Fedora does FIPS
Version 10 of
Fedora, codenamed Cambridge, might be of interest to federal agencies. It includes Python bindings for Federal Information Processing Standard 140, developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Developers could use those bindings to rapidly build encryption-based applications.
Fedora is the test version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a
volunteer-led effort to incorporate new applications and features into the Red Hat distribution.
True to its mission, Fedora tries a number of new applications. The distribution comes with new software called Plymouth that promises to speed boot time. The newly added SecTool can perform intrusion-detection functions and allows administrators to execute security audits.
The distribution also comes with the latest Gnome and KDE graphical user interfaces, Version 3.0 of OpenOffice, and a new way to share wireless connections. Versions of NetBeans and Eclipse development platforms have been added, and improvements in audio, printing and virtualization have also been promised.
About the Author
Joab Jackson is the senior technology editor for Government Computer News.