Fermi Linux is the generic name for Linux distributions that are created and used at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). These releases have gone through different names: Fermi Linux, Fermi Linux LTS, LTS, Fermi Linux STS, STS, Scientific Linux Fermi, SLF. For the purposes of this entry they can be used interchangeably to designate a version of Linux specific to Fermilab.
At the current time, the only officially supported Fermi Linux is Scientific Linux Fermi, which is based on Scientific Linux.
History
Fermi Linux started out as an extension of the PC Farms Pilot Project spearheaded by Connie Sieh.[1] A Fermilab initiative to seek out cost effective computing for the Tevatron. Continuing to update the SGI and AIX hardware for the computing needs of that experiment was very expensive.
Initial builds of Fermi Linux were merely Red Hat Linux with some things turned off or some extra packages added. With the release of Scientific Linux, Fermi Linux became a 'site' specific build of Scientific Linux.
Releases
Fermi Linux
| month-date year
|
Number (Official)
|
Name
|
| August 31, 1998
|
Fermi Linux 5.0.2
|
n/a
|
| August 16, 1999
|
Fermi Linux 5.2.1
|
Charm
|
| April 7, 2000
|
Fermi Linux 6.1.1
|
Strange
|
| August 29, 2001
|
Fermi Linux 7.1.1
|
Top
|
| September 13, 2002
|
Fermi Linux 7.3.1
|
Bottom
|
| April 7, 2003
|
Fermi Linux 9.0.1
|
Up
|
| August 27, 2003
|
Fermi Linux 7.1.2
|
Top
|
| January 26, 2004
|
Fermi Linux LTS 3.0.1
|
Feynman
|
| February 27, 2004
|
Fermi Linux 7.3.2
|
Bottom
|
| October 1, 2004
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.3
|
Feynman
|
| February 22, 2005
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.4
|
| August 29, 2005
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.5
|
| September 20, 2005
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.1
|
Wilson
|
| January 25, 2006
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.2
|
| October 25, 2006
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.4
|
| November 10, 2006
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.8
|
Feynman
|
| May 19, 2007
|
Scientific Linux Fermi STS 6
|
N/A
|
| September 10, 2007
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.0
|
Lederman
|
| October 25, 2007
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 3.0.9
|
Feynman
|
| August 20, 2007
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.5
|
Wilson
|
| February 21, 2008
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.1
|
Lederman
|
| March 24, 2008
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.6
|
Wilson
|
| July 17, 2008
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.2
|
Lederman
|
| September 18, 2008
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.7
|
Wilson
|
| April 1, 2009
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.3
|
Lederman
|
| October 6, 2009
|
Scientific Linux Fermi STS 10
|
N/A
|
| November 18, 2009
|
Scientific Linux Fermi STS 11
|
| January 7, 2010
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.8
|
Wilson
|
| February 8, 2010
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.4
|
Lederman
|
| May 20, 2010
|
Scientific Linux Fermi STS 12
|
N/A
|
| June 18, 2010
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.5
|
Lederman
|
| August 23, 2010
|
Scientific Linux Fermi STS 13
|
N/A
|
| December 22, 2010
|
Scientific Linux Fermi STS 14
|
| November 22, 2011
|
Scientific Linux Fermi LTS 4.9
|
Wilson
|
| November 23, 2011
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.7
|
Lederman
|
| December 14, 2011
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 6.1
|
Ramsey
|
| May 7, 2012
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 6.2
|
| June 11, 2012
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.8
|
Lederman
|
| August 22, 2012
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 6.3
|
Ramsey
|
| March 7, 2013
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.9
|
Lederman
|
| April 22, 2013
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 6.4
|
Ramsey
|
| December 3, 2013
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.10
|
Lederman
|
| February 18, 2014
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 6.5
|
Ramsey
|
| November 18, 2014
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 6.6
|
| December 8, 2014
|
Scientific Linux Fermi 5.11
|
Lederman
|
Support policy
Fermi Linux follows the Scientific Linux life cycle regarding support and updates.
There is a vibrant Linux community at Fermilab. This includes dedicated email lists and regular meetings provided by the Scientific Linux development team.
Fermi Linux LTS
Fermi Linux LTS is in essence Red Hat Enterprise Linux, recompiled.
Workers in Fermilab took the source code from Red Hat Enterprise Linux in srpm form and recompiled them resulting in binaries in rpm form with the only restrictions being the license from the original source code. They are bundling these binaries into a Linux distribution that is as close to Red Hat Enterprise Linux as they can get. The goal is to ensure that if a program runs and is certified on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, then it will run on the corresponding Fermi Linux release.
