Linux Support The ICT group supports RedHat Linux for desktop systems. This page gives an overview of the organization and policies with regard to Linux.

Hardware & Architecture

Linux is supported only on x86 (aka. IA-32 or standard PC) hardware. Other architectures such as Alpha, MIPS, SPARC or PowerPC are not supported.

A wide variety of PC hardware is available, both good and not so good. Not all hardware may be supported by our Linux environment. To purchase a Linux workstation it is recommended to not shop around and configure the flashiest system on the market. Instead, contact us at Online Support WEB Form stating the functional requirements for the system, and have us put together a system that can be guaranteed to work.

SMP (dual or more CPU systems) are now supported since multiprocessor and multithreading support in Linux has recently been introduced.

MPP and COW systems can be supported however, as those architectures can be viewed as just lots of headless systems (i.e., systems without monitor or keyboard).

Software Packages

A Linux system is installed with most of the software packages that come with the standard RedHat distribution bare the server packages such as the Apache webserver. The Apache server is available on the faculty webserver.

In addition to the standard software, the following packages are currently installed:

• StarOffice
• Maple
• Mathematica
• Matlab (license required)

OS Version & System Updates

Workstations are installed using a modified version of RedHat Linux workstation. Fileservers running Linux are not supported by the ICT group since Linux as fileserver lags in performance and security when compared to Sun's Solaris.

The operating system and bundled software packages are kept up-to-date by an automated mirror of the RedHat RPM ftp site, and each system is automatically updated by the automated update system each time RedHat publishes revised RPM's.

For bugs in packages in the standard Linux distribution it is faculty policy to implement an update as soon as one is published by RedHat. Due to the large amount of offered packages and the limited amount of manpower it is considered undesirable to hunt down each bug and locally implement a resolution.

Security Measures

Linux systems are configured with firewalling software to provide basic protection against exploits of known software bugs. In rare cases this may cause interference with legitimate use of the system. If you suspect this to be the case, report this using the Online Support WEB Form.