Red Hat Linux is a complete operating system based on the Linux kernel developed by a worldwide team of developers led by Linus Torvalds working over the Internet. Linux continues to evolve forward rapidly and the recent release of the 2.0 kernel (on which Red Hat 4.0 is based) demonstrates the remarkable talent and creativity of the Linux development community as well as the value and stability of the cooperative development model. Please see chapter H Red Hat and Freely Distributable Software for more on this subject.
With the release of Red Hat 4.0 , Red Hat Linux runs on three leading computing platforms: Intel compatibles PCs, Digital Alpha computers, and Sun SPARC equipment. Our unified source tree and the benefits of RPM (Red Hat Package Management) technology enable us to keep Red Hat Linux releases for these three platforms concurrent, which in turn enables our users to manage and port software between these platforms with minimum effort.
We are pleased to note the growing number of applications being made available on the Linux OS, several of these from Red Hat. We make our versions of Linux available by unrestricted ftp from our site and many mirror sites on the Internet. Red Hat Linux is also available on CD-ROM. For current information on our product offerings and links to other Linux resources please check http://www.redhat.com
On most systems, Red Hat Linux is easy to install: the installation script can walk you through the process in as little as 15 minutes. The installation system is very flexible, you can install and uninstall individual software ``packages'' with a couple of clicks of your mouse button. It is easy to maintain: package installations can be verified and corrected. Furthermore it is easy to administer, a set of graphical administration tools bundled into a ``control-panel'' reduce the hassle of every day system administration. Complete source code is provided for the freely distributable components of the system.
If you are itching to install Red Hat Linux right away, check out the Quick Start chapter. After reading that you should be able to do a basic installation without much trouble. For new Linux users, we would suggest reading through the entire manual first to get a good understanding of the various systems and installation procedures. If you have any problems installing or using Red Hat Linux please see the Frequently Asked Questions chapter F
We would like to thank all our beta testers for entrusting their systems to early versions of Red Hat Linux and for taking the time to submit bug reports from the front, especially those who have been with Red Hat since the ``Halloween'' release and earlier. We would also like to thank Linus Torvalds and the hundreds of developers around the world for creating, truly, one of the wonders of distributed development.
Thanks again, and welcome to the wonderful world of Linux!
The Red Hat Development Team