ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Migrating from Ubuntu to Fedora is less stressful than you think.
- The similarities between the two distributions outweigh their differences.
- Both distros are great, but experiencing something new is a joy.
In the world of Linux, distro hopping is practically a spectator sport. At some point, we get bored with the distro we’re using and decide to try something new. Perhaps there’s a distro that offers better features, works with more hardware, or has a larger support community. There are so many reasons for switching distros.
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However, for those new to Linux, the idea of leaving behind a distribution that’s been working just fine can be daunting, especially when you’re considering jumping to a distribution that isn’t as familiar and uses different technology.
As a new Linux user decades ago, I started with Caldera Open Linux 1.0 and immediately jumped to Red Hat Linux 5.2 (before Red Hat became Fedora). I stayed with Red Hat for years, until I found Ubuntu (I believe it was version 4).
Back then, making the jump wasn’t nearly as easy as it is now; in fact, it was unnerving. I was so used to how Fedora did things that I wasn’t certain I’d be able to acclimate.
But I did! And then, after realizing that hopping from one distro to another wasn’t the end of the world, I hopped around for a few years, from distro to distro until I settled back on Ubuntu-based distributions.
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They’re very similar
First, let’s get the obvious out of the way: Ubuntu and Fedora are both Linux. It’s not like you’re jumping from Windows or MacOS to Linux. This is a lateral move, which is not nearly as fear-inducing.
Beyond that, Ubuntu and Fedora are much more similar than you might expect. They both have GUI tools for everything you need; they’re both secure; they both have great package managers and package manager front-ends; they both make it easy to install all of the software you need (and all of the software you need is readily <a href="https://myappsplus.com/you-can-now-buy-the-pixel-tag-cases-from-bellroy-spigen-available/” title=”You can now buy the Pixel Tag, cases from Bellroy & Spigen available “>available); and they’re both user-friendly.
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If you get beyond the GUI and dip your toes into the command line, they both (mostly) use the same commands. Yes, there are some variations, but when you’re first learning the CLI (if you ever do — it’s not necessary), you’ll find those basic commands on Ubuntu are exactly the same as they are on Fedora.
Fedora is faster
If you migrated from Windows to Ubuntu, you’ve already experienced what a faster operating system feels like. If you jump from Ubuntu to Fedora, you’re going to experience that again, because Fedora is (somewhat) faster than Ubuntu. The difference might not be as exaggerated as it was when you went from Windows to Linux, but it is noticeable. Animations are faster, apps open faster, and switching between desktops is faster — nearly every aspect of Fedora is a bit faster than in Ubuntu.
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I’ve tested several aspects with regard to the speed of Ubuntu and Fedora, and here are my conclusions:
Boot time
This is almost a tie. When rebooting from a logged-in desktop to the login screen, Fedora took 13.69 seconds, while Ubuntu took 14.31 seconds. The only caveat to that is if Fedora has updates that require a reboot, in which case Fedora takes considerably longer. The only time you have to reboot Ubuntu after an update is if the kernel is upgraded.
Application startup
Fedora wins this one, especially when it comes to Flatpak and Snap apps. Snap apps simply cannot compete with the speed of Flatpak apps (more on this in a bit). I tested this by opening a Snap app on Ubuntu and a Flatpak app on Fedora, using GIMP (since I know GIMP takes a while to start). On Fedora, the Flatpak GIMP took 3.48 seconds, and on Ubuntu the Snap app version of GIMP took 4.34 seconds.
App installation
This is one area where Ubuntu has a slight edge, but only when installing. I tested this by timing the installation of Audacity using each package manager (DNF5 and APT) from the command line. DNF5 installed Audacity in 15.34 seconds, whereas the Ubuntu installation took 14.61 seconds
Fedora is fresher
Generally speaking, Fedora not only ships with newer apps than Ubuntu, but it also gets updates faster than Ubuntu. That’s not to say that Ubuntu uses out-of-date packages; rather, Fedora is more cutting-edge than Ubuntu.
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At the same time, that doesn’t mean Fedora uses unstable applications. All software that ships and/or is updated on Fedora is well-tested and stable — it’s just fresher.
Flatpaks versus Snaps
Flatpaks and Snaps are universal package managers. Fedora ships with Flatpak, and Ubuntu is all-in on Snaps. While these two technologies have the same goal (making software installation easier and more secure), they take different approaches.
First off, Flatpak was created by Red Hat, while Snap was created by Canonical. Snap is partially proprietary, while Flatpak is fully open-sandboxing optional. Flatpak apps launch faster than Snap apps. Finally, Snap packages are automatically updated, whereas Flatpak apps require manual updates
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Overall, Flatpak is widely considered the superior technology by the Linux community.
In my experience, Flatpak is a better technology for the desktop, whereas Snap is best suited for servers.
GNOME = GNOME (sort of)
If you were to look at both Ubuntu and Fedora, you would swear they use different desktop environments. Au contraire, mon ami. Both Fedora and Ubuntu use GNOME; the difference is that Ubuntu customizes GNOME to look more like the Ubuntu Unity UI Canonical tested back in 2010. Since then, Ubuntu adopted GNOME and customized it so it wouldn’t irk users who had grown accustomed to Unity.
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Fedora, on the other hand, sticks with a stock installation of GNOME for its flagship release. The good news is that, if you like the Ubuntu take on GNOME, you can install the necessary GNOME extensions (the main one being Dash to Panel) to get a similar layout. You can also get the Unity-like top bar by installing the Unite-Shell extension.
