Red Hat, the top-ranked seller of the Linux operating system, has expanded chip support for its corporate version of the open-source operating system and plans a major change to Fedora, its hobbyist product, in coming days.
In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, Update 2, released Wednesday, the Linux seller added support for Intel's 64-bit "x86" processors and IBM's Power processor-based JS20 blade servers. In addition, the update adds 64-bit versions of developer tools for Intel's Itanium and Xeon chips and Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron. Red Hat also is wrapping up Fedora Core 2, the company's test bed for new technology intended to let enthusiasts and developers try out the latest software more quickly. It's free but lacks the long-term support that comes with the Enterprise Linux product.
Red Hat spokeswoman Leigh Day said the company expects to meet Friday's deadline for completion of Fedora with the new 2.6 kernel, or core. Fedora Core 2 is expected to be available for widespread download by Tuesday. The Enterprise Linux product, in contrast, is a slower-moving product that won't get the full 2.6 kernel until 2005. Red Hat competitor Novell advocates a faster adoption of the 2.6 kernel, which among other things improves performance on multiprocessor servers.
News source: C|Net News.com
