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.
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.
