (1 MiB)
  • Current stable version 1.20.0 (gzip) via http or ftp (1.3 MiB)
  • Current testing version 1.20.90 (bzip2) via http or ftp (1 MiB)
  • Current testing version 1.20.90 (gzip) via http or ftp (1.3 MiB)
• Windows binaries - Full version
  • Current stable version 1.20.0 (Windows installer) via http or ftp (3 MiB)
  • Current stable version 1.20.0 (zipped binary) via http or ftp (3.8 MiB)
  • Current testing version 1.20.90 (Windows installer) via http or ftp (1.9 MiB)
  • Current testing version 1.20.90 (zipped binary) via http or ftp (2.4 MiB)
• Windows binaries - Minimal version
  • Current stable version 1.20.0 (Windows installer) via http or ftp (1019 KiB)
  • Current stable version 1.20.0 (zipped binary) via http or ftp (1.1 MiB)
  • Current testing version 1.20.90 (Windows installer) via http or ftp (1021 KiB)
  • Current testing version 1.20.90 (zipped binary) via http or ftp (1.1 MiB)
• Debian and Ubuntu
  • Ubuntu packages
  • Debian packages
  • Ubuntu PPA repository
• OpenSUSE, Fedora and Mandriva
  • Download and 1-click installation links
  • Overview of all packages
  • Repositories with packages
• Listing of all files
• APT repository

Using source tarballs in Linux

Compiling and installing from source tarballs

First you will need some tools available with developer libraries, if you want some functionality:

1. MySQL - database functions
2. PostgreSQL - database functions
3. BlueZ - BlueTooth

If you have everything, simply do such steps:

1. Download gammu from one of the download sites. 2. Uncompress the downloaded file :

$ tar xjvf gammu.tar.bz2

3. Enter the gammu directory:

$ cd gammu-*

4. Run the configure script (you will need CMake for this):

$ ./configure

5. Compile the program:

$ make

6. Install it as root:

$ su
# make install

Creating Debian packages

1. Download and unpack gammu tarball.

2. Get required build dependencies:

aptitude install debhelper libc6-dev libbluetooth1 libbluetooth1-dev autoconf fakeroot

3. Build it:

fakeroot debian/rules binary

Using ready packages in Linux

RPM based distributions

Some vendors already included Gammu, so you can use version they ship. At least SUSE and Mandriva have Gammu inside their distribution. If this does not apply, you can try luck with third party sources:

1. Download the RPM file (see mirrors)

2. Switch to root user:

$ su

3. Install the file

$ rpm -ivh gammu-*.rpm

Debian

Gammu and related are now officialy inside Debian:,there also testing versions

If it all fails, try building from sources.

Ubuntu

Debian packages don't work on older Ubuntu releases without python-central, so you might try Wammu Installation Script for Ubuntu.

Gentoo

Gentoo contains ebuild for gammu, so you can just

$ emerge gammu

Arch Linux

Arch Linux contains pkgbuild in unsupported section, install as usual.

---

When you have program installed, you need to configure it, see documentation.

Connecting to Symbian (Nokia and probably other)

Before you will try connect to Gammu, you have to install gnapplet application in phone first. You can find gnapplet in Gammu sources (other/symbian/gnapplet.sis) or should be included in Gammu package for your distribution. Alternatively you can get latest copy from SVN: http://viewsvn.cihar.com/viewvc.cgi/gammu/trunk/other/symbian/gnapplet.sis. For instructions how to install it into your phone please follow your phone manual.

Later steps depends on connection type. For example for Bluetooth use "bluerfgnapbus" connection and model "gnap" and device addresss as "port". You can read notes described below for infrared and Bluetooth too. Cables connections (DKE-2, DKU-2, etc.) are not supported by gnapplet now.

When you want to communicate with phone, enable medium (bluetooth, irda, etc.), run gnapplet in phone and use Gammu then.

Currently gnapplet is not compatible with 3rd generation of Symbian, for more details see http://blog.cihar.com/archives/2007/06/27/gammu_and_symbian_3rd_generation/.

Connecting to Nokia without Symbian

Cable

There are three main protocols used in cable connections:

• MBUS (sometimes called M2BUS) - old, not recommended
• FBUS - recommended
• AT commands - limited, recommended for data calls

All phones have a connector under the battery (the exception is the Nokia 3210 - it's on right side of battery) - it's for FBUS and MBUS. This connector is only way for connecting to phone functions on Nokia 5510 (DKE-2 gives access to MP3 side only)

To use Gammu with it you will only need a simple converter and the pins description from Internet.

The alternative to cable working with one phone is kit - plug for phone from flasher (RJ45 or PS2) + compatible with it converter for serial port. There are many offers - it's enough to write for example "ps2 and cable and phone_model" in Google

Many phones have connector on bottom of phone. It's for FBUS (always), sometimes for AT commands and sometimes for MBUS:

• Older phones had connector like in Nokia 6110. You can use FBUS and MBUS cable there. Original Nokia cables for these phones were called DAU9P. With Nokia 7110/6210/6310/6310i you can additionaly use DLR3/DLR3P cables too (they will not work with older models like Nokia 5110 or 6110) - you will have FBUS and AT commands. All of them don't need special drivers, because are designed to use with serial ports.
• Nokia 9210 have connector working in FBUS and MBUS...but if you want to use FBUS with original and non-modified DLR-2L, you have to enable FBUS mode from netmonitor menu 31...but for enabling netmonitor you have to use MBUS cable (and MBUS is not supported by DLR-2L)
• New phones have PopPort. It's for FBUS, MBUS the most often is not connected (see article from NokiaPort.de). You have AT commands in more expensive phones too.

For PopPort you have to connect cable with USB converter inside or not (it depends on phone model - new/more expensive models have USB converter on main board and cable is simple cable extension only).

• cables for for phones without USB converter on phone main board
  • original DKU5 - Supported by Gammu in windows but unsupported in Linux (nobody wanted to make the kernel driver for it)
  • original CA42 - Supported fully in Windows, limited in Linux (see below)
  • cloned DKU5 with PL2303 and other - The most often suported in Windows, sometimes in Linux (depends on quality of manufacturer driver)

• for phones with USB converter on phone main board.
  • original DKU2 - Supported by Gammu in windows.
    There is easy driver in Gammu distribution for Linux too - it works quite enough with the most popular phones, adding support for more models need to add their ID only (because all USB processing is done by phone, you add phone product ID). It doesn't work with Nokia 6230 with firmware 5.xx.
    NOTE: this cable will not give access to phone functions in Nokia 3300
    For more info (both for Linux and Windows) see notes below.
  • original CA53 - no info (probably very similiar to DKU2)
  • ark3116 cable - see below

A little more about cables compatibility for Nokia phones: http://europe.nokia.com/nokia/0,,79898,00.html (probably all CA42 phones can be used with DKU5 cable and probably all CA53 phones can be used with DKU2)

Generally - Gammu doesn't have problems with serial port cables. Just enable read/write access to the serial port being used, set it as "port" in gammurc and set "connection" to right protocol.

There are notes in Net, that some 3rd party serial cables for 8210/8250 doesn't work with 5210, some from 8210 doesn't work with 2100. It can happen, if signals are in different places in both models. So, be carefull here. Please note, that during connection using serial cable you can have incorrect chars too:

• (Linux) if you have wrong kernel options for serial port - for FBUS there should be support enabled for the best possible UART (16550 or something similiar, which is required to have 115200 and 16 bytes UART queue)
• if port can't be set correctly to required speed (the most often 115200)
• if you have something wrong with hardware (cable, phone)

A little more about USB support in Linux: http://www.linux-usb.org/

DKU2 cable

for Linux:

• build and install the kernel module -- this is for 2.6 *only*, it will not work on a 2.4 kernel. The Makefile uses the standard convention of /usr/src/linux-2.6 as the kernel source home; if you already have that, simply type "make; make install" and you're done.

NOTE: if you're on Fedora Core 3 and have no clue how to prepare your kernel source for building external modules, follow step #1 in my HowTo for the rt2x00 project on Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=2959689

• Compile gammu as normal (./configure; make)

• Plug in your phone, and look in /var/log/messages for the device that was registered as "FBUS". It should look like this:

  kernel: Nokia FBUS Port:
kernel: Nokia DKU2 1-2:1.10: Nokia 7600/6230 DKU2 driver converter detected
kernel: usb 1-2: Nokia 7600/6230 DKU2 driver converter now attached  to ttyUSB0

NOTE: there are two drivers that fight for the AT side of your Nokia -- the stock "cdc_acm" driver and the "nokia_dku2" module. So, if cdc_acm got there first and created ttyACM0, then most likely your phone will be ttyUSB0. If the nokia_dku2 got there first, then most likely your AT will be ttyUSB0, and the FBUS port ttyUSB1. I've had it happen both ways.

This can make sometimes problems (report from other user):

Problem: My Nokia 6230 phone does weird things - when I run smsd and receive new message, phone just hangs, restarts and message isn't saved in mysql, but ofcoure is saved next time I run smsd, but the same happens again if I receive message. Actually noticed the same when phone said - battery is full (or any other action is done with phone), connection with smsd droped.
Solution: Ok, problem seems to be solved, seems that linux acm module tries to make serial connection to phone and try to do something and when connection through fbus and serial is done at the same time, everything hangs. - just removed acm module and now serial and fbus connection is made through nokia_dku2 module.

• make sure /dev/ttyUSB* is owned by the user running gammu! chown/chmod it as needed. On my FC3 machine I added the proper configurations to /etc/security/console.perms to chown it to the logged in user for me:

  Under this line: =/dev/raw1394
Add this line:   =/dev/ttyACM* /dev/ttyUSB*

  Under this line:   0600     0600 root
Add this line:     0600      0600 root

Log out and log back in and it will work properly for you forever.

• Configure your .gammurc:

[gammu]
port = /dev/ttyUSB0
connection = dku2

• run gammu --identify! At this point is should be working.

for Windows:

1. Download driver from nokia.com (http://europe.nokia.com/nokia/0,,81914,00.html or other)
2. Install driver
3. (for some phones like N6111) Unlock phone keypad - it must be unlocked all time
4. Connect phone to cable, cable to pc
5. (for some phones like N6111) Select default mode in phone
6. Phone will be installed
7. Gammurc:

[gammu]
Connection = dku2

DKU5 cable

for Windows:

• install driver from Nokia (latest 1.24 version). It's for Atmel based cables. Other drivers and cables with other chipsets sold as original DKU5 were not tested.
• enter Control Panel and properties to created "Port 1 on Nokia adapter" device
• set "bits per second" to 115200
• set connection "dku5" without device (for FBUS) or "at..." with Port 1 device name (for AT) in Gammu config file
• connect cable to phone

Sometimes it happen, that first connection try isn't successfull. Without disconnecting cable and phone try again. It should work then.

When cable will switch from AT to FBUS and you will want to use AT again, you have to reconnect phone and cable (switching from FBUS to AT is not possible).

CA42 cable

for Windows:

• install driver from Nokia
• connect cable to phone and later to USB (cable will be recognized, when will be connected to phone !)
• wait for driver installation
• go into Windows Device Manager (Start, Settings, Control Panel, System, ...)
• look for properties for modem "Nokia CA-42 USB"
• check serial device assigned with it (for me it was COM20:)
• use "port = COM20:" (or other) and "connection = dlr3" (for FBUS)/"connection = at115200" (for AT commands) in config file
• remember to have phone keypad unlocked during communication

for Linux:

ACM driver should load automatically for CA-42 cable. You can then use at or dlr3 connections to talk to this device, eg.:

[gammu]
port = /dev/ttyACM0
model =
connection = dlr3

ark3116 cable

The ark3116 driver for 2nd-source cable (original does not exist) is included in the Linux-kernel since 2.6.17rc5.

If Linux attaches the ark3116 to a USB, use the following configuration:

[gammu]
port = /dev/ttyUSB0
model =
connection = fbus-nopower

Infrared

There are two methods: direct communication with the phone, or using operating system functions to communicate with it.

The first method ("infrared" in gammurc) is obsolete, but required with 6110/6130/6150 and compatible. Also Nokia 8210 uses it, when entering infrared using the 2 player mode.

In Linux disable infrared in kernel, connect your infrared device to serial port (other irda dongles than conenected to serial port won't be supported in this mode) and try Gammu with "infrared" connection. If doesn't work, there will be required some modifications of sources. Please contact authors.

In Windows ANY infrared device can be assigned to serial port with driver written by Jan Kiszka.

The second method ("irda" in gammurc) is much better. It's compatible with all modern operating systems (under Linux, infrared must be enabled in the kernel). This is called socket infrared and is used in all new phones.

Note: in many new models (like Nokia 6230 or 6230i) you have to have keypad unlocked during all connection time. Simply activate Bluetooth, infrared (or whatever you use) and enter phone menu before you will try to connect with Gammu.

Note: some infrared modules for PC require setting non standard parameters (for example, lowering max. speed to 115200) for communicating with phones. This is not Gammu issue then ! Example: for Stir 4200 based dongle you have to set in Control Panel

Infrared transceiver type - vishay 6101E
Min. Turn-around time - 0.5 ms (instead of default 1 ms)
Speed enable - 115200 (instead of default 4Mbps)

Example of using socket infrared under Linux (based on USB dongle):

1. compile the kernel with USB and infrared protocols (this is already done in most modern distributions).
2. if necessary, insert USB module (e.g. modprobe irda-usb) (in most modern distributions, this shouldn't be necessary).
3. use irattach irda0 -s or similiar, to set up the infrared port.
4. enable read/write access to the infrared port (/dev/ircomm0, or whatever) with the following command:
   chmod ugo+rw /dev/ircomm0
   (This step may or may not be necessary, depending on the way the distribution's configured.)
5. set "connection" in gammurc to "irda", "port" to "/dev/ircomm0" (or the relevant infrared port)

A little more about infrared in Linux is here: http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/IrDA/IrDA.html

Bluetooth

Works OK in all situations.

Note: in many new models (like Nokia 6230 or 6230i) you have to have keypad unlocked during all connection time. Simply activate Bluetooth, infrared (or whatever you use) and enter phone menu before you will try to connect with Gammu

Note: some old Nokias (6310i with old firmware and so on) need to use special connections (for example "bluerfphonet" instead of "bluephonet").

Example of using USB dongle for Linux (BlueZ stack): (Note: most of this needs to be done as the superuser - i.e., root)

1. compile the kernel with USB and Bluetooth - don't use the bluetooth setting in the USB section! (this is already done in most modern distributions)
2. if necessary, load the kernel driver (modprobe hci_usb) (in most modern distributions, you shouldn't need to do this)
3. use hciconfig hci0 up to enable the dongle
4. create a text file /etc/bluetooth/givepin with the following contents:
   #!/bin/sh
   echo "PIN:5432"
5. change the file permissions to make it executable:
   chmod a+x /etc/bluetooth/givepin
6. in /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf set "pin_helper" to "/etc/bluetooth/givepin;"
7. execute hcid to send options from hcid.conf to bluetooth device
8. do hcitool scan to get the phone address and enter this as the "device" parameter in gammurc. Set protocol to "bluephonet" or whatever is relevant for your setup (see the Connection section of the config file for details on this)
9. during first connection give PIN 5432 in phone
10. use "bluephonet" or "bluerfphonet" or "blueat" connections (with or without device address in "device")

A little more about Bluez is here:

• http://www.bluez.org/faq.html
• http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/bluetooth-guide.xml

In Windows there are two ways:

1. using emulated serial ports for connecting to concrete phone services. It was used by old Bluetooth stacks (like WidComm) or can be set with Microsoft stack (Windows XP SP2, Windows 2003 and later). Not recommended. To use it you need to pair phone with PC, assign some phone service to serial port, give it as "device" and use correct "*blue" (like "phonetblue") connection
2. using Microsoft stack (Windows XP SP2, Windows 2003 and later) to direct connection. Recommended.
   1. pair phone with computer using "Bluetooth devices" in Windows Control Panel
   2. use "bluephonet" (for older phones there could "bluerfphonet" instead of "bluephonet" required) or "blueat" connections (with or without device address in "device")
   Flasher Cables

Flasher cables are different from standard data cables. They connect to the parallel (LPT) port and allow you to read from and write to the phone's internal flash memory. Using the correct software (called a flasher) and a flasher cable, you can upgrade the phone's firmware to a more recent version. Gammu, as user software, doesn't support flashing.

There's plenty of information about flashing and flasher equipment on the web - using a search engine, with terms like flasher, mobile, firmware, etc should turn some up.

Connecting to Ericsson / Siemens / Samsung / Alcatel

Cable

Get serial cable for the appropriate model, plug it into the phone and in a free serial port of the PC. In gammu, set the correct port ("COM1:" .. "COM9:" in Windows, "/dev/ttyS*" in Linux).

Set "connection=at115200" (or lower) and "model=at". You can also try "model=obex".

Infrared

You can map your infrared connection to a virtual COM port in Win9x and XP. Then give "port=COM4:" (or check the correct port in Control Panels/Infrared transfer) and the connection will look like normal serial connection. Continue as above.

If you wish to use true infrared connection, follow the steps in the Nokia answer above.

Bluetooth

See Nokia answer above.

General connection notes

Cables

• New Nokia protocol for FBUS/DAU9P
  Connection "fbus"
  Port type serial
• New Nokia protocol for DLR3/DLR3P
  Connection "fbusdlr3"/"dlr3"
  Port type serial
• New Nokia protocol for DKU2 (and phone without USB chip like 6230
  Connection "dku2phonet"/"dku2"
  Port type dku2
• New Nokia protocol for DKU5 (and phone with USB chip like 5100
  Connection "dku5fbus"/"dku5"
  Port type dku5
• New Nokia protocol for PL2303 USB cable (and phone with USB chip like 5100)
  Connection "fbuspl2303"
  Port type usb
• Sony-Ericsson USB cable
  Connection "at"
  Port type usb
• Old Nokia protocol for MBUS/DAU9P
  Connection "mbus"
  Port type serial

Infrared

• Nokia protocol for infrared with Nokia 6110/6130/6150
  Connection "fbusirda"/"infrared"
  Port type serial
• Nokia protocol for infrared with other Nokia models
  Connection "irdaphonet"/"irda"
  Port type IrDA
• AT commands for infrared. Used with Nokia, Alcatel, Siemens, etc.
  Connection "irdaat" (under Windows) or "at" (under Linux)
  Port type IrDA
• OBEX for infrared
  Connection "irdaobex"
  Port type IrDA
  Model "obex"

Bluetooth

• Nokia protocol with serial port set in BT stack (WidComm, other) from adequate service and Nokia 6210
  Connection "fbusblue"
  Port type serial
• Nokia protocol with serial port set in BT stack (WidComm, other) from adequate service and other Nokia models
  Connection "phonetblue"
  Port type serial
• Nokia protocol for Bluetooth stack with Nokia 6210
  Connection "bluerffbus"
  Port type Bluetooth
• Nokia protocol for Bluetooth stack with DCT4 Nokia models, which don't inform about services correctly (6310, 6310i with firmware lower than 5.50, 8910,..)
  Connection "bluerfphonet"
  Port type Bluetooth
• Nokia protocol for Bluetooth stack with other DCT4 Nokia models
  Connection "bluephonet"
  Port type Bluetooth
• AT commands for Bluetooth stack and 6210 / DCT4 Nokia models, which don't inform about BT services correctly (6310, 6310i with firmware lower than 5.50, 8910,..)
  Connection "bluerfat"
  Port type Bluetooth
• AT commands for Bluetooth stack with other phones (Siemens, other Nokia,etc.)
  Connection "blueat"
  Port type Bluetooth
• OBEX for Bluetooth stack with DCT4 Nokia models, which don't inform about BT services correctly (6310, 6310i with firmware lower than 5.50, 8910,...)
  Connection "bluerfobex"
  Port type Bluetooth
• OBEX for Bluetooth stack with other phones (Siemens, other Nokia, etc.)
  Connection "blueobex"
  Port type Bluetooth
  Model "obex"

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