Web surfers were able to download software updates and release notes describing what's in the package at a third-party download site, according to postings to a Red Hat mailing list. The site no longer has the packages.
"It's inevitable that packages start to leak out," said Red Hat spokeswoman Leigh Day. The company plans to release the Red Hat 8 software on Monday, including the "ISO" files, from which installation CD-ROMs can easily be made, Day said.
Red Hat 8, called "Psyche," is a significant departure from the current 7.3 "Valhalla" edition. As previously reported, it adds a new "personal desktop" installation option for more mainstream users.
The previous installation choices were "workstation" and "server," both for more technically savvy users such as programmers or system administrators.
The personal desktop version includes the OpenOffice software package, an open-source answer to Microsoft's popular Office package; Ximian's Evolution e-mail and calendar software and Red Hat's new "Bluecurve" desktop interface, a customization of the traditional KDE or Gnome interfaces. Red Hat 8 uses the Mozilla Web browser but no longer includes the Netscape browser.
Red Hat 8, like its predecessors, will be available as a free download. Red Hat also offers a packaged version with technical support and instruction manuals but has changed the pricing.
