Fedora Linux is a community-driven distribution sponsored by Red Hat. It evolved from the Fedora Core series into the modern Fedora Linux releases, maintaining a rapid release cadence and a focus on new technologies.
- 2003: Fedora Core 1 released (November 6), starting the Fedora Project release lineage.
- 2007: Fedora 7 is released (May 31), marking the transition away from the “Fedora Core” naming.
- 2014: Fedora 21 released, introducing the Fedora Editions model (Workstation, Server, Cloud).
- 2021: Fedora 34 released, beginning the modern Fedora Linux naming era.
- 2023: Fedora 38 and 39 released with continued innovation in desktop and server spaces.
- 2024: Fedora 40 and 41 released; DNF 5 development progresses.
- 2025: Fedora 42 (April) and 43 (October) released; DNF 5 becomes default in Fedora 44 development.
- 2026: Fedora 44 Beta released (March 10); final release expected April 2026 with Linux 6.19, GNOME 50, KDE Plasma 6.6, and major toolchain updates.
Browse Fedora history by year:
Fedora Linux continues as a leading-edge, community-driven distribution sponsored by Red Hat:
| Version |
Status |
Release Date |
End of Life |
Kernel |
Desktop |
| Fedora 43 |
🟢 Stable |
2025-10-28 |
~2026-11-30 |
6.11.x |
GNOME 47 |
| Fedora 42 |
🟢 Supported |
2025-04-15 |
~2026-05-30 |
6.9.x |
GNOME 46 |
| Fedora 44 |
🟡 Beta |
2026-03-10 |
~2027-05-30 (expected) |
6.19 |
GNOME 50 |
- Cadence: Approximately every 6 months (spring and fall releases)
- Support: Each release supported for ~13 months
- Skip Policy: Users can skip one release and still stay supported
- Rawhide: Continuous development branch for next release
| Component |
Fedora 43 |
Fedora 44 (Expected) |
| Kernel |
Linux 6.11.x |
Linux 6.19 |
| GNOME |
47 |
50 “Tokyo” |
| KDE Plasma |
5.27.x |
6.6 |
| DNF |
DNF 4 (DNF 5 available) |
DNF 5 (default) |
| GCC |
14.x |
16.1 |
| glibc |
2.40.x |
2.43 |
| Python |
3.13 |
3.14 (expected) |
| PHP |
8.4 |
8.5 |
| Edition |
Description |
Status |
| Workstation |
Desktop/laptop with GNOME |
Primary edition |
| Server |
Server-focused with Cockpit |
Active |
| IoT |
IoT and edge devices |
Active |
| Silverblue |
Immutable GNOME desktop |
Active |
| Kinoite |
Immutable KDE desktop |
Active |
| Cloud |
Cloud-optimized images |
Active |
| Spin |
Desktop Environment |
| KDE Plasma |
KDE Plasma Desktop |
| Xfce |
Xfce Desktop |
| MATE-Compiz |
MATE Desktop |
| LXQt |
LXQt Desktop |
| Budgie |
Budgie Desktop |
| i3 |
i3 Tiling Window Manager |
| Sway |
Sway Tiling Wayland Compositor |
| MiracleWM |
Miracle Window Manager |
Beta released March 10, 2026; final expected April 2026
- Linux 6.19 kernel with latest hardware support
- GNOME 50 “Tokyo” major release
- KDE Plasma 6.6 with refinements
- DNF 5 as default package manager
- GCC 16.1, glibc 2.43, LLVM 22 toolchain updates
- Automatic DTB selection for ARM64 EFI systems
- Nix package manager support added
- NTSYNC kernel module for Wine/gaming
- Plasma Login Manager replaces SDDM on KDE variants
- Linux 6.11 kernel series
- GNOME 47 desktop
- Continued DNF 5 integration work
- Security hardening improvements
- Linux 6.9 kernel series
- GNOME 46 desktop
- Early DNF 5 availability
- Package improvements and updates
- DNF 5 is a complete rewrite of the DNF package manager
- Faster dependency resolution and package operations
- Lower memory footprint
- Better API for tool integration
- Default in Fedora 44, available in Fedora 43
¶ Fedora and Red Hat
Fedora serves as the upstream testing ground for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL):
| Relationship |
Description |
| Upstream |
Fedora → RHEL (technologies flow downstream) |
| Release Cycle |
Fedora: ~6 months; RHEL: ~3 years |
| Support |
Fedora: ~13 months; RHEL: 10+ years |
| Focus |
Fedora: Innovation; RHEL: Stability |
Many technologies debut in Fedora before entering RHEL:
- systemd - Init system
- Wayland - Display server protocol
- PipeWire - Audio/video streaming
- Btrfs - Filesystem (in development)
- DNF - Package manager
- Cockpit - Server management interface
- OSTree - Image-based updates (Silverblue/Kinoite)
- https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/HistoricalSchedules
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-35/
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-36/
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-37/
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-38/
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-linux-39/
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-linux-40
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-linux-41/
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-linux-42/
- https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-linux-43/
- https://fedoramagazine.org/
- https://9to5linux.com/fedora-linux-44-beta-released-with-linux-6-19-gnome-50-and-kde-plasma-6-6
- https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/fedora-44-beta-now-available
- https://docs.fedoraproject.org/