New Linux distributions simply keep appearing, and for a few users it’s becoming tedious trying to keep up. You’ve possibly heard someone ask “What’s the factor of all those distributions?”. Possibly you’ve been requested to provide an explanation for the difference between Linux distributions. Those questions may seem weird at the start, but they make feel, in particular if the person asking them is a novice who’s nevertheless learning approximately about Linux.

Neither Fedora nor Ubuntu are new distributions, but they’ve each had new versions incredibly currently. Ubuntu sixteen.04 came out in April, and Fedora 24 Beta became to be had some weeks ago, with the very last launch scheduled for June 14. This upcoming model of Fedora is bound to attract a few attention, so it might be beneficial to explain how it differs from Ubuntu. We’ve already proven you a few variations among Ubuntu and Linux Mint; in this case, the differences may be larger and greater apparent.

History & Development

A lot has already been written about Ubuntu that your grandma in all likelihood is aware of its first version changed into based on Debian’s volatile branch, and got here out in October 2004. Fedora is a chunk older – the primary model was released in November 2003, and the background story is somewhat greater complicated.

That very first version of Fedora was known as Fedora middle 1, and it turned into based totally on red Hat Linux 9. Fedora turned into predicted as a comm unit-orientated opportunity to Red Hat, and it had two predominant repositories: core, which turned into maintained via  Red Hat builders, and Extras, maintained by way of the network. However, in overdue 2003 Red Hat Linux merged with Fedora to come to be a single network distribution, and Red Hat employer Linux became created as its commercially supported counterpart. Up until 2007 Fedora retained “middle” as part of its name, but with the release of Fedora 7, the center and additional repositories had been joined, and considering the fact that then the distribution is known as simply Fedora.

The biggest difference here is that the original Red Hat Linux basically split into Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, though Debian is still a whole, unique entity from Ubuntu, which imports packages from one of Debian’s branches.

At the same time as many assume that Fedora is directly primarily based on Red Hat corporation Linux (RHEL), that’s not quite proper. Instead, it’s the opposite: new version of RHEL are forks of Fedora which might be very well examined for pleasant and stability earlier than their launch. For instance, RHEL 7 is based on repositories of Fedora 19 and 20. The Fedora community also gives greater packages for RHEL in a repository called extra packages for company Linux (EPEL).

The shape behind the improvement of those two distros is surprisingly similar. Fedora project (established in 2003) is liable for coordinating the improvement of Fedora, and it’s supported with the aid of Red Hat. The Fedora Council governs this initiative, and the chairperson (Fedora venture chief) is chosen and hired by way of Red Hat. There are other governing corporations, which include Fedora Engineering Steering Committee and Fedora Ambassadors Steering Committee, wherein participants are elected by the community.

Alternatively, Ubuntu is immediately financed and managed via Canonical. The Ubuntu community is prepared around numerous bigger organizations, with the primary ones being the network Council and the Technical Board. Members of those are nominated with the help of Mark Shuttleworth, the founding father of Canonical. Other groups consist of the Forums Council, IRC Council, and the Developer membership Board. Customers can apply for Ubuntu membership and volunteer as participants in various community-organized teams.

Release Cycle & Support

Ubuntu introduces a new version every six months – in April and in October. Each fourth version is considered a long term assist (LTS) launch, which means that LTS announcements come out every 2 years. Due to the fact 2012, each LTS launch receives offical support and updates for the next 5 years. Other, “regular” launches was once supported for 18 months, however this period has been shortened to nine months in 2013.

Fedora doesn’t have a strict time table, however new introduces normally pop out each six months. But, they’re supported for 13 months, that is longer than Ubuntu’s helps period for regular releases. There are no LTS releases of Fedora.

What’s in a Name?

In case you thought Ubuntu’s naming conventions have been (needlessly) complex, wait till you spot the rules for Fedora names.

Both distributions include version numbers in their name. Ubuntu has “point releases”, wherein the primary number signifies the 12 months and 2nd the month in which a next version was released. That is clearly helpful, as you may inform the age of the distribution at a glance – for instance, Ubuntu thirteen.04 turned into launched in April of 2013. Fedora keeps it easy and makes use of whole numbers, starting with 1 for the primary model, and (presently) finishing with 23, the present day stable version launched in November 2015.

For Ubuntu, the codename itself always includes two phrases that begin with the equal letter. The first word is an adjective, and the second an animal, frequently an unusual or uncommon one. Everybody can propose names for the upcoming variations of Ubuntu, but the final choice is introduced through Mark Shuttleworth, in conjunction with an evidence or a short anecdote about the name. The next model of Ubuntu, due in October this yr, may be called Yakkety Yak.

Fedora 20 Heisenbug from 2013 was the ultimate version with a codename, and all next variations are called simply “Fedora X”, wherein X stands for whichever quantity follows the preceding release. Before that, all people from the network could advocate a name, but it had to observe a set of regulations to qualify for approval from the governing individuals. Release names had been imagined to proportion a connection, ideally a unusual or novel one, and ought to no longer be names of residing humans or trademarked phrases. The relationship between names for Fedora X and Fedora X+1 must match the “is-a” components, in order that the subsequent is genuine: X is a Y, and so is X+1. to illustrate, Fedora 14 became called Laughlin, and Fedora 15 Lovelock. both Lovelock and Laughlin are towns in Nevada. However, the relationship for Fedora X and Fedora X+2 have to now not be the identical!

Does this sound like it would cause a massive headache? properly, maybe that’s one of the reasons why the developers determined to drop it.

Editions & Desktop Environments

Fedora has three essential variants: Cloud, Server, and computer. The first two are self-explanatory, and the computer is in reality the version the general public use – the one for computing device computer systems and laptops (either 32- or sixty four-bit). The Fedora community also affords separate images of the three variations for ARM-based totally devices. There’s also Fedora Rawhide, a constantly up to date, development model of Fedora which includes the brand new builds of all Fedora applications. Rawhide is a testing ground for brand spanking new applications, so it’s now not a hundred% solid, however you could nonetheless use it as a rolling-launch distribution.

Ubuntu beats Fedora here, at least in terms of quantity. Along with the standard Desktop edition, Ubuntu provides unique products called Cloud, Server, Core (for Internet-of-Things devices), and Ubuntu Touch for mobile devices. The desktop edition supports both 32- and 64-bit systems, and Server images are available for different infrastructures (ARM, LinuxONE, POWER8). There’s also Ubuntu Kylin, a superior edition of Ubuntu for Chinese users, which first came out in 2010 as “Ubuntu Chinese Edition”, and was rebranded as an official subproject in 2013.

As for computing device environments, the main Fedora version uses Gnome 3 with Gnome Shell. Ubuntu’s default DE is harmony, and different options are provided with the aid of way of “Ubuntu flavors”, which can be variations of Ubuntu with different desktop environments. There’s Kubuntu (with KDE), Ubuntu GNOME, Ubuntu MATE, Xubuntu (with Xfce), Lubuntu (with LXDE), and a new variation called Budgie Remix is inside the works, with hopes of becoming an professional Ubuntu taste.

Fedora’s equivalent of flavors are Spins, or “alternative desktops”. There are spins with KDE, Xfce, LXDE, MATE, and Cinnamon desktop environments, and a special spin called Sugar on a Stick with a simplified learning environment. This project is tailored for children and schools, particularly in developing countries.

Fedora additionally has Labs, or “purposeful software bundles”. they are collections of specialised software program that may be installed on an existing Fedora system, or as a standalone Linux distribution. Available Labs include layout Suite, video games, Robotics Suite, security Lab, and medical. Ubuntu provides something similar inside the shape of Edubuntu, Mythbuntu, and Ubuntu Studio – subprojects with specialized apps for education, home entertainment structures and multimedia manufacturing, respectively.

Packages & Repositories

The most outstanding differences between Ubuntu and Fedora are found in this domain. First of all, there is the package management system. Fedora uses RPM with .rpm packages, while Ubuntu uses DPKG and .deb packages. This means that packages for Ubuntu are not well-matched with Fedora by default, and you won’t be able to install them unless you convert them with something like Alien. Ubuntu has also presented Snappy packages, which are fictional to be much more secure and easier to maintain than .deb packages, but they are not yet widely used among developers.

With the exclusion of some binary firmware, Fedora does not include any proprietary software in its official repositories. This spread on to graphics drivers, codecs, and any other software restricted by patents and legal problems. The direct consequence of this is that Ubuntu has more packages in its repositories than Fedora.

One of the main objectives of Fedora is to offers only free and open source software, and the community encourages users to find alternatives for their non-free apps. If you need to listen to MP3 music or play DVDs on Fedora, you won’t find helps for that in the official repositories. There are, however, third-party repositories like RPMFusion which contain plenty of free and non-free software that you can install on Fedora.

Ubuntu objects to imitate to Debian’s Free Software Guidelines, but it still creates a lot of concessions. Unlike Fedora, Ubuntu includes proprietary drivers in its Restricted branch of official repositories. There’s also the Partner repository which contains proprietary software from Canonical’s partner vendors – Skype and Adobe Flash Player, for instance. It’s possible to buy commercial apps from Ubuntu Software Center, and you can allow support for DVDs, MP3s, and other popular codecs by simply installing a single package (ubuntu-restricted-extras) from the repository.

Fedora’s Copr is a platform same as Ubuntu’s Personal Package Archives (PPA) – it permits anyone to upload packages and make their own repository. The difference here is the same as with general approach to software licensing – you are not supposed to upload packages that contain non-free components, or anything else that’s explicitly forbidden by the Fedora Project Board.

Target Audience & Goals

Due to the fact that the start, Fedora has been sharply centered on 3 matters: innovation, community, and freedom. It gives and promotes completely free and open source software program, and emphasizes the importance of every community member. It’s evolved with the aid of the community, and users are actively recommended to take part within the assignment, not best as builders, but also as writers, translators, designers, and public speakers (Fedora Ambassadors).There’s a special project that helps women who want to contribute, with the goal of fighting gender-based prejudice and segregation in tech and FOSS circles.

Moreover, Fedora is very often the first, or among the first distributions to adopt and showcase new technologies and apps. It was one of the first distributions to ship with SELinux, consist of the Gnome 3 computing device, use Plymouth as the bootsplash application, undertake systemd as the default init system, and use Wayland in preference to Xorg as the default display server.

The developers of Fedora make a factor to collaborate with different distributions and upstream tasks, and to proportion their upgrades and contributions with the rest of the Linux ecosystem. because of this regular experimentation and innovation, Fedora is often (mis) categorized as a bleeding-aspect, unstable distribution that’s now not suitable for novices and ordinary use. That is one of the maximum enormous Fedora myths, and the Fedora community is running tough to change this perception. despite the fact that developers and superior users who need to try the cutting-edge capabilities are the number one audience, Fedora may be utilized by absolutely everyone, just like Ubuntu.

speaking of Ubuntu, some of the desires of this distribution overlap with Fedora. Ubuntu additionally strives to innovate, however they’re choosing a miles extra consumer-friendly technique. via presenting an operating system for mobile devices, Ubuntu is making an attempt to carve an area for itself available on the market, and concurrently push its major project – convergence.

The network appears extremely less concerned in crucial choices, which was contemplated inside the user backlash towards adjustments in past Ubuntu releases. Ubuntu has also been involved in some controversies, maximum appreciably the privacy issue with the Unity shopping lens in Ubuntu 12.10.in spite of that, Ubuntu is frequently proclaimed the maximum popular Linux distribution, way to its approach of being person-pleasant and simple enough for novices and ex-home windows users.

Still, Fedora has an ace up its sleeve – Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, uses Fedora on his computers.