Newcomer here!
 

Hi,

I really like GNOME 3 (specially since the advent of gnome-tweak-tool and gdm3setup and the updating of alacarte) so I'm giving Fedora 17 a try. I had an ugly experience with Fedora 16 because of constant kernel updates but I've found that's easy to avoid, with an 'exclude' line on yum config file. So I downloaded the DVD.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions:

1. I didn't like the package selection from the installation menu. It only shows 'optional' packages, for example if I click on 'Mail Server' I don't know if I'm installing sendmail, postfix or else!

2. How's the initialization process of Fedora? I mean, I have read about systemctl, but that's all? How do I see what services can be run on startup and are disabled? Where are those init files? Because in Slackware boxes everything is put nicely into /etc/rc.d - what's the equivalent directory for Fedora?

3. About development. Sometimes we all need to ./configure && make && make install software and the likes. I don't like the 'slice'n'dice' approach, I mean to make separate packages from the same software, like in Debian-based distros where for example a library is split into its shared libraries and header files (the -dev packages). Does Fedora practice that? If so, is there an 'one-liner' capable of installing every 'development' package for each 'library' package I have installed?

Down at the bottom of the screen there is, as you noted, the "optional packages" button. If you check, for example, "Mail Server," and then the "Optional Packages." the pop-up box will show (as checked) the packages that will be inserted by default. You can pick and choose from the list as you like.
Mostly in /usr/lib/systemd/system. systemd scripts are (generally) named like this <service_name>.service, with .target and .wants files as needed. There's lots of systemd documentation available on the Web.
As required by the GPL terms, all Fedora source packages are available. Go to /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo (or any other repo file in that directory) and change the enabled=0 line under the [<name>_source] to enabled=1. Then you can download and package in source form using yum (or any other tool, like apt-get, which you can install -- using yum install apt-get -- on Fedora).

Ok I worked around Fedora just fine so far. But when I checked the directory /usr/include I saw nothing! This is what I feared. I'm not talking about the source packages - I'm talking about the <library-name>-devel ones, that contain the header files needed to compile third-party software from source. Is there a way to install all the -devel packages correspondent to the shared libraries packages that I have installed?

You need to include the devel packages, which is fairly trivial.

I use the yumex GUI for yum, and just enter devel in the search box, but (again, using yumex) you can just click the "Groups" radio button at the top of the screen, and install from the "Developer" group.

If you're still installing from the DVD, check the "Developer" box and select (from the "Optional" pop-up) whatever you want.