Announcing Red Hat Linux 4.0

Those wacky kids at Red Hat Software have done it again...

Announcing Red Hat Linux - Release 4.0 for Intel, Alpha and Sparc !!

Yikes, three platforms as once! Our hard drives are hurting, our bits are burning, our net is numb, our processors are passing out!

Help make our parents happy by downloading it now from:

ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0/

now coming at you via two T1's!

(Of course our parents would be *really* pleased if you bought a CD-ROM - see the press release below. :-)

October 3, 1996

Durham, NC -- Red Hat Software, Inc. is pleased to announce the availability of Red Hat Linux release 4.0 for Intel, Alpha and Sparc computers. This release is the first synchronized release of *any* operating system for these three platforms, and represents a huge leap in reducing your administrative and support costs for your heterogeneous network. This release offers many substantial improvements over previous releases, including additional hardware support, simplified installation, rewritten network configuration tools, dramatic performance improvements, and many more.

NEW FEATURES IN RED HAT LINUX 4.0

Modular 2.0.18 kernel. One kernel for all hardware, support for much more hardware. Kernel is distributed as an RPM package. This means that to upgrade the kernel you only need to upgrade the kernel RPM package, which is just a single command.

Only one installation floppy! Two for PCMCIA and FTP installs. Both floppies are included in the Official Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set product.

Easier installation. Smarter network configuration, full "cancel" ability, simpler package selection, package descriptions available during install, much faster.

New version of RPM. RPM 2.2.5 includes dependencies, improved PGP/MD5/size signature capability, dependencies, more powerful querying, dependencies, improved multi- arch/os handling, dependencies, relocatable packages, dependencies, support for building and installing packages as non-root.. Did I mention dependencies?

Improved X Windows support. Easier X Windows configuration. Just pick your video card and monitor from the provided lists and you are done. Latest MetroLink X server 3.1.2 (Only available with the Official Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set.)

Expanded Red Hat Linux User's Guide. 236 pages of installation and configuration information. Expanded coverage of the control-panel tools. Includes MetroLink X server configuration information. The User's Guide is now available via FTP under the same terms as the LDP documentation! It is also browsable on our web site!

Improved network configuration. New graphical network configuration control panel tool. Allows for simple configuration of PPP and SLIP network connections. Makes it simple to move your machine between networks, add ethernet cards, etc.

Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM). PAM is used throughout for increased system security and configurability. Shadow password support (and groundwork for future support of "long" passwords, MD5 passwords, and other authentication schemes)

Red Baron secure web browser. Supports forms, frames, SSL, SET. Faster than Netscape! (Only available on Official Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set.)

Upgrades and Fixes. Over 180 updated packages, and over 60 new packages. The full package list is available at http://www.redhat.com. Many, many, many security fixes -- most of which are not available on other UNIX/Linux systems.

FEATURES OF RED HAT LINUX 4.0

Installation

Our third generation installation system is easier to use than ever. By presenting simple fill in the blank forms, and applying intelligent automation to network, package, and module configuration, the system relieves you of the most tedious and most troublesome aspects of installation. Installation is supported via CD-ROM, NFS, FTP, hard drive partition, and has seamless PCMCIA support.

Package Management

The RPM package system is designed to be powerful yet easy to use. These design features, along with smart config file handling across package upgrades, "shared" file handling, documentation searching support, package installation via FTP, dependencies, and powerful querying, make RPM the most advanced package system available.

With our graphical package manager Glint you can track every package installed on your system, and all packages available on the CD-ROM. You can examine package descriptions and file contents before you install them. With a few mouse button clicks you can install, uninstall, list and verify all installed packages. No other installation system comes close.

Configuration Tools

The Red Hat control panel tools cover configuration of your network, printer, filesystem, users and groups, SysV init, time and date, and modem. PPP and SLIP configuration has never been easier!

Compatibility between Linux Platforms

The Red Hat Linux 4.0 for Intel, Alpha and Sparc products are built from the exact same source packages. This ensures maximum ease of software portability between machines running Red Hat Linux regardless of the underlying hardware architecture. In addition, your investment in configuration of Red Hat Linux will pay off on all three platforms.

License Terms

Red Hat Linux is distributed under the terms of the GPL, and is freely available from our FTP site, and dozens of mirrors. For the first time, the Red Hat Linux User's Guide is also available freely, under the terms of the LDP license!

STANDARDS, TESTING, AND RED HAT LINUX

Red Hat Linux continues to track both Linux and UNIX industry standards closely. Red Hat Linux conforms to the Linux file system standard: FSSTND, and tracks many other Linux and UNIX standards.

Testing is probably Linux's greatest strength and the origin of its remarkable stability for most applications, and Red Hat Linux benefits from this. The truly open development model followed by Linus Torvalds and the Linux development community allows new releases of the kernel, components, and distributions to be tested by hundreds of thousands of users. Their access to everything at little or no cost, including full source code, off many sites on the Internet enables anyone to contribute to further development by not just reporting bugs but contributing patches.

Red Hat Linux depends on this open development model. We post Red Hat Linux as "freely redistributable" software for free download off of many sites on the Internet, and we are grateful for the valuable assistance we receive.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has decided to stop charging for their POSIX Conformance Test Suite 151-2, in hopes that the POSIX standard may be more broadly applied. Red Hat Software applauds the move, and has obtained the suites for consideration. We would encourage all Linux developers to take advantage of this development. Comments and questions can be directed to Martha Gray <gray@sst.ncsl.nist.gov> at NIST.

A STABLE SOFTWARE PLATFORM AND A RAPIDLY EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY

Red Hat's software packaging scheme (RPM) provides the reliable and consistent installation on a stable environment that ISV's are looking for, and yet allows for a flexible environment for further Linux development.

RPM's advanced software packaging features enable RPM packaged software to be installed easily and correctly on any Red Hat Linux platform. Running older software versions on a new release of Red Hat Linux is generally reliable and trouble free.

FREELY REDISTRIBUTABLE SOFTWARE

Red Hat Linux is released as freely redistributable software under the terms of the GPL. This allows anyone to use Linux without restriction and to contribute to Linux development. It also prevents anyone or any corporation from restricting access to Linux or Linux source code. Commercially licensed software can be ported to Linux while maintaining the license terms that the author uses for any other platform.

RPM - RED HAT PACKAGE MANAGER

After installing Red Hat Linux once, you will never need to reinstall Linux again! Our RPM packaging system is sophisticated enough to allow upgrading to new Red Hat Linux releases without reinstalling your system - no partitioning, no backing up all your files, no headaches.

Red Hat Linux 4.0 is built on a third generation packaging system called RPM. The RPM system features include smart configuration file handling across package upgrades, "shared" file handling, documentation searching support, and package installation via FTP. You can install, uninstall, query, verify, and upgrade individual RPM packages.

The Red Hat Software web site, http://www.redhat.com/, contains more information on RPM and the RPM-HOWTO, which describes how to use RPM and build your own RPM packages.

A graphical package management tool called GLINT allows you to quickly and easily manage and track your system. It displays a hierarchy of packages represented by individual package icons, and displays progress meters during installation.

We are releasing RPM under the terms of the GPL and we would like to encourage everyone to use it to package their software. You can get RPM separately from Red Hat Linux from our FTP site.

PRISTINE SOURCES

An important element of the design of Red Hat Linux is our commitment to the concept of "pristine sources". Our RPM source packages include pristine, untouched sources, as well as patches and a control file which defines the building and packaging process. It enables us to work with other members of the Linux development community easily and effectively by clearly separating and documenting the code that they contribute from any modifications that are required by Red Hat Linux.

FTP AVAILABILITY

Red Hat Linux is available for the Intel, Alpha, and Sparc on our FTP site:

ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.0

Many sites mirror the Red Hat FTP site, and may give you much better performance. A list of these mirrors is at:

ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/MIRRORS

(Note that the Metro X server, Red Baron and Grail are not available via FTP. These packages are only available with the full boxed set product.)

RED HAT SOFTWARE WEB SITE

The Red Hat Software web site, http://www.redhat.com, contains a wealth of helpful information, as well as a web-based ordering system for all our products.

Of particular interest is the support section of the web site, which includes archives of our mailing lists, errata, Red Hat TIPS, the LDP documentation, and lots more. See http://www.redhat.com/support.

UPGRADING AND EXCHANGE POLICIES

All previous releases of Red Hat Linux (2.0, 2.1, 3.0.3) can be upgraded in place (without reformatting or repartitioning). For those who want to upgrade, but do not want to purchase the full boxed set, the Red Hat Linux Archives 4 CD-ROM set is the right choice. Red Hat Linux for the Intel and Alpha are both available on the Archives (Metro X, Red Baron, and Grail are only available with the full boxed set).

Exchange and upgrade policies for those who purchased 3.0.3 recently are best addressed by the vendor of your product. If you purchased it directly from Red Hat Software, contact the sales office at:

phone: (800) 546-7274 or (919) 572-6500
fax: (919) 572-6726
email: sales@redhat.com

The sales folks have the answers and will be able to help you.


From: "Red Hat Software" < s...@redhat.com>
Subject: COMMERCIAL: Red Hat Linux 4.1 for Intel, Alpha, and SPARC!
Date: 1997/02/07
Message-ID: < pgpmoose.199702070204.15130@liw.clinet.fi>
X-Deja-AN: 214967500
x-original-date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 17:28:02 -0500
x-server-date: 7 Feb 1997 00:04:19 GMT
followup-to: poster
organization: Red Hat Software
x-auth: PGPMoose V1.1 PGP comp.os.linux.announce
reply-to: "Red Hat Software" < s...@redhat.com>
newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce


Continuing the great Red Hat tradition of always going that extra
liter of carbonated caffeine delivery fluid, just for you...

                Announcing Red Hat Linux - Release 4.1
                    for Intel, Alpha and SPARC !!

   This is an update to the award winning Red Hat Linux Release 4.0
(InfoWorld's 1996 Desktop Operating System of the Year), incorporating
	  many improvements, fixes, and additional features.

	 Help feed our caffeine habits by downloading it from:

              ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.1

or by purchasing a CD-ROM product!  See the attached press release for
details and ordering information, or order now at http://www.redhat.com,
       (888) RED-HAT1, (919) 572-6500, or (919) 572-6726 (fax).

===========================================================================

February 3, 1997

Durham, NC -- Red Hat Software, Inc. is pleased to announce the
availability of Red Hat Linux release 4.1 for Intel, Alpha and SPARC
computers.  This is the only synchronized release of the Linux
operating system for these three platforms, and represents a huge leap
in reducing your administrative and support costs for your
heterogeneous network.  This release builds on Red Hat Linux 4.0,
which was the 1996 Desktop OS of the Year according to InfoWorld
Magazine.


NEW FEATURES IN RED HAT LINUX 4.1
- ---------------------------------

 Modular 2.0.27 kernel.
  One kernel for all hardware, support for much more hardware (including
  the Backpack CD-ROM!)  Kernel is distributed as an RPM package (on
  Intel and SPARC).  This means that to upgrade the kernel you only need
  to upgrade the kernel RPM package, which is just a single command.

 Only one installation floppy! 
  Two for PCMCIA and FTP installs.
  Both floppies are included in the Official Red Hat Linux/Intel
  boxed set product.

 Easier installation. 
  Smarter network configuration with bootp support, NFS mounts (share
  /usr between machines, for example).

 New version of RPM.
  RPM 2.3 includes dependencies, improved PGP/MD5/size signature
  capability, verify scripts, shared NFS mounts.

 Improved X Windows support.
  XFree86 3.2 supports more cards (including Matrox and #9 Imagine cards),
  with better acceleration.  Easier X Windows configuration.  Just pick
  your video card and monitor from the provided lists and you are done.
  Latest MetroLink X server 3.1.2 (Only available with the Official
  Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set.)

 Expanded Red Hat Linux User's Guide.
  250 pages of installation and configuration information.  Rewritten
  installation chapter is more readable than ever.  Expanded coverage
  of the control-panel tools, including the new network, user/group,
  and printer tools.  Covers basics and configuration of PAM security
  architecture.  Includes MetroLink X server configuration information.
  The User's Guide is now available via FTP under the same terms
  as the LDP documentation; it is also browsable on our web site!

 Improved network configuration.
  New graphical network configuration control panel tool.  Allows for
  simple configuration of PPP and SLIP network connections.  Makes it
  simple to move your machine between networks, add ethernet cards, etc.

 Updated Control Panel Tools
  In addition to the new network configuration tool, the user and group
  configuration tool has been rewritten, the printer tool has been
  reworked for simpler configuration.

 Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM).
  New version of PAM, 0.54, is used throughout for increased system
  security and configurability.  Shadow password support and other
  authentication schemes (including beta version of "long" passwords,
  MD5 passwords, radius, and more).
  PAM is now covered in the User's Guide.

 New Version of Red Baron secure web browser.
  Red Baron 3.1 supports forms, frames, SSL, SET.  Faster than Netscape!
  (Only available on Official Red Hat Linux/Intel boxed set.)

 Sun's Java Development Kit
  JDK 1.0.2 now ships with Red Hat Linux/Intel.

 New glibc for Red Hat Linux/Alpha
  The new version of glibc includes support for NIS.

 Upgrades and Fixes.
  GCC 2.7.2.1, XFree86 3.2, Tcl/Tk 7.6/4.2, tetex 0.4 (LaTeX 2e, June 1996)
  Over 100 updated packages, and 21 new packages.  The full package
  list is available at http://www.redhat.com.
  Many security fixes and bug fixes -- most of which are not shipping
  with other UNIX/Linux systems.

 New Price on Alpha and SPARC
  The price for the Alpha and SPARC versions has been lowered to $49.95!

===========================================================================

FEATURES OF RED HAT LINUX 4.1
- -----------------------------

* Installation

Our third generation installation system is easier to use than ever.
By presenting simple fill-in-the-blank forms, and applying intelligent
automation to network, package, and module configuration, the system
relieves you of the most tedious and most troublesome aspects of
installation.  Installation is supported via CD-ROM, NFS, FTP, hard
drive partition, and has seamless PCMCIA support.

* Package Management

The RPM package system is designed to be powerful yet easy to use.
These design features, along with smart config file handling across
package upgrades, "shared" file handling, documentation searching
support, package installation via FTP, dependencies, and powerful
querying, make RPM the most advanced package system available.

With our graphical package manager Glint you can track every package
installed on your system, and all packages available on the CD-ROM.
You can examine package descriptions and file contents before you
install them.  With a few mouse button clicks you can install,
uninstall, list and verify all installed packages.  No other
installation system comes close.

* Configuration Tools

The Red Hat control panel tools cover configuration of your network,
printer, filesystem, users and groups, SysV init, time and date, and
modem.  PPP and SLIP configuration has never been easier!

* Compatibility between Linux Platforms

The Red Hat Linux 4.1 for Intel, Alpha and SPARC products are built
from the exact same source packages.  This ensures maximum ease of
software portability between machines running Red Hat Linux regardless
of the underlying hardware architecture.  In addition, your investment
in configuration of Red Hat Linux will pay off on all three platforms.

* License Terms

Red Hat Linux is distributed under the terms of the GPL, and is freely
available from our FTP site, and dozens of mirrors.  The Red Hat Linux
User's Guide is also available freely, under the terms of the LDP
license!

===========================================================================

STANDARDS, TESTING, AND RED HAT LINUX
- -------------------------------------

Red Hat Linux continues to track both Linux and UNIX industry
standards closely.  Red Hat Linux conforms to the Linux File System
Standard (FSSTND), and tracks many other Linux and UNIX standards.

Testing is probably Linux's greatest strength and the origin of its
remarkable stability for most applications, and Red Hat Linux benefits
from this.  The truly open development model followed by Linus
Torvalds and the Linux development community allows new releases of
the kernel, components, and distributions to be tested by hundreds of
thousands of users. Their access to everything at little or no cost,
including full source code, from many sites on the Internet enables
anyone to contribute to further development by not just reporting bugs
but contributing patches.

Red Hat Linux depends on this open development model.  We post Red Hat
Linux as "freely redistributable" software for free download off of many
sites on the Internet, and we are grateful for the valuable assistance
we receive.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has decided
to stop charging for their POSIX Conformance Test Suite 151-2, in
hopes that the POSIX standard may be more broadly applied.  Red Hat
Software applauds the move, and has obtained the suites for
consideration.  We would encourage all Linux developers to take
advantage of this development.  Comments and questions can be directed
to Martha Gray < g...@sst.ncsl.nist.gov> at NIST.

A STABLE SOFTWARE PLATFORM AND A RAPIDLY EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY
- ------------------------------------------------------------

Red Hat's software packaging scheme (RPM) provides the reliable and
consistent installation on a stable environment that ISV's are looking
for, and yet allows for a flexible environment for further Linux
development.

RPM's advanced software packaging features enable RPM packaged
software to be installed easily and correctly on any Red Hat Linux
platform.  Running older software versions on a new release of Red Hat
Linux is generally reliable and trouble free.

FREELY REDISTRIBUTABLE SOFTWARE
- -------------------------------

Red Hat Linux is released as freely redistributable software under the
terms of the GPL.  This allows anyone to use Linux without restriction
and to contribute to Linux development.  It also prevents anyone or
any corporation from restricting access to Linux or Linux source code.
Commercially licensed software can be ported to Linux while
maintaining the license terms that the author uses for any other
platform.

===========================================================================

RPM - RED HAT PACKAGE MANAGER
- -----------------------------

After installing Red Hat Linux once, you will never need to reinstall
Linux again!  Our RPM packaging system is sophisticated enough to
allow upgrading to new Red Hat Linux releases without reinstalling
your system - no partitioning, no backing up all your files, no
headaches.

Red Hat Linux 4.1 is built on a third generation packaging system
called RPM.  The RPM system features include smart configuration file
handling across package upgrades, "shared" file handling,
documentation searching support, and package installation via FTP.
You can install, uninstall, query, verify, and upgrade individual RPM
packages.

RPM is also a powerful software building tool.  It supports reliable,
reproducable builds on mulitple platforms.

The Red Hat Software web site, http://www.redhat.com, contains more
information on RPM and the RPM-HOWTO, which describes how to use RPM
and build your own RPM packages.

A graphical package management tool called GLINT allows you to quickly
and easily manage and track your system.  It displays a hierarchy of
packages represented by individual package icons, and displays
progress meters during installation.

We are releasing RPM under the terms of the GPL and we would like to
encourage everyone to use it to package their software.  You can get 
RPM separately from Red Hat Linux from our FTP site.

PRISTINE SOURCES
- ----------------

An important element of the design of Red Hat Linux is our commitment
to the concept of "pristine sources".  Our RPM source packages include
pristine, untouched sources, as well as patches and a control file
which defines the building and packaging process.  It enables us to
work with other members of the Linux development community easily and
effectively by clearly separating and documenting the code that they
contribute from any modifications that are required by Red Hat Linux.

===========================================================================

FTP AVAILABILITY
- ----------------

Red Hat Linux is available for the Intel, Alpha, and SPARC on our
FTP site:

    ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/redhat-4.1

Many sites mirror the Red Hat FTP site, and may give you much better
performance.  A list of these mirrors is at:

    ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/MIRRORS

(Note that the Metro X server, Red Baron and Grail are not available
 via FTP.  These packages are only available with the full boxed set
 product.)

RED HAT SOFTWARE WEB SITE
- -------------------------

The Red Hat Software web site, http://www.redhat.com, contains a
wealth of helpful information, as well as a web-based ordering system
for all our products.

Of particular interest is the support section of the web site, which
includes archives of our mailing lists, errata, Red Hat TIPS, the LDP
documentation, and lots more.  See http://www.redhat.com/support.

UPGRADING AND EXCHANGE POLICIES
- -------------------------------

All previous releases of Red Hat Linux (2.0, 2.1, 3.0.3, 4.0) can be
upgraded in place (without reformatting or repartitioning).  For those
who want to upgrade, but do not want to purchase the full boxed set,
the Red Hat Linux Archives 5 CD-ROM set is the right choice.  Red Hat
Linux for the Intel and Alpha are both available on the Archives
(Metro X, Red Baron, and Grail are only available with the full boxed
set).

Exchange and upgrade policies for those who purchased 4.0 recently
are best addressed by the vendor of your product.  If you purchased it
directly from Red Hat Software, contact the sales office at:

phone: (800) 454-5502
       (888) RED HAT1
       (919) 572-6500
  fax: (919) 572-6726
email: s...@redhat.com

The sales folks have the answers and will be able to help you.

===========================================================================

PRODUCTS AND ORDERING INFORMATION
- ---------------------------------

+ Official Red Hat Linux/Intel Boxed Set                $ 49.95
+ Official Red Hat Linux/Alpha Boxed Set                $ 49.95
+ Official Red Hat Linux/SPARC Boxed Set                $ 49.95
+ Red Hat Linux Archives 5 CD-ROM set                   $ 29.95

+ Red Hat Motif CD-ROM with Motif User's Guide          $149.00
+ Red Hat Linux Library CD-ROM                          $ 29.95 

+ Red Hat Linux User's Guide (236 pages)                $ 14.95
+ Dr. Linux 1,700 page reference book                   $ 39.95

All prices are in US dollars.

You can order on the web at http://www.redhat.com or by calling Red
Hat Software at (888) RED-HAT1 or (919) 572-6500.  We accept Visa,
Mastercard, Discover and American Express cards.

We only ship via FedEx.  Shipping cost for single copies of Red Hat
Linux is $8.95 in the US for FedEx Economy, $14.95 for FedEx Standard
Overnight.  For other shipping prices please contact our sales office
(or check the web site - it'll compute the shipping price
automatically).

Resellers are encouraged to contact the following distributors for
information and volume pricing on Red Hat products.

* Red Hat Software, Inc.
  3203 Yorktown Avenue, Suite 123
  Durham, NC 27713
  Phone: (919) 572-6500 or (888) RED-HAT1
  Fax:   (919) 572-6726
  Email: s...@redhat.com 

* Frank Kasper and Associates
  7351 Washington Ave South
  Edina, MN 55439-2407
  Phone: (612) 942-0566 or (800) 869-7667
  Fax:   (612) 942-5039

===========================================================================
- --
Red Hat Software, Inc.
(888) RED-HAT1 -- (919) 572-6500 -- (919) 572-6726 (fax)
http://www.redhat.com -- s...@redhat.com

-- 
This article has been digitally signed by the moderator, using PGP.
http://www.iki.fi/liw/lars-public-key.asc has PGP key for validating signature.
Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: linux-annou...@news.ornl.gov
PLEASE remember a short description of the software and the LOCATION.
This group is archived at http://www.iki.fi/liw/linux/cola.html