Fedora distribution release announced Linux Fedora Workstation, Fedora KDE Plasma Desktop, Fedora Server, Fedora IoT, Fedora CoreOS, Fedora Cloud Base, Fedora IoT Edition, Fedora Silverblue, Fedora Kinoite, and Live builds are available for download. These builds are available for the x86_64, Power64, and ARM64 (AArch64) architectures.
The most significant changes in Fedora Linux 42:
- Fedora KDE Plasma Desktop has been upgraded to the base distribution version, which is identical in support to Fedora Workstation. Thus, the GNOME and KDE variants of the distribution now have the same status and are treated equally. KDE-specific serious issues are now considered release-blocking, just as GNOME serious issues used to block the release. In addition, Fedora KDE Plasma Desktop adds support for the Power architecture (ppc64le), which provides a full stack of KDE applications, including KDE PIM. For OpenPOWER systems, such as Talos Workstation, Live builds with KDE have been prepared that support installation.
- Added official Spin builds of the distribution with the COSMIC desktop environment, developed by System76 in the Rust language. COSMIC provides hybrid window tiling and stacked window pinning modes (grouping windows similar to browser tabs), which can be enabled in conjunction with virtual desktops.
- The desktop in Fedora Workstation has been updated to the GNOME 48 branch. The Xfce 4.20 and LXQt 2.1 desktops have been updated.
- Fedora Workstation uses a new version of the Anaconda installer by default, which replaces the GTK-based interface with a web interface. The web interface is built using the React JavaScript framework, PatternFly design elements, and components from the Cockpit project, which is already used in Red Hat products for configuration and server managementInstead of a main screen with a list of actions, the new interface features a wizard-based interface, allowing users to complete specific steps sequentially without returning to the main screen. The web interface allows interaction via a web browser for remote control of the unit.
The proposed interface is free of complications and is more understandable for novice users. As a basic one, it is proposed to use the automated (guided) disk partitioning mode, in which the installer itself selects the parameters for creating or changing partitions based on the settings selected by the user. An option has been added for reinstalling the distribution (for example, to restore operation if some system files are damaged), as well as the ability to install in dual boot mode for using several operating systems on one computer.
- The classic Anaconda installer has been switched to use the Wayland protocol, which eliminates X11-related dependencies from the installation media. The remote installation process has been switched from the TigerVNC VNC client to the grd (Gnome Remote Desktop) application, which uses the RDP protocol. By default, partitioning using GPT is enabled for all supported architectures.
- The contents of the /usr/bin and /usr/sbin directories have been merged. The /usr/sbin directory has been replaced with a symbolic link pointing to /usr/bin. Separating executable files into bin and sbin directories is considered an obsolete practice that has lost its meaning in modern distributions. Unifying bin and sbin will simplify the work of package maintainers, who will not have to guess in which directory to place the executable file; will make the system more predictable and understandable for users; will increase compatibility with other distributions; will reduce the number of directory checks when executing execvp() and similar calls.
- New groups flatpak and diskadmin have been added to provide unprivileged users with access to the functions of managing system packages in Flatpak format and external drives. The change eliminates the need to add a user to the wheel group, i.e. it allows working with flatpak and external drives without providing access to other administrative operations. Users in the wheel group are additionally provided with the ability to unlock (LUKS) and mount external drives without asking for a password.
- It is allowed to include additional executable file variants in packages, compiled with optimizations for the x86-64-v2, x86-64-v3, and x86-64-v4 microarchitectures. In most cases, the performance gain when building for such architectures does not exceed 10%, but in some situations it leads to a noticeable increase in performance (up to 120%). The decision to add additional optimized executable files is made by maintainers, depending on the results of testing the performance of specific packages.
- Live builds of the distribution that use a read-only system image have been migrated from SquashFS to the EROFS file system. The reasons cited for the transition include more active EROFS development (the last release of the SquashFS tools was in spring 2023) and the presence of advanced features in EROFS that may be used in the future. Compared to SquashFS, EROFS has a worse compression level (image size is 2.7 GiB in EROFS versus 2.0 GiB in SquashFS when using the XZ compression algorithm and 3.9 GiB versus 3.1 GiB when using LZ4), but higher random access speed and throughput (7.1 MiB/s in EROFS versus 5.0 MiB/s in SquashFS for XZ and 30.9 MiB/s versus 26.3 MiB/s for LZ4).
- Atomic desktop editions of the distribution (Fedora Atomic Desktops), such as Fedora Silverblue (GNOME), Fedora Kinoite (KDE), Fedora Sway Atomic, and Fedora Budgie Atomic, have been migrated to the Composefs file system by default, which allows these builds to use a root partition that operates in read-only mode, as well as to further use integrity verification tools for the system partition, which allows identifying problems during operation. The /etc and /var partitions continue to be mounted with write access. The Composefs file system is implemented as an add-on to the OverlayFS and EROFS file systems already present in the kernel, and is optimized for efficient joint storage of the contents of several mounted disk images.
- In the Fedora Kinoite edition (the atomically updated variant with KDE), automatic updates are enabled by default.
- Official Fedora builds for the WSL subsystem are provided (Windows Subsystem for Linux), which are included in the list Linux-distributions offered for quick installation in WSL. The builds are created in a new format, allowing you to distribute the distribution from your own servers without uploading to the Microsoft Store catalog, without packaging in appx format and without placing code specific to the assembly Windows.
- A new branch of the SDL 3 multimedia library is used. The Wayland protocol is used by default for SDL-based applications. The SDL 2 libraries are replaced with the sdl2-compat layer, which works on top of SDL 3.
- The DNF5 package manager now supports deleting obsolete or expired PGP repository keys from the system, allowing automated key management when installing and updating programs.
- The RPM package manager now supports creating users and groups based on package-supplied configuration files located in the Sysusers.d directory used by systemd.
- Added a dependency generator for GNOME Shell extensions, allowing you to link rpm packages with extensions to GNOME Shell versions.
- DNF and RPM have "Copy on Write" mode enabled by default, implemented using reflink in Btrfs.
- Updated package versions: LLVM 20, GCC 15-test, binutils 2.44, glibc 2.41, gdb 15, Go 1.24, Tcl/Tk 9.0, Ruby 3.4, Zlib-ng 2.2.x, Setuptools 74, Django 5.x, Ansible 11, PHP 8.4, numpy 2.1.3.
- The FEX emulator has been added to the AArch64 architecture repository, allowing execution of executables built for x86 and x86-64 architectures in an ARM64 (AArch64) environment. FEX-based components for running x86 programs are integrated into Fedora builds with the KDE desktop environment.
- Expanded support for webcams with MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) interface, which is increasingly used on laptops and tablets instead of UVC (USB Video Class).
- Added support for virtual machine memory encryption using AMD SEV-SNP and Intel TDX technologies.
- Packages that only use the git binary have been moved to link against the git-core dependency rather than the full git package.
- The Plymouth boot splash screen has been switched to use the simpledrm kernel module, eliminating the need to wait for the GPU driver to initialize.
- In Firewalld, in workstation builds for IPv6, the rpfilter (Reverse Path Filter) mode is enabled by default as "loose" instead of "strict".
For Fedora 42, the "free" and "nonfree" repositories of the RPM Fusion project have been launched, which contain packages with additional multimedia applications (MPlayer, VLC, Xine), video/audio codecs, DVD support, proprietary AMD and NVIDIA drivers, game programs and emulators.
Fedora Asahi Remix 42, a distribution designed for installation on Mac computers equipped with Apple-developed ARM chips, was released simultaneously. Fedora Asahi Remix 42 is based on the Fedora package base. Linux 42 and includes the Calamares installer. It supports Apple MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, and iMac systems equipped with Apple M1 and M2 ARM chips.
Fedora Asahi fully supports: Apple computers' sound subsystem, camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, input devices, USB Type C (USB 3.0), and MagSafe wireless charging. Not yet supported: USB-C, Thunderbolt/USB4 display connection, microphone, and Touch ID. Graphics drivers support OpenGL 4.6, OpenGL ES 3.2, and Vulkan 1.4. The muvm toolkit and FEX-based emulation layer are used to run applications built for x86_64 systems.
Source: opennet.ru
