Fedora
Fedora is a general purpose system — it does not concentrate on one specific market. It is suitable both for home users, programmers and the corporate server. In each case it requires some customization however. It is the price that needs to be paid for trying to be good for everyone.
Feel free to edit the Fedora description on our community Wiki!
Pic 1. Fedora - random desktop
Innovation
Fedora wants to be innovative and includes many fresh packages and bleeding edge technologies. For example Fedora was the first distribution with XEN 3 configured out-of-the-box. This way (technology preview) has many advantages but there is also one big disadvantage — potential instability. So if one wants to use the newest tools it is ok but it is important to realize consequences.
Security
Fedora is the first distribution with SELinux in default installation. There is also many other mechanisms that increase security level: Exec-Shield, Compile Time Buffer Checks (FORTIFY_SOURCE), ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) Data Hardening, Restricted Kernel Memory access, Stack Smash Protection, Buffer Overflow Detection and Variable Reordering.
Software developer focus
Fedora is a great distribution for developers as well. It contains all the best programming tools on the installation DVD making it quite easy to include in the OS. Java developers will be satisfied with the inclusion of Eclipse IDE (compiled using gcj) and many Java libraries for web development. GCC 4.x, Mono tools and web-development applications are available at no cost as well.
Desktop
Fedora has always been a GNOME distro and thus KDE is a little bit neglected there (but still usable). Fedora's approach for alternative desktops is a bit different than Ubuntu's. All the popular desktops like KDE, XFCE, Fluxbox, and others are provided on the installation DVD as well as in the Fedora repositories. The user chooses his favorite desktop during the installation. So, there is no Kedora, Xedora, Fluxdora, etc. Additionally, KDE installation and configuration instructions are available in the Wiki.
Fedora myths
There are a lot of myths around Fedora system, mainly due to its tight connection with Red Hat. Some of the myths are busted in the wiki entry Fedora Myths as well as in the Slashdot interview with Max Spevack.
External Fedora resources
- Official Fedora website
- Fedora Security Advisories and Package Updates
- Description on Wikipedia
- Fedora@DistroWatch
- FedoraMyths
News
Documentation, guides and tips
- Fedora Project Documentation
- Fedora@HowtoForge
- Fedora wiki
- FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
- The Unofficial Fedora FAQ
- www.mjmwired.net
- Fedora Desktop User Guide
- Fedora Unity
- The Fedora Solved Project
- Fedora on mobile devices
- Fedora on 64-bit machines
Software — unofficial packages
- RPM Search
- RPM Fusion
- ATrpms
- Dries RPM Repository
- Dag Wieers - RPM packages for Red Hat, RHEL, CentOS and Fedora — 85459 packages
- PyVault RPM Repository
- Infofeed
Help, forums, community
- Fedora Forum
- Fedora subforums: Linux Forums, Linux Questions
- Mailing lists
- Fedora Reloaded
Derivative works and LiveCD
- blag
- Yellow Dog Linux
- Aplha Core — unofficial Alpha port
- Derivative distributions
- The full list of Fedora based distributions
Reviews
- 9: www.montanalinux.org, reddevil62-techhead.blogspot.com, www.crn.com, silentcoder.co.za, www.phoronix.com
- 8 (Werewolf): www.cmosnetworks.com, distrowatch.com, www.cio.com, adventuresinopensource.blogspot.com, distrowatch.com, www.dvd-guides.com, simplyjat.blogspot.com, linux-noob.com, lunapark6.com, arstechnica.com, www.news.com, www.linux.com, www.reviewlinux.com
- 7: www.linuxelectrons.com, www.linuxlinks.com, talk.bmc.com, www.mjmwired.net, www.technetra.com, www.pcadvisor.co.uk, www.itbusiness.ca, www.pcworld.com, lwn.net, www.montanalinux.org, shiftbackspace.com, www.eweek.com, www.linux.com, distrowatch.com, www.tuxmachines.org, itmanagement.earthweb.com, TriedIT, tuxmachines.org, Linuxseekers, Phoronix
- 6: Linux Format, ONLamp, J_K9@Linux, Linux Forums, theWeeklyRant.com, Brad-X, Dharwadkar, Linux.com, Enterprise Networking Planet, Software in Review, free-bees.co.uk, Lunapark6, Phoronix, Red Hat Magazine
Interviews
- Fedora Interviews
- Max Spevack www.technetra.com, Slashdot
- Eric S. Raymond, Sacha Labourey, Thomas Vander Stichele
Download
- 8 (Werewolf) (i386): DVD ISO, rescue CD and SHA1 control sums
- Download
Screenshots
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6 Comments
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I’m really satisfied by the way the Fedora Core 5 works. This system combines usability of friendly desktops with power of developer workstation and stability of a server. “Boredeaux” edition is the best to date, and slight differencies with canonical linux filesystem layout or lack of some codecs out of the box (no problem to install them by means of yum) are gonna scare anyone. If you don’t know what Linux is about but you want to do some serious tasks with it - FC5 is the best solution for you.
Fedora Core 5 is better than *buntu 6.06 Dapper Drake.
I am waiting for Kubuntu Edgy Eft and Fedora Core 6, so i will say, what’s better :D.
I also prefer Fedora over ubuntu, so much more versatile and customizable.
Since the release of Fedora 7, the name is no longer Fedora Core. This is due to the merge of the Core and the Extras repositories. In addition to this, there are specific editions, called spins, that aim toward a specific type of user.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_%28Linux_distribution%29#Fedora_7
What would anyone suggest for a non-x linux? Just the basics with gcc, nasm, vim, emacs etc.
It’s worth pointing out that Fedora does not support Sun Java - which could be a major problem for some people.