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Can Fedora be the new Ubuntu?
Summary
Jack Wallen was pleasantly surprised with how far Fedora Linux has come with the release of 13. But can it usurp Ubuntu as the most user-friendly of the Linux distributions?
Topics
technology, software operating systems, software, science and technology, ubuntu, open source software, computer technology, linux, office suites, productivity software
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I know it sounds crazy. Fedora is more a test-bed for the enterprise-grade RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux). Fedora is cutting edge software that evokes images of users fixing more issues than enjoying user-friendly software. Fedora is for those who already know; Ubuntu is for those that do not. Right? Wrong. Those assumptions are wrong on numerous accounts... especially since the release of Fedora 13.
I haven't spent too much time covering Fedora Linux. In fact, if you search TechRepublic, you will find my last article around the year 2007. That may as well be 1957 in computer years. Why is that? Well, somewhere around Fedora 9 the distribution was just too broken to bother with. I realized I needed to concentrate my efforts on distributions that wouldn't send the users packing their bags back to Windows. So I left my Fedora hanging on the door and found the communal hugs of Ubuntu. It felt right. It was a good choice.
But now--things are starting to change. Recently, I dusted off that old Fedora (it now sported the number "13" on the side) and realized how much that old "hat" was starting to really fit well. Really well. So well, in fact, that Fedora could easily (with the right marketing and push) usurp Ubuntu as the most user-friendly Linux distribution.
Of course I am aware that with 10.04 Ubuntu has made some additions and changes to their distribution that have taken it to yet another level. But with the new release, Fedora has done something that, in many peoples' eyes, is much more important... they have released an amazingly rock-solid operating system.
What happened to the good old days of installing Fedora and then having to spend time tweaking it to get it to work right? Now it's just install and go. And go it does. I have two machines, both of them Shuttles. One of them is spec'd out to be my main machine and the other spec'd to be my test machine (the main machine being the much more powerful machine is the point). On my main machine is Ubuntu 10.04 and on the test machine is Fedora 13. Which machine would you guess feels faster and more stable? If you guessed the Fedora machine, you deserve a prize.
But not only has Fedora finally become much more stable out of the box, it is growing ever-more user friendly. Yes, one can still see the primary focus is on the well-versed, but the newer users no longer need not apply. Even the bug reporting tool is now the Automated Bug Reporting Tool. Bug reporting made easy? Say it isn't so!
Of course there are some things Fedora needs to change before it could seriously usurp Ubuntu from its throne. They are:
- OpenOffice was not installed by default. Why? I cannot think of a single good reason not to include OpenOffice. And while you're at it--please re-include The GIMP!
- Menus need tweaking. The default menu layout still holds on to the old-school Linux ideal that everyone who uses the OS is an administrator. I would suggest offering, during installation, two layouts: User and Administrator. For the User layout Fedora could follow the Ubuntu layout. For the Admin layout, Fedora could stick with what their current default.
- Add/Remove Software needs to be more obvious. By default the user has to dig through System > Administration> Add Remove Software. This is not terribly "new user friendly". Put this entry at the bottom of the Applications menu where it makes sense.
It's been a long time since I have seen Fedora Linux as a viable candidate for the new user. With the release of 13, I am slowly changing my tune. Will it dethrone Ubuntu as the king of new Linux users? Probably not--at least not yet. But with some minor alterations, that very thing could happen.
If you are looking for a powerful, incredibly stable Linux distribution to try, and you haven't given Fedora a go for a while, I highly recommend you install Fedora 13 on a machine and see how far this "sand box distribution" has come. I would recommend a good dusting off of the Fedora for experienced users as well as new users.
Fedora Linux has found its way back into my heart. It will work alongside Ubuntu as my top two Linux distributions. We'll see just how they place (1 or 2) with the next iteration.
Jack Wallen was a key player in the introduction of Linux to the original Techrepublic. Beginning with Red Hat 4.2 and a mighty soap box, Jack had found his escape from Windows. It was around Red Hat 6.0 that he landed in the hallowed halls of Techrepublic.
Talkback
I LOVE Fedora! I love it so much I have never had the desire to install Ubuntu. With each new release of Fedora, it just gets better and better!
If Ubuntu didn't exist, I wouldn't even notice. It has been Fedora for me since I started using Linux, and since Since Fedora 12, it has been my ONLY OS!
In my professional opinion, as I have worked with both, Fedora is technically superior in every sense of the word. Let alone the fact that they are the Linux-distros leader when it comes to innovation and contribution to the upstream.
All what fedora needs now, is the promotion push. Ubuntu worked far more on the promotion side and making things *look* pretty, as opposed to help improving GNU/Linux as a platform.
Fedora's being the base for redhat should be considered an advantage;
Redhat targets a completely different audience, and the life cycle is much longer. So what should Redhat base their distro on, naturally the most solid and rigid Linux community distribution.
- Kefah.
Ubuntu has one thing that Fedora does not have.
A Long Term Release with Long term Support (3 Years)
Why would I want to keep upgrading
RTB
I think you are right. It's the only negative point i find in Fedora. The lack of a LTS version. But even this way, i only have Fedora on my production desktops, and even on some KVM servers.
That's the focus of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)-- long-term stability and support. (Of course, CentOS is a free option.)
An LTS--the only thing that Ubuntu has that Fedora doesn't--except for Ubuntu One cloud services (with free storage) and music store, Launchpad (with free PPA hosting space), a desktop Facebook client (Pino doesn't do but twitter and identi.ca while Gwibber does so much more), etc.
Ubuntu is British, one reason I tried it and used it since. Plus Fedora was just broken and tended to be USA centric a few years back and I've not tried it since beyond 5 years back. Also on particular hardware at the time Fedora just didn't work and I can't be bothered to fiddle now.
That not being interested in fiddling to make basic things work is actually why I plan to give Fedora a new go. Ubuntu seems to be doing things and suddenly none of my carefully chosen WiFi solutions work out the box; I don't want to go install from another place to make them work. Don't know if they will on Fedora but because they don't on Ubuntu I'll look at moving.
Open Office! Never use it. Don't care if it is there or not and tend to end up removing it from a lot of installs. Same with Gimp.
Also I really like using sudo and doing things the way Ubuntu does. I'm happy with no root user.
All in all you have I think many things wrong with what you argue.
Been using Fedora since FC3. I love it most of the time, but I bet most of the issues I've seen are not specific to Fedora but linux.
I also whole-heartily agree that having a Fedora LTS would be a great idea!
I started using Fedora 11 when Windows has stopped wasting my CPU Time and I was pretty "fresh" to Linux, therefore I had made very bad initial experiences with RPMs, yum and super-advanced permission stuff, and it eventually got dumped; so, I installed Ubuntu. I'm grateful I have done so, because that facilitated the switch from Windows to GNU/Linux immensely.
One thing more I liked about Ubuntu is the great community and, maybe even more, a tool like Launchpad. It has been so great, working with such a flexible, collaborate tool that you reluctantly want to work with something else.
Well, I have certainly developed another mindset while working almost exclusively with Linux boxes in the past time than I would have with Windows. Today, I would give Fedora a serious try, because of this different, anti-Windows mindset: not to expect things to work the first time.
Thanks, for writing this well-written article Jack. I am seriously considering now giving myself another try, and see if I can appreciate the work of the Fedora community in Fedora 13, maybe forming part of it in the future.
I started using Linux seriously from late 2008, beginning with my notebook PC. I began with Sabayon Linux out of curiosity and loved it but switched to Fedora 9 as I had to use it for a course, and I did appreciate being able to log in as Root user to perform certain tasks. Also, had no issue with using YUM at the command line. While I'm still very new to Unix commands, I have much command line experience from the DOS days, so it was a homecoming of sorts.
I later switched to Ubuntu 9.04, firstly out of curiosity but stuck with it because it lets me easily connect to some popular USB dongle-modems, though not all. Even Ubuntu requires some tweaking to get it to work with Alcatel modems and thanks to the Ubuntu community, these instructions were available. However, I wish Ubuntu allowed root user login, rather than to have to type "sudo"
However, I've installed Ubuntu 9.10 on my friends' PCs and they have either had no complaints or were even delighted with it. They previously were using pirated copie of Windows and were receiving all those warnings from Microsoft.
Anyway, I tried out Fedora 13 Live CD on my desktop PC a few days ago and it's improved to an extent, though I've not played with it long enough to experience all its new features. However, I was rather disappointed that it did not install OpenOffice as standard by default.
I'm a technology writer and as such I need OpenOffice and if there's anyone who feel it unnecessary, then please recommend something better.
However, I feel that Fedora addresses a different type of user, a more techie one who needs it for different purposes from a secretary, business executive or a journalist, so I accept it for what it is.
I'm continuing on my Linux journey and discovering things along the way. Not all distributions are compatible with every PC, so I install different distributions for the best fit. In some machines I find OpenSUSE or Debian 5.0 to be safe bets, though Debian needs much work to get it to work with PCI WiFi cards and USB dongle-modems.
Still, when I need to burn a CD image reliably, I crank up my Debian machine.
Still, Ubuntu is the best for USB dongle modems, particularly the Huawei K3565 and K3520 models which I've found to work without having to tweak Ubuntu to recognise them as modems and not a zero CD.
I've also tried out Mint, the Irish Ubuntu derivative and like it, though I don't find it as comprehensive as Ubuntu but just as easy to use and a bit lighter and faster on the same machine.
I have used quite a few flavours of linux.
n dont know why people say ubuntu is more user friendly, but i have always found Fedora more user friendly. I am using fedora for personal as well as development PC since fedora 6 days, and i love it.
Do not compare two GNU/Linux distributions. Do not try to steal the market of each other. Try to grab the remaining more than 80% of the market share. So long linux guys fights distros against distros, we will be silly and little( inspired from "Lawerence of Arabia").
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I LOVE Fedora! I love it so much I have never had the desire to install Ubuntu. With each new release of Fedora, it just gets better and better!
If Ubuntu didn't exist, I wouldn't even notice. It has been Fedora for me since I started using Linux, and since Since Fedora 12, it has been my ONLY OS!