Monday, April 16, 2007

Fedora Core 6 (Zod) : Not Upto Expectations!!!

After downloading the DVD of FC6 (codenamed Zod) for 2 weeks I pretty disappointed by what I got. I did a nearly complete install of the thing since I am involved in development and web technologies a lot as a student in Telecommunications Engineering.

The first sight of the new interface and loading screen and all those very fine and polished graphics based on the DNA was more than amazing. Half of my thirst for Zod was blissfully quenching after experiencing this new and much refined system.

As soon as I logged in I tried to remove some software which I won't use and add others! To my great surprise, Zod won't allow me access to the software list without an internet connection!!! What the heck!? DO you need an internet connection to remove software! So, I switched on my wireless LAN card (I had FC6 set on my laptop). And the indicator lights for the card won't light up!! Ooops!! I check out the Device Manager - my card is well recognized but for some reason FC6 won't enable it! I can't even add new softwares for the DVD, it will ask me for repo0 or something. They such a mess out of what used to be a simple operating system. My first experience with Linux was Red Hat 8 and 9 years ago, on which FC is now based.

OK fine, let's move one and explore a bit more. I try enabling the Desktop Effects! It tells me it cannot enable it. This is utterly impossible since I do have a powerful enough graphics card on my laptop - an ATI mobility X1600 with 512MB HyperMemory. SO i say let's install the graphics drivers and to my even greater shock, my whole linux system crashed afterwards! The drivers worked fine in my other system, such as Ubuntu and Knoppix.

SO, obviously, after much dissatisfaction of Zod, I switched back to Ubuntu, which I dare rate as the premium Linux OS, after what I would call the fall the FC6. I am much disappointed! But still very satisfied with Ubuntu and Knoppix.

If you want to give it a try and test it, here's the homepage of FC6:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/

I hope you are luckier than me.

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