I don’t know if you have noticed it, but the Fedora download page includes the following: “Get Fedora 10 Desktop Edition Now“. Until Fedora 10, there was no “edition” statement. Fedora is a release aiming at desktop computers. Does this title mean that RedHat Inc and the Fedora community plan to release a separate edition of Fedora aiming at server computers? I don’t know if I have missed such an announcement, but the phrase “Get Fedora 10 Desktop Edition Now” definitely implies that. One might wonder though why a Fedora Server Edition should be ever released? Which problems would it solve?
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If there is a server edition, I sincerely hope it has a longer support cycle.
Indeed! I currently use Fedora (desktop edition) as a server. The quality of the server-related software is fine. But, the fact that I have to upgrade every 6-12 months is something I wish I could avoid. Of course, I could have used CentOS, but I am just experimenting with Fedora.
I don’t think so… Maybe is just to make a clear state that it is a Desktop focused solution, so people like Vivek don’t expect it to have a longer support cycle.
no. the desktop edition is the livecd.
Hi Dimitris. I guess the availability of all those different spins explains the “Desktop Edition” statement. I admit that I was not aware of the existence of those different flavours of Fedora. Thanks for pointing that out! :-)
As I have written earlier, I use Fedora as a server OS (among other uses). Despite it being an innovative operating system, the server has been rather solid during the last years. When I am out of free time, I usually complain about having to upgrade every year, but, on the other hand, this keeps me sharp!
Fedora comes in a number of different package collections called ‘spins’. The desktop spin (mentioned as ‘edition’ on that page) includes the GNOME desktop, for example. There’s also a KDE spin, XFCE, a DVD one, one tailored for Electronic Labs and many others. A list of the ‘official’ spins can be found at http://spins.fedoraproject.org/, but there are many more from other creators like the Fedora Unity project and individuals.
Compiling a server spin is a pretty trivial process, as we would just need to select the particular set of packages and run a command to compile an ISO image. However, as you pointed out George, there wouldn’t be much point into it. With Fedora’s fast innovation, short release cycles, and support for roughly one year, one would prefer for a server a distro supported for a longer period of time like CentOS or Red Hat Enterprise Linux . Both distros have Fedora as upstream and are supported for 7 years.
George, cool — I’d say _do_ give CentOS a try at some point anyway, I’m pretty sure you’ll feel right at home. It’s the same as Fedora more or less, but you get 7 years of support at the price of having less and a bit older packages.
With the EPEL repo most of the normal server needs are covered (like Django for example), and RPM Fusion provides drivers and stuff.
I know. I’ve been using CentOS for several years, longer than I use Fedora actually. I’d say it’s the operating system of choice for a server, despite many packages being outdated. Using Fedora as a server is just for the sake of experimentation and personal entertainment. :)
Thanks for your feedback.
if there is a server edition it is good for my improve my knowlage