What Is Fedora?
Fedora is one of the popular open-source Linux operating system (OS) distributions which comes with the support of the Fedora project and partnered with Red Hat as well. Every single Linux distribution which comes under the belt of Red Hat is based on the Fedora platform. One of the biggest advantages to companies and to individuals who are using Fedora is that its development is backed by Red Hat and they don’t charge individuals for using it.
It is one of the few Linux distributions which are packed with software programs and applications. So as to enhance the ability along with the functionality of the user who has installed it. But this is just the basics of Fedora, what Fedora truly means to the IT world is the question we are aiming to answer in this article. Today, we are going deep into the Fedora distribution to understand how it has changed the way people look at working with Linux Distros and what’s in store for it in the upcoming years.
Fedora & Linux
Fedora even though it is a part of Linux distribution, still it is hard to find what specific distribution gave birth to Fedora in the first place. Most of the Linux distributions are free to use, so what makes it so special? Well, the answer lies in how feature-packed and polished this distro of Linux is. Whenever there is a new feature added in Linux the show stage for that feature is Fedora.
In the list of Linux, distros Fedora is surely an odd one out due to its clear strong points. In addition to this, it comes with some unexpected weaknesses as well. One of which is having limited software repositories. When using Fedora it is pretty common to install a third-party RPM Fusion. On the other hand, Fedora is always late when it comes to releasing its new versions each time.
What Are The Benefits Of Using Fedora?
Now let’s talk about the general benefits of using Fedora as your operating system. There are some changes that you might be expecting when coming from other distros or from Windows. But the features and advantages that are written down below is what makes Fedora a great OS for developers alike
Fast Boost
Fedora can bring you to the desktop screen in less than 20 seconds. That’s how fast it is when it comes to GNOME login. This type of boot speed is hard to find and when you are working on a Windows machine then you are not going to achieve it no matter how powerful your hardware is.
Virtualization Beast
Fedora and virtualization go hand-in-hand as Fedora is one of the leaders in virtualization technologies. In addition to this, with each release Fedora is adding in more features to make virtualization work better in its operating environment. On the other hand, the Fedora community is also heavily immersed in the upstream areas where KVM hypervisor and Kernel changes are quite normal.
Fedora comes with a built-in interface which makes creating and restoring the virtual machines butter smooth. Keep in mind, Fedora can run on low RAM memory but when you are running multiple virtual machines it is better to have at least 4GB of RAM for the distributions.
Reliability
Fedora has been here for a while and from the day it was first launched to the day you are reading this the OS has come a long way. As a result, it is clear that you don’t need to have fear of bugs, unexpected crashes, and Fedora just not being compatible. There are many packages available for you to choose from, still, the base version is fully reliable to start your work from day one of installing it.
Automatic Updates
With Fedora, you don’t have to Google how to fix a bug, as it offers quite a stable system. Also, for some of the common applications Fedora has an automatic updates system. Thus, whenever there is a new update, the system will notify and ask if you need to install the update. Some of these automatic updates are OpenOffice.org, Linux Kernel, KDE, and Firefox.
Educational Software
Fedora is a playground for those who want to explore Linux and its uses. There are multiple groups that you can choose to install and once the installation is done you can learn whatever you want. All the programming languages work absolutely perfectly in Fedora and it has integrated applications that can help you write programs. One of the downsides of Fedora is that it doesn’t allow you to use a Chromium-based web browser, but you can find the way around this problem using a virtual machine.
Some Interesting Facts About Fedora
Fedora has turned 18 this year, so let’s look at some of the interesting facts the Fedora project has up its sleeves in addition to being a massive volunteer-driven community effort.
- First, Fedora was started as an undergraduate project at the University of Hawaii in 2002. At the beginning, Fedora used to provide a single repository with well-tested packages for the OS developed by Red Hat using Linux.
- The name of new releases are suggested and voted on by the community. If you have some amazing names to suggest then you can provide your input as well. Keep in mind, the new name must be in relation to the current name.
- Fedora is 100% free in all of its form, all the items which are classified as content like fonts, package, documentation, clipart, background images all should be freely distributed without restrictions. Apart from this, binary-only firmware and driver files are the only issue as their firmware doesn’t allow it to run on Fedora on its own.
- Fedora board of directors is a bag of mixed individuals in which some have community-elected seats. While the remaining ones are shared between the Red-Hat appointed individuals.
- Fedora logo is the amalgamation of three things, infinity, freedom and voice. This means Fedora aims to be the voice of the community which comes with the infinite freedom and innovation of the people.
Key Shortcuts Of Fedora
Keyboard shortcuts are required to help you navigate the system at a much faster speed. This saves up a lot of your time and by using shortcuts you are also going to get the very best of the GNOME desktop environment on which Fedora is based on.
The Super Key
You can see The Super Key on the bottom row next to the Alt key on a standard laptop. It looks like the Windows logo.
All the activities you are doing on your laptop can be overviewed by pressing the Super Key. this will zoom out all the applications that are open on the laptop.
You can use Alt+F1 also for the same.
Run a Command
To run a command quickly, you can press Alt+F2. It will display a Run Command dialog. Now you can enter the desired command and press Enter.
Switch to Other Open Applications
When You tab through different applications, The GNOME application switcher shows the icons and names of the applications.
You can use the Alt+Shift+Tab keys to rotate the icons in reverse order.
Switch to Another Window in the Same Application
In the GNOME desktop environment, when you want to switch to another window in the same application there are two ways. The first method is to press Alt+Tab until the cursor goes to the icon of the application that you want to navigate. Then a drop-down will appear and you can select the window with the mouse.
The second method is to press Alt+Tab until the cursor goes to the icon of the application you want to navigate and then press Super+` (the accent grave key, shared with the ~ tilde, top left, usually below the Esc key) to navigate through the open windows.
Switch Keyboard Focus
You can use Ctrl+Alt+Tab to switch the keyboard focus to the search bar or to an application window. Use the arrow keys to navigate through your choices.
Show a List of All the Applications
Press Super+A to open a full list of all the applications on your system.
Switch Workspaces
You can use multiple workspaces in Linux. Press Super+PgUp keys to toggle between workspaces in one direction and the Super+PgDn keys to toggle in the other direction.
Move Items to a New Workspace
Press Super+Shift+PgUp keys or Super+Shift+PgDn to move the current application to a new workspace.
Show the Message Tray
Press Super+M key to display the Message Tray. The message tray provides a list of notifications.
Lock the Screen
Press the Super+L key to lock the screen Whenever you leave your computer alone.
Power Off
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to power off your computer. It will display a message to tell you that your computer will shut down in 60 seconds.
Editing Shortcuts
You can use some editing shortcuts that are very common in other operating systems also..
- Ctrl+A = Select All
- Ctrl+X = Cut
- Ctrl+C = Copy
- Ctrl+V = Paste
- Ctrl+Z = Undo
Screen Capturing
- PrtSc = Take a screenshot
- Alt+PrtSc = Take a screenshot of the current window
- Shift+PrtSc = Take a screenshot of an area of the screen
- Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R = Record screencast (for making tutorial videos)
Put Windows Side by Side
Multiple users can use the screen at the same time. One can use the left side of the screen and the other can use the right side of the screen.
To shift the current application to the left, Press the Super+Left Arrow key.
To shift the current application to the right, Press the Super+Right Arrow key.
Things To Keep In Mind Before Installing Fedora
Before you install Fedora as a new operating system on your computer, you must have the knowledge about if the hardware of your system is enough for the new operating system or if you require new hardware. This information will help you in easy installation of Fedora.
1. Understanding Of Hardwares Used In Your System
The things you will have to keep in your mind are Which type of hardware you are using in your system such as type of keyboard, type of mouse, system memory, size of hard drive of your system, type of monitor. If you have all the knowledge about this than it will be easy for you to install Fedora in a fast and efficient way.
2. Installation Choice
Which type of installation you want in your system, you must be clear about it like if you want a workstation, server, firewall, gateway or router installation. The installation choice helps you in getting the knowledge about the type and amount of software you are installing. Each type has a different set of software libraries and applications.
3. Software Installation options
After deciding which installation you want, the next step is to choose which software you want to install. Although Fedora is a very easy to use and stable operating system, sometimes the type of software doesn’t match with the hardware you use in your system..so compatibility of hardware and software is must to make your work easy.
4. Planning And Partition
You must consider the expansion of your system if you are planning for a corporate environment. A flexible system is also needed for stability. How the files are managed or what can be the layout of directories and how the software is allocated on the hard drive are also a part of consideration.
5. CD-ROM Installation
If you are installing Fedora using CD-ROM then you must have a 700MB hard drive and 64 MB RAM. your system must have at least Pentium class CPU. If you are using Fedora graphical installer then you must have at least 128MB to install.
Wrapping up
Now after reading this article we are sure you all have very much information about Fedora. If you want a change while doing your work on computers or you want to be familiar with Red Hat, Fedora is the best choice. The main thing that grabs the attention towards Fedora is that it is open-source software. You don’t have to pay for it. Most of all it is a flexible Operating System that includes the latest technologies as well.
Fedora guarantees the security of your system and it also provides you with all desktop applications, system tools, media tools etc that are helpful in making your work easy while doing work on a laptop or computer. Now the choice is yours. We hope this article helps you to get the best of knowledge about Fedora.