back to article Can I get a RHEL yeah? Version 8 arrives at last as IBM given go-ahead to wolf down Red Hat

Red Hat pushed out a minty-fresh update to its Enterprise Linux platform in the form of version 8 at its Boston shindig today. It's been while since Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7 first put in an appearance – nearly five years – so version 8, which is likely the last before IBM completes its acquisition of the open-source …

  1. alain williams Silver badge

    Too much damned javascript ...

    noscript blocked about a dozen sites ... I enabled RedHat & a few and still nothing of interest showed.

    I'll wait until details come out elsewhere rather than submit to whatever collection of tracking they are using.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: Too much damned javascript ...

      Here's the page linked to by the "get the technical brief for sysadmins" link:

      https://www.redhat.com/en/resources/red-hat-enterprise-linux-8-system-admins-brief

      From that page, you can download a PDF that is essentially a two page brochure, seemingly written by a marketing department and aimed at a purchasing department. No sign of actual techie info for sysadmins anywhere that I can see. Read it for yourself:

      https://www.redhat.com/cms/managed-files/li-rhel-8-system-admin-technology-brief-f17203-201905-en.pdf

      1. fandom

        Re: Too much damned javascript ...

        You can read this for more details.

        DANGER: There might be cookies involved.

      2. fredesmite2

        Re: Too much damned javascript ...

        Fkkc the PDF.

        I want the ISO.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Too much damned javascript ...

          You created an ElReg account for that?

          It would be easier to use DDG, Shirley.

    2. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Pirate

      Re: Too much damned javascript ...

      ack on that one. OR... if you are _NOT_ using wayland... you can do the following:

      a) enable -listen_tcp or similar option

      b) xhost +localhost from an X11 command shell

      c) su - otheruser then export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0

      d) run firefox or other browser, config it to DUMP ALL HISTORY AND COOKIES ON EXIT

      then if they DO track you, it's not tracking anything that isn't THEIR stuff in the FIRST place. And all of those cookies and scripting and blah blah blah goes INTO THE BIT BUCKET.

      And, related, THIS from the article:

      "Red Hat prefers the security model of Wayland, but the desktop will drop back to X.org if you try and use the Nvidia binary driver."

      A reason to use NVidia and their binary driver... to NOT HAVE TO USE WAYLAND, so you _CAN_ use the trick I just described, which I do a LOT, actually.. that and [for example] developing RPi stuff and having pluma running on the RPi directly, as an editor for c source [example], but displaying and interacting WITH MY FreeBSD DESKTOP!!!

      X.org ROCKS. Wayland SUCKS. and all that tracking can GO INTO THE BIT BUCKET using X.org and a separate login context, g'head and enable the B.S. and then DUMP IT ALL on exit!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Too much damned javascript ...

        I find that it helps to imagine that the CAPITALISED sections are written in green ink. But then, THEY aren't all OUT to get ME.

      2. Teiwaz

        Re: Too much damned javascript ...

        All very cogent, but Xorg is seriously creaking trying to support modern desktops.

        This is a very interesting project, shame it's not likely to receive more attention

        http://durden.arcan-fe.com/

  2. jake Silver badge

    Gnome, wayland and systemd ...

    ... three strikes and yer out.

    Sticking with Slackware on the desktops, BSD on the servers. But thanks for playing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Gnome, wayland and systemd ...

      translation: Me horseless wagon does forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Gnome, wayland and systemd ...

        No. Translation: "I'm an old UNIX[tm] hacker, and that's the way I like it."

        With that said, my buckboard gets around 35 miles on 3 flakes of oat hay and one of alfalfa, plus all the spring greens that he wants to eat. (Note that he's a rather young Percheron and in really good shape. Your horse's mileage may vary.)

        1. Weiss_von_Nichts

          Re: Gnome, wayland and systemd ...

          Dhryflakes or whetflakes?

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: Gnome, wayland and systemd ...

            Dhryflakes. Too many stone in whetflakes.

      2. bombastic bob Silver badge
        FAIL

        Re: Gnome, wayland and systemd ...

        you actually *FEEL* that? no WONDER you posted as A.C. !!!

        ('feel' instead of think, worst mistake EVAR, as evidenced by "that")

    2. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Gnome, wayland and systemd ...

      I'm hoping some _SANITY_ from IBM will put those 3 things back into their place... er, the bit bucket.

      1. Smoking Man

        Re: Gnome, wayland and systemd ...

        IBM will simply screw it up.

        And put a management station in front of every RHEL 8 host.

        Still discussing though wether the mgmt station will run Windows or AIX.

        It's not that I'd be too unhappy to see systemd follow the route of OS/2..

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    RedHat guy left his Hat

    Logo got changed to just a hat.... OpenShift and RHEL stacks clashing directly with aiIBM's own stacks... IBMers having to fight RHEL engineers deal-by-deal even to sell RHEL products... There is going to be a severe culture shock and wars with noses bloodied and elbows and knees scraped.

    There are still quiet few engineers and devs and gray-beards at ole BM... Whipper-snapper RH engineers too arrogant and seeing red and swinging wild.

    God save us all that want all this techno stuff to just work like it says on the tin... Both the companies have notoriety when it comes to "crappy" documents and "special" footnotes and patches before things stabilise.

    Anon becos aint bloody making meself a big target

    1. JohnFen

      Re: RedHat guy left his Hat

      "God save us all that want all this techno stuff to just work like it says on the tin."

      The easy way to avoid this is to avoid Red Hat. That's what my employer does.

  4. mark l 2 Silver badge

    Currently have a VPS that runs Centos 7, When CentOS gets the code for RHEL 8 and releases a new 8 version I will give it a go on a VM and see what it is like.

    1. keithpeter Silver badge
      Windows

      Might be worth keeping an eye on Springdale Linux as well as CentOS if you are in a hurry. Springdale have been known to get quick and functional builds out quite quickly once the source is chucked over the wall. However, CentOS is itself a RedHat tentacle now so maybe not this time

      Google groups: springdale-devel

  5. Bob Ajob

    Centos 8

    Got the latest kernel 5 running and seems stable will definitely be considering this as my daily driver. Best part of a decade of enterprise level support should be worth every penny, especially when everything else on top changes so bloody often. Staying on BSD based systems for more static servers though, instability seems closely correlated with complexity.

    1. Hans 1

      Re: Centos 8

      Devuan or slack and the BSD's, the rest is not worthy for production ... time will tell, and time seems to like me ;-)

    2. jake Silver badge

      Re: Centos 8

      Thank you for Alpha testing for the rest of us. Let us know how it works in a year or so. Ta.

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        Linux

        Re: Centos 8

        I've never been disappointed by CentOS, just sayin'.

        1. Justin Clift

          Re: Centos 8

          > I've never been disappointed by CentOS ...

          No KDE in RHEL7, so unless there's a solid 3rd party repo created for it, CentOS7 is the last version of CentOS I'll be running as a desktop. :(

          Interestingly, OpenSUSE Leap looks like it might do the job as a replacement adequately instead.

  6. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Unhappy

    The Usual Problem

    The devs at RH have become too self-important and think the world owes them homage. Methinks they are about to discover it doesn't.

  7. Paul Johnston
    Happy

    But when is there a Centos version 8

    That's when my fun starts.

    1. ZenaB

      Re: But when is there a Centos version 8

      Give it a month or so..

  8. RobertLongshaft

    "Open source" My arse.

    There is plenty of IP within a RHEL distribution, how many orgs run this without paying for the official support? ZERO.

    1. CAPS LOCK

      Scientific Linux is an Enterprise Linux rebuild sponsored by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

      1. fandom

        Not any more, they are moving to CentOs 8.

        So, yes, everyone using Centos, or Fedora, uses RedHat's IP without paying for support.

        Not that Red Hat contributions are particulary popular

        1. keithpeter Silver badge
          Windows

          Springdale Linux, Oracle Linux

          There are a couple of other distributions based on the RHEL sources but minus the proprietary bits, Springdale Linux and Oracle Linux.

          Springdale has open/freely available repositories for updates &c. Not sure about Oracle Linux

      2. Dr Dan Holdsworth
        Linux

        CERN has announced that it is ceasing support for Scientific Linux with version 7. It is moving to CentOS, which is probably a vote for the stability of what CentOS now is (basically RHEL without the proprietary bits or the long support on minor versions).

        Scientific Linux also included a lot of module-based support for older versions of GCC and older libraries, and I honestly believe that the vast majority of users simply did not know that these were even there, much less how to use them. Moving to CentOS thus shouldn't have a great deal of impact on functionality; from my perspective in an Academic setting, most of the stuff I support will work on either OS, and things like Anaconda Python will still work as a way of giving the customers the more recent Python versions that they seem to so crave.

    2. Tomato42
      Stop

      you can buy support for 1 year, install RHEL, let the support contract lapse and you're still will be complying with the licence; you can take all the sources, redistribute them (as long as you remove branding from few desktop and web packages) and you still will be complying with licence

      so exactly what's not open source about it?! which part of the RHELs source code you cannot see and cannot redistribute?

  9. zaax

    Oh dear, not good for the employees and open source community in general

  10. werdsmith Silver badge

    BlueHat for a blue day.

  11. Joseph Haig
    Coat

    Red + Blue

    After the merge will they find themselves marooned?

    1. Korev Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: Red + Blue

      Yes, that's the kernel of it

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cant get it work in Vmware Workstation 15 correctly, any ideas

    Downloaded the ISO to test it out in Vmware Workstation 15 and it installs OK but when try to do the post install and login it just seems to hang.

    Anyone else seen this behaviour and is there a fix.

    Not fully supported as yet I guess under Workstation

    1. teknopaul

      Re: Cant get it work in Vmware Workstation 15 correctly, any ideas

      Network manager still. Could be worse, could be systemd-networkd

  13. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. hittitezombie

      If RHEL is mediocre, tell us why everyone moved to its 1-1 cpone?

  14. dajames

    Tentacles?

    Why does that headline make me want to chant:

    Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu RHEL Yeah wgah'nagl fhtagn?

    Icon needed ...

    1. SonOfDilbert

      Re: Tentacles?

      Here, have an amateurish ASCII icon instead:

      ^(;,;)^

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    SPSS users, anyone?

    If you have been using SPSS for many years, perhaps I am not the only one that has noticed general quality and especially support going down, down, since its 2010 or so acquisition by IBM.

    I fear for Red Hat, the only true successful thing that us Linuxistas could point at until now. I even convinced the wife to put some of my retirement funds into it. Wish I had put much more - IBM obviously paid more than RHEL was worth, I don't mind the money, but it also adds to my fears, obviously IBM has not much clue on what this thing is.

    anonymous because I'm in trouble already for being too vocal, no need to add to it

  16. fredesmite2

    When can I get CentOS 8?

    When can I get CentOS 8?

    the FREE STUFF.

  17. SonOfDilbert
    Go

    Fedora 30

    Fedora 30 also has been released to mainly very positive reviews.

    https://getfedora.org/

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Let's see:

    - "Consistent" network device naming not so consistent

    - SSH does not work under VMware

    - NetworkManager is the only way to configure interfaces

    Plerfgh. Does not impress. Wish I could use BSD. But in maybe 6 months there will be CentOS...

  19. normal1

    Now that RedHat is owned by IBM

    Are we getting a Big BlueHat Linux?

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