The new 9.2 RELEASE (July 2003)
[INLINE] Athena 9.2 Release (AC-09.2)
(Effective 15 July 2003)
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Overview
In July 2003, Information Systems released the latest version of the
Athena system (Release 9.2) on Sun and Linux workstations. These
changes are summarized in this document. There is no Athena 9.2
release for IRIX.
Summary of Changes
Among the most visible changes (effective with the Release) are the
following:
* Operating Systems, System Software, and Peripherals:
+ Operating system updates
o Red Hat Linux 7.3 updated to Red Hat Linux 9
o Solaris 8 updated to Solaris 9
o No IRIX Release
+ Basic Application Software:
o GNOME User Interface updated
o Evolution upgraded from version 1.0 to 1.2.1
o Pine upgraded from 4.33 to 4.55
o xss renamed xscreensaver
o from command updated for IMAP
o tetex has been upgraded from 1.0.6 to 2.0.2
+ For Developers:
o GNOME updated from 1.4 to 2.2
o Solaris release now built with gcc 3.2.1
o Red Hat Linux Native Compiler is gcc 3.2.2
o
o Miscellaneous Package updates
+ For Private Workstation Owners:
o OpenSSH upgraded
Relevant details about user-visible changes are listed in later
sections of this document. For the complete list of changes in the
release (not only user-visible changes), see the System Release
Notes.
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How to Tell What Version of Athena You Are Running
If your workstation is running the Athena 9.2 Release, the text string
"9.2" should appear within the output of the machtype -L command. For
example:
athena% machtype -L
9.2.1
The numbers following "9.2" may be different on your system; this
simply indicates a minor update within the 9.2 Release. As long as it
says "9.2", you are running the new release.
Reporting Bugs
Please report any problems in the new release with Athena's sendbug
utility; to do this, type sendbug at the Athena prompt.
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Changes to Operating Systems and Other System Software
* Operating Systems Updates
+ Red Hat Linux 7.3 has been updated to Red Hat Linux 9 as of
this release. While there are many performance enhancements,
there are few end user visible changes associated with this
upgrade. Red Hat's Release Notes and Guru Lab's summary of
technical changes provide in depth infromation on the release
for power users.
+ We have updated the version of Solaris 8 to Solaris 9 on the
Sun workstations. There are no major user visible changes,
however developers may find Sun's Solaris 9 Release Notes
helpful. Minor changes include:
o The df, du, and ls -l commands now accept a -h option to
display sizes in human-readable format (e.g. "2.7G" for
a 2.7 Gbyte file).
o Local filesystem performance has been improved.
o The native diff command now supports the unified diff
option (-u).
+ There is no IRIX release this year as the SGI Workstations
are being phased out.
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Changes to Basic Application Software
* The Gnome User Interface preferences format in the new release is
incompatibe with that of previous releases due to changes in the
new version of GNOME. When a user logs in on an Athena 9.2 machine
for the first time, an attempt will be made to convert the old
preferences to the new format. Other changes include:
+ Improved font handling and configuration.
+ Tabbed terminal windows in gnome-terminal
+ Viewports are no longer supported, although workspaces still
are.
* Evolution has been upgraded from version 1.0 to version 1.2.1.
This is primarily a bug fix update to increase stability. There
are no significant user visible changes.
* Pine has been upgraded from version 4.33 to version 4.55. This is
primarily a bug fix update to increase stability. There are no
significant user visible changes.
* The xscreensaver previously installed as xss is now installed as
xscreensaver. The xss command will still work due to simlinks. The
old xscreensaver in the sipb locker is now sipb-xscreensaver under
linux.
* The from command is now a perl script that returns the number of
unread messages on the mail server instead of the total number of
messages currently stored on the server. This gives IMAP users a
more accurate count of new messages.
* tetex has been upgraded from 1.0.6 to 2.0.2. This is primarily a
bug fix upgrade and has no major user visible changes.
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Changes of Note for Developers
In addition to the changes listed below and elsewhere in this
document, program developers should be sure to read the Athena 9.2
System Release Notes for details of the many changes involved in the
release. The items included here are only highlights:
* GNOME has been updated from version 1.4 to 2.2. GNOME has provided
detailed release notes for developers.
* The Solaris release is now built with gcc 3.2.1 gcc is also now
placed in the regular user path. It is recommended that this
installation of gcc be utilized for most situations that call for
the use of gcc.
* The native compiler for Red Hat Linux is now gcc 3.2.2
* The following packages have been updated for the Athena 9.2
release:
+ OpenAFS has been upgraded from 1.2.3 to 1.2.8
+ BIND has been upgraded from 9.2 to 9.2.1
+ bash has been upgraded from 2_05 to 2_05b
+ perl has been upgraded from 5.6.1 to 5.8.0
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Changes of Note for Private Workstation Owners
In addition to the changes listed below and elsewhere in this
document, private workstation owners should be sure to see the Athena
9.2 System Release Notes for details of the many changes involved in
the release. The items here include only highlights:
* OpenSSH has been upgraded from version 3.0.2p1 to 3.5p1.
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Last modified: July 15, 2003
MIT Information Systems
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MIT Information Systems Comments and feedback to olh-suggest@mit.edu
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