Fedora 36 review and demo, including comparison of its GNOME 42 desktop with that in Ubuntu 22.04, and the Fedora 36 KDE Plasma and Cinnamon spins.
Fedora 36 can be downloaded from
The Fedora spins can be downloaded via:
My review of Ubuntu 22.04 is…
Doesn't he have a keyboard? You don't need "multiple mouse clicks" . Just hit the meta key.
Errr… Mr. Explaining Computers, Until any Fedora OS becomes as intuitive as LinuxMint, Fedora won't steal any //1MPD0P£ lusers…..
spins are better, using Cinnamon and MATE versions since 2015, never liked Gnome since 3 in 2011
Hello Chris,
thank you very much for this great video on Fedora!
As with all previous Fedora versions, the installer is a disaster if you want to install Fedora alongside other distros you already have on your hard disk..
In order not to risk data loss, I installed Fedora 36 on a separate hard drive – just like you.
It would have been more helpful to show the installation step by step alongside other distros.
Who likes to give a whole hard disk for a single distro?
But all in all, thanks again for this great video!
Karl
(Aachen, Germany)
Let me digress a little. From amazing internet speed to graphics enhancements, your content presentation is spectacular. It clearly shows how you love what you do. Keep it up.
10bit settings?
nobody clicks on acitivites bro
laptop users use three finger gesture
desktop users map the "Show Overview" to a button on their mouse
With that GNOME destroys the standard taskbar experience and you get free real estate
I was taken aback on my first install of fedora 36 with the btrfs file system
on a 565gb external hdd.
My default install of fedora 36 creates 3 partitions /dev/sda1 fat 32 boot efi 2 /dev/sda2 ext4 and 3 /dev/sda3 btrfs.
Slow boot and large amount of updates, most dnf installs work.
Doesn't look that the major backup and recovery software can backup this btrfs partition like it can ext4.
I done a backup with acronis larger than normal backup size but it would not restore it.
I Successfully resized 464.17 GiB btrfs partition in gparted to 48 GiB partition it did it very fast.
Successfully cloned with aomei backupper to 55gb ssd
Started partition clone, first /dev/sda1 fat32 second /dev/sda2 ext4 and third /dev/sda3 btrfs about 48 GiB
one by one. few software backup applications have the clone partition option.
My thoughts, it looks like backup applications cannot read the files in the btrfs partition, but maybe most of them can clone it successfully like aomei backupper.
But the clone is a large space to save as a restore option.
Snapshots are only restore points, if you have drive failure useless.
I wonder would backing up the 2 first partitions /dev/sda1 fat 32 and /dev/sda2 ext4 guarantee fedora to boot.
I think you've missed the point of Fedora. Ubuntu and Mint are aimed at desktop users as a replacement for something like Windows or OSX (mostly Windows). Those are UI-focussed for the non-enthusiasts who need to see what they're doing, whereas Fedora is aimed at power users who are going to be more interested in 1. Keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys and 2. The Linux Terminal and software development.
The keyboard shortcuts are WAY faster when you get the hang of them (which doesn't take long). For example:
* Launching applications – press [Super], start typing, and press [Enter] (or click a bunch as you pointed out). This is the same as Windows.
* Maximise/minimise/move to the left or right – [Super] and up/down/left/right arrow keys (or double-click on the title bar to maximise or minimise, or click and drag the titlebar to the top or sides). This is also the same as Windows.
Adding in functions like a floating dock or maximise/minimise buttons requires maintaining code and/or non-standard config files. This means that you have to test your code against every release of GNOME to make sure your config isn't overwritten/broken by the update. Fedora is meant to be quite close to release so you have the latest and greatest of everything which means those config changes will come thick and fast.
If you want a Linux distro for newbies, I cannot recommend Mint hard enough (or Ubuntu if you don't mind a different UI from Windows, which you're probably coming from).
If you want a Linux distro aimed at developers, Fedora is ideal. By default it comes with things like Podman (an upcoming alternative to Docker) and other developer-centric functionality as well as that access to brand new software versions which let you test your applications against them (yes, the exact reason I mentioned that Fedora avoids adding stuff to GNOME is a selling point for Fedora – a nice vanilla Linux with functionality you want as a developer).
Another point you missed is that Fedora is such as solid distro for developers that Linus Torvalds, Mr Linux himself, uses Fedora as his OS of choice. That's how good it is as a development platform – the original developer of Linux (and still Lead Developer) uses it.
Your review really was of the GNOME desktop. If you're only going to review the desktop environment, may I suggest trying out the KDE Neon distro next as that's literally the latest version of KDE on top of an Ubuntu LTS base (therefore removing all the Ubuntu UI elements and GNOME applications like Gedit, but keeping the distro-specific applications and kernel versions). If you're going to review the actual Linux distro then I'm afraid to say that you need to do a lot more research to understand the different distros and what they're for/what they come with. That's not to say that this video is bad, but it paints an excellent distro aimed at a specific set of users in a very bad light despite it actually being incredibly popular among the more experienced Linux users.
Using the command(windows) key the applications bar pops up, so that is just one button. Also, in my setup i use the right left corner as a hot corner to show the aplications menu, so no click or button push 😉
Your criticism is reasonable, although I do not share your opinion. GNOME has a totally different approach to any current operating system and is oriented to use the mouse as little as possible (there are plenty of keyboard shortcuts) and is intentionally simple so that there is not so much visual noise. Windows and KDE share many similarities in this regard, which is why I'm guessing you find it more comfortable to use than GNOME. GNOME just doesn't suit you, but that's OK, KDE Plasma is ideal for people who want a traditional approach on GNU/Linux. Good review, as always <3
Why NOT Fedora officially use Xfce rather than RAM hungry Gnome?
Your points are very genuine…hope they improve these things in next version updates….fedora is light operating system which work fine in low hardware device….mini windows laptop lags and hangs very much so i installed fedora 36 and it gives me fast experience and my all work done very fast
Gnome tweaks gives you min max windows etc it's in software centre
How is the dark mode "wacky"?
18:17 I hate Libreoffice dark mode…
Down voting this post. It is supposed to be a review of Fedora not yet another criticism of Gnome. Shame on you as an experienced user you should use a spin with your preferred desktop. Your comments on Gnome are a cheap shot and done in poor taste
Yet another "super-wonderful" Linux distro. It's been 30 years and same old news. It's getting boring, people aren't paying attention anymore. The reason why Linux isn't becoming main stream on the desktop is because the distros are a rats nest, more fragmented than an old hard drive. The ecosystem is fragmented with too many "great" distros and none of them can take down Microsoft's queen; The Office Suite. All the distros attack the King (Windows OS) to win the chess match, but in the end none succeed because they can't take down the queen. Even Google's Chrome OS, with all the might of Google, tried and tried, but even Google is coming to grips with reality with their market share barely at 16% of office productivity software. All meanwhile "Farmer Bill" is snickering. Yes, he's the largest farmland owner in United States. Surprised? Maybe he knows something about grain prices…
Fell in love with Fedora from day 1 so I decided to dedicate my first video to its installation process 🙏
I tried Fedora (35) for some time and I liked the interface although I had a tough time in the terminal as I'm used to Ubuntu and Mint. But I think your criticisms are right as it could be hidden for a advanced user to change according to users personal choice.
Fedora works flawlessly on my 2-in-1 laptop. Touchscreen, gestures, function keys, battery life, and a welcome performance boost over Windows 10. The GNOME 42 de looks great, but did require some minor tweaks (font size). I'll likely switch from Windows 11 to Fedora (possibly KDE) in the future. I've tried ZorinOS, Manjaro, and Ubuntu but all had issues.
just press the command key.
You talk like Terry Jones of Monty Python LOL
Hello, I‘ve been using Fedora Gnome since 2018. On last Monday I tried just out of curiosity a bootable pendrive os Deepin 20.6 Linux. After 5 minutes using it I formatted my laptop with it. Bye bye Gnome and Fedora. I strongly recommend a review of Deepin 20.6.
I used to hate GNOME but have come around to it. It's really the best DE for my touch screen laptop. I've even stopped using extensions. I love Fedora but I feel their KDE distro is bloated with the akonadi suite and other apps
I've used Fedora for a long time but switched to the Fedora KDE Desktop many releases ago, ever since Gnome traded usability for… whatever they've been doing.
Is this distro for new users
The latest Gnome desktops are krap. I always change to "Gnome Classic" on the login screen to enjoy the old and best desktop.
Fedora has a massive team and corporate support without being "corporatized" like Ubuntu.
"UX engineers" are the scourge of the earth.
It is an open source project, I can understand if you don't have enough resources or volunteers to implement a missing feature.
But "working" to remove features and options is just insane.
Fedora Silverblue is also a cool new way for beginners, a lot more robust
here is my theory to why gnome on fedora has nothin:
fedora was always known for having the bleeding edge and the stock software of whatever (their flagship is gnome)
Installing Workstation 36 right now. Such a mature distro. And using the Everything installer there are even desktops for my older/weaker machines 💪🙏
whatever but gnome, man! best wishes from Nuuk, Greenland!
I have tried a great number of distros, but I always end up back on Fedora KDE for my main linux work box. It's fine and does whatever you want once you open it up.
Oh. Mistakes were made during installation. Ah well. You can fix it later.
.. Cheers to you.
GNOME is truly a large deviation from the traditional desktop environments like cinnamon. That said it is different, not badly designed. The workflows are entirely different. For example maximising and minimising windows is done with a double click instead of right clicking, the minimal options for managing windows can be worked around by utilizing workspaces. However the large deviation from traditional DE workflows leads to a huge culture shock, it is not easy to adapt, especially if you have no idea what the GNOME workflow is even supposed to be at all. It's not helped by the GNOME devs refusal to allow you to make simple changes without depending on extensions.
One aspect of the GNOME workflow that is a direct downgrade from the traditional workflow is the fullscreen app drawer. In GNOME, there is no way to launch an app without having your entire view blocked by the giant app drawer. Traditionally, the app drawer is tucked at the bottom left corner, and you could launch a notes app while watching a lecture video without the video ever being obstructed. The lecture will always be obstructed in GNOME unless you have a multi monitor setup.
To GNOME's credit, while it leaves much to be desired in a traditional desktop form factor, it is far ahead of any traditional DEs I've ever worked when used on a laptop. The trackpad gestures in GNOME are incredibly intuitive, I consider it superior even to the keyboard and mouse. The ease of navigating through workspaces in GNOME makes laptops far more productive than with other DEs in terms of organizing your windows. I've had windows and mac users comment that they couldn't believe that linux had a GUI as fluid as GNOME.
Forget screaming at windows and mac users with your pacman -Syyu and full suite of Stallman approved FOSS software, show them GNOME instead.
I checked this out about an hour ago– looks just like all the other distros to me (I use the KDE one — MX21 kde, or other distros KDE).. It's polished and Zippy- yes- but what makes it SO GREAT — everybody talking like it's so flippin good… WHY?? Also– it's BTRFs– so I know my SSD (system disk) will be BTRFS, but what about my secondary hard drive called STORAGE (data on it only)- do I need to do something to make it work with that?? AlSO– with BTRFS- can you make SNAPSHOTS like ISOs??? Seems I saw or read that somewhere..
Its amazing but my laptops touchpad is not recognized and I've pulled my hair trying to get it to work but with no success. Any ideas would be awesome.My laptop is a chuwi gemibook 14 pro
I had avoided Fedora in the past as I didn't want to learn and remember commands all over again after spending most of my time with Linux in Linux Mint/Debian based distros. I recently decided to try it for the vanilla Gnome experience.
I gave up after 3 hours of post-installation trying to get it right for my use case. It is not so much the commands but I found many things quirky. I hadn't need to spend more than 3 hours setting up Debian based or Manjaro from scratch. Fedora just has too much idiosyncrasies for my liking. Amongst these are:
1. Have to edit dnf.conf to use the fastest mirrors. Even then, it doesn't show which mirrors it is using. The default was 3x slower than the nearest repo mirrors (wherever it is located)
2. Firefox for Fedora (Firefox v.102.0) can't play Twitch stream. Tried to install Firefox-esr but so much problems.. Used Fedora Software and found 2 versions of Firefox (repo & flathub) but both are Firefox v.102, and no Firefox-esr. Tried RPM, tried tar.gz2.. nothing worked. I realised later it's due to missing proprietary codecs.
3. Double clicking on Filename Tab doesn't expand the tab to show the fullname (in Files v.42.2)
Just too much of a learning curve. I'm uninstalling it and going back to Linux Mint. I will try again when I have more time to tinker with Fedora. Fedora is beautiful and nice to use whatever it has in a fresh install but to add anything else or customised it, the learning curve kicks in.
Fedora delivers the default Gnome experience. Gnome is not meant to be a desktop environment immediately suitable for Windows or MacOS users. It's meant to be a clean and efficient DE and that is precisely what it is. By the way, to maximize the window, one can double-click on the title bar or drag the window to the top edge. The activities screen can also be activated on laptops by swiping upwards with three fingers. It is, in my opinion, the best one-stop-tool to manage your apps/windows/desktops/searches. If one prefers mouse navigation, one can configure an active corner to activate it, which makes a dock useless as well. I realized this after switching to fedora last year and not being able to install my dock extension, since it wasn't available yet. This is actually the only problem with fedora. It's very up-to-date and occasionally, you won't find your extensions immediately after upgrading to a new version.
Nice, honest review. Thanks!
Any chance we'll get an OpenSuse Thumbleweed review from you?
I'm looking for a rock solid distribution to work on as a dev, but also want to have current software packages, combined with easy snapshot backup setup.
OpenSuse seems to deliver that straight away, but I'd like to hear your opinion on that.