Fedora 21 Workstation Review

Introduction

A Brief History of the Fedora Project

Release Cadence and Support Lifetime

Software Update Policy

Installation and Upgrade

Fedora Linux has always used the Anaconda installer and unsurprisingly has developed over the years from its initial implementation to deal with the requirements of a distribution that has been both aimed at "enthusiasts" and with one eye on the fact that it will be used as the basis for Red Hat enterprise Linux downstream.

A few releases ago, the installer had a radical upgrade, where it moved from a typical step-by-step approach to a "hub and spoke" design. The look of the installer and the way it operates is significantly different from the way it used to be, although it is fair to say that the current installer has been roughly the same over the last several Fedora releases.

I mention this because this is my first review of the distribution and the fact that it seems that quite a few people (including me) found the new installer to be less flexible and significantly more confusing, even though I believe the attempt was to make something that was easier to use.

There was certainly good reasons given for the redesign and I except that the existing installer was no longer maintainable in its original form.

No matter, I will proceed with the installation method that I have in front of me.

As it happens, because for the purposes of this review I am installing from the live CD, the install mechanism is significantly more straightforward than it is when installing from the full DVD as you have no opportunity to choose a particular set of software. As is common with Linux live CD and DVD installations, all those decisions are taken for you.

The Interface

Underlying Software Stack