Fedora is an RPM based Linux Distribution, an Operating System in other words, developed by the community supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat. Officially it contains only free and Open Source software. Some of the new features it has come with are Gnome 2.24, KDE 4.1, RPM 4.6, a Faster Startup (Plimouth), Kernel Modes Setting for Graphics, First Aid Kit, better Webcam Support and many other.

1. Upgrading from Fedora 7/8/9

**Note: It’s always a good idea to back up all important data before upgrading. 

Fedora is using Preupgrade to easily upgrade your installation to the new release by downloading the new packages through Internet without having to download and burn a cd/dvd. Preupgrade resolves all dependencies, downloads the needed packages, configures grub and finally asks the user just to reboot to complete the upgrade. Make sure that you have a fully updated system and after that install and run Preupgrade by typing:

su -c ‘yum update’
yum install preupgrade
preupgrade
Select Fedora 10 and after a while you’ll be asked to reboot in your upgraded Fedora 10 system!

If you were using the RPM Fusion Repository it should have been updated to the RPM Fusion repository by now. But if you haven’t done so it will also be updated along with the whole system update.

2. Configuring sudo

**Note: In my previous Fedora 6 and 7 guides I’ve been using sudo for the commands that needed root access. However since many users don’t want to add their user to the sudoers I’ve decided to change all the commands to the su -c ‘command’ way. If you want to type many commands as root it is better to type only the first time su - and give your root password. After that you become root until you type exit. Of course it’s up to you to configure sudo or not.

* Modifying sudoers file

Normally if you want to run a command which requires root privileges you first have to type ’su -’, type your root password and then type the command. However you can bypass this by using the ’sudo’ command. But first you have to configure it like this:

su –login -c ‘visudo’
Now go below the line:

root    ALL=(ALL)       ALL
press a, and type the following

username ALL=(ALL)      ALL
where username is the username you use to login. Next press Escape.

Now, if you want to be prompted for your root password each time you use the sudo command go to this line:

# %wheel        ALL=(ALL)       ALL
and with your cursor pointing on # press x

If you don’t want to be prompted for your root password each time you use the sudo command go to this line:

# %wheel        ALL=(ALL)       NOPASSWD: ALL
and with your cursor pointing on # press x

Next, press :wq to save and exit. (type the : as well)

* Adding your user to the wheel group

Just type:

su -c ‘gpasswd -a username wheel’

* Testing sudo

To test if you have done it correctly as a simple user type:

$ sudo whoami
If everything is working properly the command should return the word ‘root’.

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