[TriLUG] Availability of Fedora 28

[Paul Boyle via TriLUG]

I'm looking for a site where I can download a copy of Fedora 28. I know
this distro has already passed its EOL.  However, the choice is beyond
my control. If you are interested in the details, read more below.

### Lengthier version ###
I have been running a couple of single crystal X-ray diffractometers
under Linux. For some reason the vendor, Bruker AXS, has chosen Fedora
as their supported platform.  Not liking a short release cycle for
the Linux distro used for instrument control, I have, up until this
point, been using CENTOS 7 to operate my diffractometers. In a recent
updating of my CENTOS distribution, some of the functionality of the
diffractometer control software broke (most importantly some of the
OpenGL related functionality).  Bruker blames the breakage on a bug
in the more recent versions of the GLUT library.  I suppose it is worth
trying Fedora 30, but I'm not convinced it will work.

Bruker AXS supports only an unsupported version of Fedora (Fedora 28)
to run their software under Linux. I've tried talking to them about
supporting a distribution with a longer life cycle (trying to make the
case that distributions and application level software used to run an
instrument should focus on stability and longetivity).  However, the
Bruker is thoroughly in the DGAF zone on this issue.

So my options, as I see them are:
1) install Fedora 28. I don't feel great about the choice of using a
distro which will no longer get security updates.  However, both
computers are behind firewalls -- at both the university and
laboratory levels.  So, I'm willing to accept this situation.

2) install Fedora 28 into an LXD container (or something similar,
maybe Docker?) hosted by the existing CENTOS 7 distro and then run the
diffractometer control software from within the container. As the
machines are currently configured I would have to run the container in
a loopback device, which, from what I've read, is not advisable for a
production environment.  So, I would have to either install a new hard
drive or reformat the existing drives. (No big deal, just more work).

3) Blow away the Linux installation and run Windows.

For options 1 and 2 I need a source for Fedora 28.  I've been running
diffractometers under Linux for 26 years, and has been the backbone
of what I consider to be a well integrated scientific computing
environment.  For that reason, as well as other reasons, absolutely
loathe option 3.

At this point, I see option #1 as my first choice.

I've tried finding a downloadable Fedora 28, but my googling hasn't
yielded anything.  If anyone can point me in the right direction, I
would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Paul

-- 
Paul D. Boyle, Ph. D.
Manager, X-ray Facility
Department of Chemistry
Western University
London, ON N6A 5B7
Canada
GPG Fingerprint: 8ECE 516D 9046 FE83 4A46  7E8E D720 555D 8CC3 EC6B
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