Boston University Linux

The Boston University Office of Information Technology is pleased to announce the release of our newest desktop-focused operating system, BU Linux 5.0 (Monde). Download and installation instructions are available at http://linux.bu.edu/installation/. Later this fall, pre-made installation CDs will be available for $5 from the Office of Information Technology at 111 Cummington Street.

This is our first desktop-oriented release based on the CentOS Community Enterprise Operating System project. CentOS comes from the same lineage as the Fedora distribution on which previous desktop BU Linux releases were based, and is already the basis for our BU Linux server edition. Using CentOS as a base platform assures a stable, secure underlying technology with a supported lifetime long enough to meet our needs.

The desktop edition of BU Linux endeavors to track the leading edge of Linux development while still providing a stable computing platform suitable for daily use. Like all versions of BU Linux, it features an easy installation process, integration with the Boston University networking environment, and automated security updates.

This is an important announcement about a significant change in the support schedule for current desktop-oriented BU Linux releases. BU Linux 4.5 Server Edition (Zodiac) is not affected.

Starting with BU Linux 5.0 (Monde) in spring 2007, we will base our desktop release on the CentOS Linux distribution. CentOS shares a common heritage with the Fedora Core distribution on which BU Linux 4.x is based, but has a much longer support lifetime. We will make sure that it is possible to upgrade cleanly from older BU Linux releases (Velouria and Stormy in particular) to the new one. More information on BU Linux 5.0 (Monde) will be forthcoming.

The current desktop-oriented releases of BU Linux are based on the Fedora Core distribution. Recently, there have been significant changes in Fedora's maintenance lifetime plans. While these changes are largely positive for Fedora, they unfortunately mean we need to alter our own planned schedule as well, since the versions of Fedora Core used for both BU Linux 4.5 (Velouria) and BU Linux 4.6 (Stormy) are no longer supported by the upstream project.

We will continue to produce security updates developed independently, but this presents a significant burden, and we are unable to continue support for Stormy into 2008 as planned without the backing of the external community project. Instead, both Velouria and Stormy will be retired on August 1, 2007.

It is very important to make sure that all BU Linux 4.x (and older, if you're still running a currently unsupported release) are upgraded as soon as possible. Please make sure you have adequate time scheduled this spring and summer to upgrade all old BU Linux desktop systems.

We recognize that ending support for Stormy after only one year presents many of you with more work than envisioned for this summer. The BU Linux team will be available to help with upgrades. Please contact us as soon as possible with any questions or to schedule time for assistance.

As noted above, BU Linux 4.5 Server Edition (Zodiac) is not affected, as it is already based on CentOS. Zodiac will continue to be supported through August 2010 as planned. It is possible to install a graphical desktop environment on a Zodiac system, even though the release is targeted for server installation. Taking this approach rather than waiting for BU Linux 5.0 (Monde) this spring may be a good choice in some situations. We will provide more information on this option shortly. Please remember that we strongly recommend against installing any graphical environment on actual server systems for security reasons.

We are aware that some of our users require or prefer the leading edge software provided by following Fedora rather than the more conservative CentOS. We intend to remain active in the Fedora project, and are exploring options for providing a BU Linux environment using Fedora in addition to the CentOS-based desktop and server releases.

Next week, we plan to release an updated version of the Zodiac install CD image. This new image will provide support for more recent hardware than the current one. However, it will also mean that you will need to re-download and burn any Zodiac installation CDs you have. Other than updated hardware support, the changes are minor, and there will be no difference in actually-installed systems.

Note: the CD image on the FTP site now includes this update.

BU Linux 4.5 Server Edition (Zodiac) is now available for the x86_64 platform. This includes systems with AMD's Athlon64 and Opteron processors, and those with Intel's EM64T CPU.

You can download an install CD image from our normal FTP install server:
<ftp://linst.bu.edu/zodiac/x86_64/images/zodiac64-installer.iso>

If you're burning this to CD under MS Windows, make sure to use the "burn image" feature of your CD-creation software.

Thanks again to Dan Kamalic and Biomedical Engineering for their assistance with additional hardware for this project.

Note: BU Linux 4.5 Server (Zodiac) is also available for 32-bit x86 systems. The install image for 32-bit Zodiac can be found at: <ftp://linst.bu.edu/zodiac/i386/images/zodiac-installer.iso>.