Semi-annual Fedora Project offering adds items, ultimately does not disappoint
By Larry Cafiero
With the release of Fedora 45 last week, Distro of the Week presents you – the reader – with a two-fer. Not only are we going to road test the standard Workstation release, but we’re also going to give the KDE Plasma a test drive.
Why?
Simple. First, we’re nice like that. And while Fedora has placed all its eggs, proverbially speaking, with the Gnome “Workstation” edition, we also felt the readers deserved more. And rather than take one of the Fedora Spins for a, well, “spin” (although, truth in advertising, I have a long history with Fedora Xfce), we thought we’d give the KDE Plasma edition equal footing.
So without further adeiu . . .
Improvements in Fedora 45
Fedora 45 comes with a plethora of improvements to the distro, not the least of which is in the installation and the operating system itself.
First, the installation: The Anaconda installer in Fedora 45 inrtoduces a new option for storage configuration called Stratis, a modern solution for local storage management. Stratis isn’t a completely new technology, as it uses existing tools and technologies like device mapper, LUKS, and XFS and integrates them into an easy to use package.
Fedora 45 was released with the Linux 7.2 kernel and updated desktops: Gnome 51 for Workstation and KDE Plasma 6.8 for the KDE edition. It also enforces RPM signature checking by default and replaces the old kernel console (fbcon) with kmscon for a better virtual console experience.
Developer toochains are also updated with newer tools and runtime libraries, ensuring the user has access to the latest language features, compiler optimizations, and core utility systems. As for the kernel, Fedora 45 includes broad hardware support, improved power management for laptos, and enhanced container performance.
OK then, so let’s take the distro for a spin, shall we?
Installing Fedora 45
Both distros come in at a reasonable size: The Fedora 45 Workstation (Gnome desktop environment, for those of you keeping score at home) weighs in at an average 2.7 GB, while the KDE Plasma version weighs in at a slightly higher 3.3 GB. Both downloaded surprisingly quickly, especially on the day of the release last week.
The system minimums for Fedora 45 are also fairly straightforward. The minimum distro requirements, according to the release notes, are a 2 GHz dual core processor or faster (64-bit, of course), 4 GB or more of system memory, and at least 15 GB of unallocated drive space.
Once we got Fedora 45’s ISO onto a live USB drive, we installed both onto different hardware and we were off to the races.
Kicking the tires on Fedora 45
The first thing we noticed on Fedora 45 is a change in the installation. It asks the standard Anaconda questions and then installs before we’re able to give it a login and password. That’s unique, but we forged ahead anyway and once the distro rebooted, it gives the user the option to “fill in the blanks,” so to speak.
Once we rebooted and updated the system – even Fedora had an update or two even on the release date, and the updates looked eerily like that of Windows, as an aside – the Gnome version, I mean the Workstation edition, comes with a somewhat limited range of software in the install. Standard Gnome tools and tools unique to Fedora like the Fedora Media Writer are included, along with the Firefox web browser, and the LibreOffice Writer, Impress and Calc essentially wraps up the software lineup.
Conversely, the Fedora 45 KDE Plasma version comes with arguably a significantly reasonable amount of software included in the original install. Not only does it come with a wide range of KDE-based tools, the KDE Plasma version comes with the complete LibreOffice suite, and an email client in the form of Kmail, among others, On the whole, the KDE Plasma version offers much more than the Workstation edition, but still, there were some additions to be made to both.
Regardless, it was onto the Software program in Workstation and the Discover program in KDE Plasma to add a couple of software programs, specifically the GIMP photo editor and the VLC media player, to name two. Once we got each to where we preferred, we were on our way.
Both the Workstation and KDE Plasma versions of Fedora 45 performed flawlessly and without a hitch. In fact, both editions handled each task with the typical Fedora efficiency and seemingly effortlessness. Multitasking was a breeze, with the distro handling a wide variety of software programs simultaneously, with the measure of the distro rarely reaching over 3 GB. Essentially, both mirrored each other in performance, and neither the Workstation or KDE Plasma held a noticeable performance advantage over the other.
The difference lay within how each of the Workstation and KDE Plasma versions present themselves. Putting aside the included software issue, the Workstation – with the latest Gnome desktop environment – seemed a little bit “clunky,” for lack of a better term, as compared to the menu-driven KDE Plasma version. Regardless, that’s a matter of personal taste – as some may prefer the Gnome desktop – and both editions played nicely with online programs like Google Docs and Google Drive.
The final word
No matter which desktop environment you choose – and again, there’s a plethora of desktop environments available on the “Fedora spins” page – the Fedora Project produces arguably the best and newest distro for Linux users. Why they would insist on putting most of their proverbial eggs in the Gnome basket when there are a wide range of better desktop environments out there is a mystery, but then if nothing else, at least it’s good for a debate.
That said – and put aside for the moment – beginners would easily find Fedora 45 a welcome introduction to the Linux universe, no matter which desktop environment they choose. While this reviewer would openly suggest that new users go with either the KDE Plasma version or the Xfce version, if the age of the hardware is a concern, the Workstation version is unequivocally user friendly and adaptable to the users’ particular whims.
Intermediate and experienced users can always look to the Fedora Project to have the latest software, which invariably ends up in Red Hat Enterprise Linux after exposure to the wider programming masses. And that’s OK; personally speaking, if RHEL wants Fedora users to be guinea pigs, then so be it. Nevertheless, greybeards would have a field day with Fedora 45.
Like clockwork twice a year, the Fedora Project produces a phenomenally high standard in the operating system field, and Fedora 45 upholds this legacy faithfully. It is definitely worth taking for a test-drive, at least, and maybe even further.
Download the ISO for Fedora 45 Workstation or KDE Plasma on the Fedora Project’s ISO page. For the other spins – and as a user of the Xfce version of Fedora for years, I recommend it highly – click on this page.
Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let me know! Email me at larry.cafiero@gmail.com and I’ll make an effort to make your choice available to the wider public … No suggestion is too mainstream!
