Red Hat Linux

Red Hat Linux was a widely used commercial open-source Linux distribution created by Red
Hat until its discontinuation in 2004.[2]
 Red Hat Linux

GNOME 2.2, the default desktop on Red Hat

Linux 9

Developer Red Hat

OS family Linux (Unix-like)

Working state Discontinued

Source model Open source

Initial release May 13, 1995

Final release 9[1] alias Shrike / 31

March 2003
 Package manager RPM Package
Manager

Kernel type Monolithic (Linux)

Userland GNU

License Various

Succeeded by Red Hat Enterprise

Linux, Fedora Linux

Official website www.redhat.com/en

(https://www.redhat.
com/en)

Early releases of Red Hat Linux were called Red Hat Commercial Linux. Red Hat published
the first non-beta release in May 1995.[3][4] It was the first Linux distribution to use the RPM
Package Manager as its packaging format, and over time has served as the starting point for
several other distributions, such as Mandriva Linux and Yellow Dog Linux.

In 2003, Red Hat discontinued the Red Hat Linux line in favor of Red Hat Enterprise Linux
(RHEL) for enterprise environments. Fedora Linux, developed by the community-supported
Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat, is a free-of-cost alternative intended for home use.
Red Hat Linux 9, the final release, hit its official end-of-life on April 30, 2004, although updates
were published for it through 2006 by the Fedora Legacy project until the updates were
discontinued in early 2007.[5]
Features
Version 3.0.3 was one of the first Linux distributions to support ELF (Executable and Linkable
Format) binaries instead of the older a.out format.[6]

Red Hat Linux introduced a graphical installer called Anaconda developed by Ketan Bagal,
intended to be easy to use for novices, and which has since been adopted by some other
Linux distributions. It also introduced a built-in tool called Lokkit for configuring the firewall
capabilities.

In version 6 Red Hat moved to glibc 2.1, egcs-1.2, and to the 2.2 kernel.[4] It was the first
version to use the GNOME as its default graphical environment.[7] It also introduced Kudzu, a
software library for automatic discovery and configuration of hardware.[8]

Version 7 was released in preparation for the 2.4 kernel, although the first release still used
the stable 2.2 kernel. Glibc was updated to version 2.1.92, which was a beta of the upcoming
version 2.2 and Red Hat used a patched version of GCC from CVS that they called "2.96".[9]
The decision to ship an unstable GCC version was due to GCC 2.95's bad performance on
non-i386 platforms, especially DEC Alpha.[10] Newer GCCs had also improved support for the
C++ standard, which caused much of the existing code not to compile.

In particular, the use of a non-released version of GCC caused some criticism, e.g. from Linus
Torvalds[11] and the GCC Steering Committee;[12] Red Hat was forced to defend this
decision.[13] GCC 2.96 failed to compile the Linux kernel, and some other software used in
Red Hat, due to stricter checks. It also had an incompatible C++ ABI with other compilers.
The distribution included a previous version of GCC for compiling the kernel, called "kgcc".

As of Red Hat Linux 7.0, UTF-8 was enabled as the default character encoding for the system.
This had little effect on English-speaking users, but enabled much easier internationalisation
and seamless support for multiple languages, including ideographic, bi-directional and
complex script languages along with European languages. However, this did cause some
negative reactions among existing Western European users, whose legacy ISO-8859–based
setups were broken by the change.

Version 8.0 was also the second to include the Bluecurve desktop theme. It used a common
theme for GNOME-2 and KDE 3.0.2 desktops, as well as OpenOffice-1.0. KDE members did
not appreciate the change, claiming that it was not in the best interests of KDE.[14]
Version 9 supported the Native POSIX Thread Library, which was ported to the 2.4 series
kernels by Red Hat.[15]

Red Hat Linux lacked many features due to possible copyright and patent problems. For
example, MP3 support was disabled in both Rhythmbox and XMMS; instead, Red Hat
recommended using Ogg Vorbis, which has no patents. MP3 support, however, could be
installed afterwards, through the use of packages. Support for Microsoft's NTFS file system
was also missing, but could be freely installed as well.

Fedora Linux
Red Hat Linux was originally developed exclusively inside Red Hat, with the only feedback
from users coming through bug reports and contributions to the included software packages
– not contributions to the distribution as such. This was changed in late 2003 when Red Hat
Linux merged with the community-based Fedora Project. The new plan was to draw most of
the codebase from Fedora Linux when creating new Red Hat Enterprise Linux distributions.
Fedora Linux replaced the original Red Hat Linux download and retail version. The model is
similar to the relationship between Netscape Communicator and Mozilla, or StarOffice and
OpenOffice.org, although in this case the resulting commercial product is also fully free
software.

Version history

Box cover shot of Red Hat Linux 5.2

 Red Hat 5.0 CDROMs

Release dates were drawn from announcements on comp.os.linux.announce. Version names

are chosen as to be cognitively related to the prior release, yet not related in the same way as
the release before that.[4][16]

The Fedora and Red Hat Projects were merged on September 22, 2003.[17]
x86 release history

Release Kernel
Version Type Code name Comment
date version

First test release, not publicly

26 June 1.1.18
— test Preview distributed. It used the RPP package
1994[18] (dev)
manager.

1.0.9
Purchased beta, came with
31 October (stable)
0.9 beta Halloween documentation and graphical system
1994 1.1.54
management tools.
(dev)

ACC Bookstores (Bob Young) bought

Mother's out Red Hat Software, Inc. (Mark
1 stable May 1995 1.2.8
Day Ewing) and introduced the "Red Hat
Commercial Linux" moniker.

bug Mother's August 1.2.11

1.1 Called "Mother's Day Plus One".
fix Day+0.1 1995 1.2.13

20 First stable RPM release, and the first

1.2.13–
2.0 stable — September one to use the "Red Hat LiNUX"
2
1995 branding.

1.2.13
23
bug (stable) The first Alpha release (January 1996)
2.1 Bluesky November
fix 1.3.32 was based on this version.
1995
(dev)

First version released for multiple

architectures and executable formats
(x86/Alpha, ELF/a.out) at the same
3.0.3 stable Picasso 1 May 1996 1.2.13 time. Introduced the Metro-X server,
glint graphical management tool for
RPM, and graphical printer
configuration.

July–
RPM was rewritten in C. PAM and
3.9 beta Rembrandt August 2.0
kernel modules were introduced.
1996

4.0 stable Colgate 3 October 2.0.18 Added support for SPARC architecture
1996 and ELF executables on Alpha.
 Introduced Shadowman™ logo, free
electronic format documentation and
the Red Baron browser.

3 February InfoWorld, Best of 1996, Operating

4.1 stable Vanderbilt 2.0.27
1997 Systems.

Shipped the old libc 5.3 instead of the

19 May 2.0.30– buggy 5.4 release. This decision was
4.2 stable Biltmore
1997 2 widely criticised, but avoided many
issues.

27 August
4.8 beta Thunderbird ? Introduced glibc 2.0.
1997

7 Cemented the two-cycle beta release

4.9 beta Mustang November ? style due to massive changes in the C
1997 library version.

1 Introduced BRU2000-PE™ backup and

2.0.32–
5.0 stable Hurricane December the Real Audio™ client and server. 1997
2
1997 InfoWorld Product of the Year.

Introduced the Linux Applications CD,

GNOME preview version (separate, not
22 May 2.0.34–
5.1 stable Manhattan default), linuxconf, and the Netscape
1998 0.6
browser. Last release to load a live
filesystem from the CD.

2
2.0.36– GNOME technology preview (separate,
5.2 stable Apollo November
0.7 not default).
1998

17 March
5.9 beta Starbuck ?
1999

26 April 2.2.5– Introduced glibc 2.1, egcs, and Linux

6.0 stable Hedwig
1999 15 2.2. GNOME 1 was integrated.

Introduced a completely rewritten

6
graphical installer (anaconda), with
6.0.50 beta Lorax September ?
graphical mode and text mode
1999
implemented in Python.

6.1 stable Cartman 4 October 2.2.12– InfoWorld, 1999 Product of the Year,
1999 20 Operating Systems and multiple other
 awards.

9 February
6.1.92 beta Piglet ?
2000

3 April 2.2.14– First release to offer ISO images for

6.2 stable Zoot
2000 5.0 FTP download.

31 July
6.9.5 beta Pinstripe ?
2000

First release to support Red Hat

25
2.2.16– Network out of the box. Caused the gcc
7 stable Guinness September
22 2.96 flame war, leading to the 2.96RH
2000
name being used later.

31 January
7.0.90 beta Fisher 2.4 First release with Linux 2.4.
2001

21 February
7.0.91 beta Wolverine ?
2001

First release to debut a new kernel

stream out of the beta cycle. First
16 April
7.1 stable Seawolf 2.4.2–2 release to simultaneously support all
2001
included languages. Introduced the
Mozilla browser.

ext3 becomes default; the installer

2 August offers to convert ext2 filesystems. LILO
7.1.93 beta Roswell ?
2001 replaced with GRUB as the default
bootloader.

GNOME 1.4, KDE 2.2. Would serve as

22 October 2.4.7–
7.2 stable Enigma the development basis for RHEL 2.1 AS
2001 10
(Pensacola).

29
GNOME 1.4, KDE 2.2.2. Has version in
7.2A stable EnigmaA December 2.4.17
the letter A.
2001

Expected to ship a lot of new programs

22 March
7.2.91 beta Skipjack ? (gcc 3, GTK 2, Python 2) that were
2002
postponed for 8.0.

2.4.18– Last release with the Netscape

7.3 stable Valhalla 6 May 2002
3 browser.
 700 MB ISO images were tested, but
7.3.29 beta Limbo 4 July 2002 ?
they proved problematic.

gcc 3.2, glibc 2.3 RC, OpenOffice 1.0.1,

30
2.4.18– GNOME 2, KDE 3.0.3. Introduced the
8.0 stable Psyche September
14 Bluecurve™ cross-environment unified
2002
look and feel.

KDE 3.1 and GNOME 2.2. Introduced

31 March 2.4.20– NPTL support with glibc 2.3.2 and
9 stable Shrike
2003 8 kernel 2.4.20. Would serve as the
development basis for RHEL 3.

Final RHL release. It would be merged

21 July
9.0.93 beta Severn ? with Fedora Linux to form release
2003
Fedora Core 1 test 2, version 0.94.
Legend: Old version

See also

Linux
portal
Free and
open-
source
software
portal

Fedora Linux release history

List of Linux distributions
 Think Blue Linux

References

1. "Red Hat Linux 9 Features Latest Open

Source Technologies" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20030413045045/http://www.r
edhat.com/about/presscenter/press/200
3/press_rhl9/) .

2. "Free Versions of Red Hat Linux to be

Discontinued" (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20120207100441/http://www.fusionaut
hority.com/news/3946-free-versions-of-re
d-hat-linux-to-be-discontinued.htm) .
fusionauthority.com. Archived from the
original (http://www.fusionauthority.com/
news/3946-free-versions-of-red-hat-linux-t
o-be-discontinued.htm) on 2012-02-07.
Retrieved 2008-03-02.
3. "History of Red Hat Linux" (https://fedorap
roject.org/wiki/History_of_Red_Hat_Linu
x?rd=History) . Retrieved 2018-07-14.

4. "The Truth Behind Red Hat/Fedora

Names" (https://www.smoogespace.com/
documents/behind_the_names.html) .
smoogespace.com. Retrieved
2018-07-14.

5. "The Fedora Legacy Project" (https://web.

archive.org/web/20130905040726/http://
www.fedoralegacy.org/) .
fedoralegacy.org. Archived from the
original (http://www.fedoralegacy.org/)
on 2013-09-05. Retrieved 2008-03-02.

6. Linux Distributions Compared (http://ww

w.linuxjournal.com/article/139) , Linux
Journal, 1996
 7. Kroll, Jason (September 1, 1999). "Red
Hat Linux 6.0" (https://www.linuxjournal.c
om/article/3590) . Linux Journal.
Retrieved April 14, 2023.

8. "Various Kudzu facts" (http://everything2.

com/title/kudzu) . Everything2.com.
Retrieved 2013-05-05.

9. "Distributions" (https://lwn.net/2000/100
5/dists.php3) . LWN. Retrieved
2013-05-05.

10. "a/rh-tools" (https://lwn.net/2000/1005/a/

rh-tools.php3) . Lwn.net. Retrieved
2013-05-05.
11. "Linus Weighs in on Red Hat 7 Compiler
Issues" (https://web.archive.org/web/201
91222204453/https://www.linuxtoday.co
m/developer/2000121400221NWRHS
W) . Linux Today. Archived from the
original (http://www.linuxtoday.com/news
_story.php3?ltsn=2000-12-14-002-21-NW-
RH-SW) on 22 December 2019. Retrieved
2013-05-05.

12. "Gerald Pfeifer - GCC 2.96" (https://gcc.gn

u.org/ml/gcc-announce/2000/msg00003.
html) . Gcc.gnu.org. 2000-10-06.
Retrieved 2013-05-05.

13. An Open Letter From Bob Young (http://fe

atures.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/10/
12/163218&mode=thread) , Slashdot.org,
Thu October 12, 2000 12:52 PM
14. "Red Hat nullifies KDE, Gnome" (https://w
ww.theregister.co.uk/2002/09/17/red_hat
_nullifies_kde_gnome/) . The Register.
2002-09-17. Retrieved 2014-02-14.

15. "Red Hat Linux 9 Release Notes" (http://w

ww.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-
9-Manual/release-notes/x86/) .
Redhat.com. Retrieved 2013-05-05.

16. History of Red Hat Linux (https://fedorapr

oject.org/wiki/History_of_Red_Hat_Linu
x) - Fedora wiki

17. "Fedora and Red Hat to Merge" (http://ww

w.linuxjournal.com/article/7169) .
Retrieved 2008-08-02.

18. "Red Hat Software Linux Beta Test" (http

s://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.linux.a
nnounce/c/axtCvKo-zKI/m/mobuffQnPPg
J) .
External links

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Red Hat Linux.
Fedora Linux – Free, community-
supported, home version of Red Hat
Linux (https://fedoraproject.org/)
Fedora Project – History of Red Hat
Linux (https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/H
istory)
Red Hat, Inc. – Linux documentation (h
ttps://www.redhat.com/docs/)
Linux Kernel Organization – Red Hat
Archive (http://archive.kernel.org/redh
at-archive/redhat/linux/)
 Red Hat Linux (https://www.distrowatc
h.com/table.php?distribution=redhat)
at DistroWatch
Mapping of RedHat Versions and Code
Names to LINUX Kernel Versions (http
s://archive.today/20120425130511/htt
p://unixgods.org/~tilo/redhat_version
s.html)

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