Scientific Linux is a
Linux distributionA Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
produced by
Fermi National Accelerator LaboratoryFermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
and the
European Organization for Nuclear ResearchThe European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
(CERN). It is a free and open source
operating systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
based on
Red Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
and aims to be "as close to the commercial enterprise distribution as we can get it."
This product is derived from the
freeFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and
open sourceThe term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
software made available by
Red HatRed Hat, Inc. is an S&P 500 company in the free and open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide....
, Inc., but is not produced, maintained or supported by Red Hat. Specifically, this product is built from the source code for
Red Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
versions, under the terms and conditions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux's EULA and the
GNU General Public LicenseThe GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
.
History
FermilabFermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
already had a Linux distribution known as
Fermi LinuxFermi Linux is the generic name for Linux distributions that are created and used at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory . These releases have gone through different names: Fermi Linux, Fermi Linux LTS, LTS, Scientific Linux Fermi, SLF...
LTS 3.0.1, based on RHEL.
CERNThe European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
was creating their next version of Cern Linux, also based on RHEL. CERN contacted Fermilab about doing a joint collaboration. Connie Sieh was the main developer and driver behind the first prototypes and initial release.
The first official release was on May 10, 2004.
At the release of Scientific Linux 3.0.1,
CERNThe European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
joined in the collaboration and became co-developers of Scientific Linux.
The name Scientific Linux is actually a misnomer, in that it does not contain scientific software and was named instead for the labs that make it.
Version history
Historical releases of Scientific Linux are the following.
Scientific Linux>
Year-month-date |
Number (Official) |
Name |
| 2004-05-10 |
Scientific Linux 3.0.1 |
Feynman |
| 2004-06-21 |
Scientific Linux 3.0.2 |
Feynman |
| 2004-10-01 |
Scientific Linux 3.0.3 |
Feynman |
| 2005-02-11 |
Scientific Linux 3.0.4 |
Feynman |
| 2005-04-20 |
Scientific Linux 4.0 |
Beryllium |
| 2005-07-25 |
Scientific Linux 3.0.5 |
Feynman |
| 2005-08-06 |
Scientific Linux 4.1 |
Beryllium |
| 2005-11-22 |
Scientific Linux 4.2 |
Beryllium |
| 2006-05-08 |
Scientific Linux 4.3 |
Beryllium |
| 2006-05-26 |
Scientific Linux 3.0.7 |
Feynman |
| 2006-10-09 |
Scientific Linux 4.4 |
Beryllium |
| 2006-10-31 |
Scientific Linux 3.0.8 |
Feynman |
| 2007-05-04 |
Scientific Linux 5.0 |
Boron |
| 2007-06-25 |
Scientific Linux 4.5 |
Beryllium |
| 2007-10-12 |
Scientific Linux 3.0.9 |
Legacy |
| 2008-01-16 |
Scientific Linux 5.1 |
Boron |
| 2008-03-12 |
Scientific Linux 4.6 |
Beryllium |
| 2008-06-26 |
Scientific Linux 5.2 |
Boron |
| 2008-09-03 |
Scientific Linux 4.7 |
Beryllium |
| 2009-03-19 |
Scientific Linux 5.3 |
Boron |
| 2009-07-28 |
Scientific Linux 4.8 |
Beryllium |
| 2009-11-04 |
Scientific Linux 5.4 |
Boron |
| 2010-05-19 |
Scientific Linux 5.5 |
Boron |
| 2011-03-03 |
Scientific Linux 6.0 |
Carbon |
| 2011-04-21 |
Scientific Linux 4.9 |
Beryllium |
| 2011-06-21 |
Scientific Linux 5.6 |
Boron |
| 2011-07-28 |
Scientific Linux 6.1 |
Carbon |
| 2011-09-14 |
Scientific Linux 5.7 |
Boron |
End Of Support
See also
- GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
, LinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
- List of Linux distributions
- Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
(RHEL) , the commercial distribution on which Scientific Linux is based
- Rocks Cluster Distribution
Rocks Cluster Distribution is a Linux distribution intended for high-performance computing clusters. It was started by National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure and the SDSC in 2000 and was initially funded in part by an NSF grant but is currently funded by the followup NSF...
, a Linux distribution intended for high-performance computingHigh-performance computing uses supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced computation problems. Today, computer systems approaching the teraflops-region are counted as HPC-computers.-Overview:...
clusterA computer cluster is a group of linked computers, working together closely thus in many respects forming a single computer. The components of a cluster are commonly, but not always, connected to each other through fast local area networks...
s.
External links