What Operating Systems are offered in the CS Labs?
The primary CS Lab (EPS254) got all new computers for Fall 2009 - 33 Dell Optiplex 960 Small Form Factor machines with 22" all-in-one monitors and 9 iMacs. With the new computers comes a new setup - triple-boot... even for the iMacs. In previous setups the flavor of Linux that was offered was the latest release of CentOS which is built from the source packages of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. (See below for "Why CentOS?")
With the new setup the PCs are running:
- Windows XP Pro 32-bit
- CentOS 5.3 x86_64
- Fedora 11 x86_64
The iMacs are running:
- Mac OS X Leopard (may upgrade to Snow Leopard soon)
- Windows XP Pro 32-bit
- Fedora 11 x86_64
Fedora was chosen because of student feedback where they said they wanted more bleeding edge software. Fedora offers a very rapid development cycle (6 months) and a contant stream of updates for the latest software.
The PCs in EPS259 are dual-boot and run Windows XP Pro and CentOS.
The ITC controlled lab (Roberts 111) are also dual-boot and have Windows XP Pro and CentOS. The Windows side is managed by the ITC and the Linux side is maintained by the CS System Admin.
Most other public access computers the CS Department manages are dual-boot with Windows XP Pro and CentOS. This includes EPS109, EPS348, and many of the research rooms.
How do I access the Windows side of the lab machines?
The ITC manages the MSU Domain and all MSU students are given an MSU domain account. If you don't have your MSU domain account information, please contact the ITC Help Desk at 994-1777 or visit the ITC Help Desk in the basement of the Renne Library. When logging in, make sure to use your MSU Domain username and password and ensure that the MSU Domain is selected.
How do I access the Linux side of the lab machines?
If the machine you want to use is already booted into Linux and displaying the graphical login screen, simply login using your esus username and password. Remember, usernames and passwords are case sensitive so you have to get them just perfect or they aren't going to work.
If you have trouble logging in, don't know your username and/or password, or your password has expired, please call (994-3931) or stop by EPS262 for help with account issues. If the system administrator is not available, Jeannette Radcliffe or Kathy Hollenback in the CS Department office can also reset passwords.
If the machine is currently booted into Microsoft Windows XP, you can use the Windows login screen to restart the computer. After the BIOS screen flashes by a boot menu is presented. Just arrow up/down to CentOS and hit Enter. Windows is the default if no OS is selected from the boot menu.
What software is available on the Linux side of the lab machines?
Everything you should need for your classes as well as general purpose desktop software should already be installed on the lab machines. This includes a plethora of programming languages (PERL, Python, C, C++, Java, shell script, etc), integrated development environments (Netbeans and Eclipse), wiget sets (QT, jogl, swing, etc), and application software (OpenOffice.org, GIMP, Scribus, Inkscape, Blender, etc).
If there is any additional software that you need, please call (994-3931), stop by EPS262, or email admin@cs.montana.edu and put in a request.
Why are you still using Windows XP Pro instead of Windows Vista?
The CS Department, like most all other departments on campus that manage public lab computers, decided to skip Windows Vista for a number of reasons. The main problems with Vista are software incompatibility issues and slower performance. With the release of Windows 7 many of the problems appear to have been resolved and the department may switch over to Windows 7 in the Spring or Fall of 2010... or perhaps offer a dual-boot Windows configuration.
Why is the CentOS distribution of Linux used on the CS lab machines?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the most popular distribution of Linux used by US businesses today. A close second is Novell's SUSE Enterprise Linux. Since RHEL is so popular, it is a good idea to expose students to it... but in an effort to save the tax payers of the state of Montana some money, the CS Department has opted to use CentOS on the lab machines. RHEL is used on most of the CS Linux servers.
CentOS stands for Community ENTterprise Operating Ssystem and is built from the publicly available source packages from Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For more information, visit the CentOS website.
The CentOS community abids by the copyright laws and removes all Red Hat trademarks, logos, and graphics from the Red Hat released source packages. As a result, the experienced offered by CentOS is virtually the same as that offered by RHEL... except for lack of access to the Red Hat Network update system... and the paid support. If you want RHN and support, Red Hat offers substantial educational discounts for students, faculty and staff who would like to purchase Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Documentation: Students looking for documentation for CentOS are advised to check out the volumes of freely available documentation provided by Red Hat.
Linux distro ISOs: ISOs for CentOS (as well as an assortment of other Linux distributions) are available over the LAN: http://img.cs.montana.edu/linux/
Know issues
Hardware compatibility
With the new hardware in EPS254 (as of the beginning of the Fall 2009 semester) there are some hardware compatibility issues with Linux. Most of these hardware compatibility issues will probably be resolved with upcoming releases of CentOS and Fedora. The compatibility issues include:
- The PCs do not have accellerated 3D in either CentOS or Fedora
- Fedora Linux on the Mac has the following issues:
- The screen resolution is lower than in Windows XP Pro or Mac OS X
- Accellerated 3D is not available
- Wireless doesn't work (not used anyway)
- The built in webcam doesn't work
- Sound doesn't work
- Rebooting can hang the hardware, hold down the power button for 10 or so seconds to turn it off and the push the power button again to turn it back on
Potential desktop environment config conflicts
Because CentOS and Fedora use greatly different versions of GNOME and KDE, switching between CentOS and Fedora can sometimes confuse the desktop environments. While settings are usually forward compatible they are often not backwards compatible. If you use Fedora, it is probably a good idea to stick with it. If you use CentOS, you should probably stick with it.
If you want to switch back and forth between CentOS and Fedora you may encounter some software issues. For example, switching between KDE 4.3.x in Fedora and KDE 3.5.x in CentOS, it has been reported that when you first login to CentOS the windows don't have window decorations/borders. That will usually fix itself by logging out and back in. KDE keeps its settings for the 3.5.x series and the 4.x series separate but there are some applications in KDE 4 that are still based on KDE 3 libraries.
Not a lot of testing has been done with switching back and forth between environments. If students notice issues (especially if they also have fixes for them), they are encouraged to report them to the system admin so this FAQ can be updated.
