Fedora for IBM System Z 64bit

Fedora for IBM System Z is an open source edition of the widely used Fedora Linux operating system that has been specifically designed to be installed on the s390 hardware platform, also known as IBM System Z 64-bit.

Distributed as an installable only DVD

This special Fedora remix can be downloaded from its official website or from Softoware’s secure servers as an installable only DVD ISO image of approximately 5GB in size, which must be burned onto a blank DVD disc or written to a USB flash drive in order to boot it from the BIOS of a computer.

Boot options

Being an official Fedora remix, the DVD ISO image features a standard boot menu that allows the user to perform a fresh installation, rescue an existing Fedora installation that won't boot anymore, boot an existing operating system from the local drive, run a system memory diagnostic test and install Fedora in safe graphics mode.

Graphical installer that is easy to use

As mentioned, it is not possible to try this special Fedora flavor without installing it. The DVD image uses the same graphical installer that is used with success in the official Fedora Linux DVDs, which proves to be quite intuitive and straightforward.

Basically, the user must choose a language, location and keyboard layout, change the date and time, configure the network, select the installation source, choose a desktop environment and the applications you want to install, partition the disk drive, set the root (system administrator) password and add a new user, as well as to install the bootloader.

Bottom line

In conclusion, Fedora is among the few distributions of Linux that still support the s390 architectures. The best thing about this special edition of Red Hat's Fedora Linux OS is that it always uses the latest Fedora and Linux kernel technologies.