I've installed and tested Mathematica 5.0 and Maple 8 which now run fine, but I had some difficulties which I'd like to share to help others (fixes here should work with all x86 Fedora installations (not sure about x86_64 for instance)) I use the default KDE on Fedora Core 3 test 2
Mathematica 5.0
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Assuming you've got a valid License/Password this runs smoothly from the install script in the Unix directory on the installation CD, and everything runs well, no font problems etc EXCEPT that you will find the interface inoperable/problematic if NUM-LOCK is on! To resolve this, create a .Xdefaults file in your home directory (if one does not already exist) and add the following lines:
XMathematica*primaryModifierMask: Mod1Mask
XMathematica*secondaryModifierMask: Mod3Mask
UPDATE: Fix for FC5 and FC6,
Code:
# cd /usr/X11R6
# mkdir -p lib/X11
# cd lib/X11
# ln -s /usr/share/X11/XKeysymDB XKeysymDB
# ln -s /usr/share/X11/locale/ locale
see http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=435981 for some further selinux-related fixes.
You can benchmark your system with this notebook http://smc.vnet.net/timings50.html
(run it from a NEW kernel session, otherwise kernel caching will give false results)
I get ~3.22 on an AMD64 3500+, ASUS A8V, 2x512Mb PC3200, Fedora Core 3 Test 2
Maple 8
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FIRST, the install fails because of a jre problem, the fix involves substituting your own java installation, by copying the cd to your /tmp folder and overwriting the java binary
So first make sure you have a jre from Sun installed, I have jre 1.5.0 http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp
log in as root 'su -'
cd /tmp
mkdir maple8cd
cd maple8cd
cp -a <path to cd-drive>/Linux . (On my system cp -a /media/cdrw/Linux .)
cp -a <path to cd-drive>/installMapleLinuxSU .
cd Linux/Linux/resource/jre/bin
mv java java.bak
ln -s /usr/java/jre1.5.0/bin/java java (NB your java binary may be elsewhere /usr/java/jre???/bin/java or /usr/local/java/jre???/bin/java for instance)
cd /tmp/maple8cd
./installMapleLinuxSU
create symbolic links to the executables in /usr/bin
(Your install path is chosen during installation, i chose /usr/local/maple8, amend as appropriate)
cd /usr/bin
ln -s /usr/local/maple8/bin/maple
ln -s /usr/local/maple8/bin/xmaple
OK, now type maple or xmaple and.... you'll get an error about GLIBC_2.0
so type the following before executing maple
export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.1
and all works well!
Don't forget to rm -fr /tmp/maple8cd to save space.
Both these packages are superb for experimenting with numerical and symbolic mathematics, and are great addition to any Linux installation
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On a side note, I have to say I'm very impressed with Fedora Core 3 (test 2). Very stable and functional.
I have Mozilla Firefox working with smooth fonts, Java, RealPlayer and Macromedia Flash plugins (some installation issues here, required an hour or so to overcome), my browsing experience with this is now superior to windowsXP/ie6
Mplayer/KMplayer working beautifully, all codecs tested so far no issues (xvid, DIVX3/4/5, mpeg1, mpeg2, mp43, DVD, VCD) except with a single wmv file which I can't duplicate.
xmms with mp3 package, great http://tettnang.freshrpms.net/rpm.html?id=296
(My Audigy 2 was detected ok, you just need to turn up the volume in the audio mixer)
Comical 0.40 Comic Viewer great, once installed (eventually, quite a few issues with the source compilation though)
MLdonkey/KMLdonkey, very nice.
xpdf is a really fine pdf viewer, I use it all the time now.
TVTime televison viewer works lovely, my generic Philips saa card was detected and installed, worked first time.
Finally, installed xscrabble (from sources), as a nice diversion (interestingly if you let the computer play itself it seems to get confused after a while and just keeps incrementing its score into thousands)
ONLY MAJOR ISSUE SO FAR is inability to install ATI drivers for my X800 pro, but since 3D apps on Linux aren't a priority I can live with that for now. The generic 2d driver is perfectly functional for my desktop environment.