The Fedora Project, a Red Hat, Inc. sponsored and community-driven open source collaboration, today announced the general availability of Fedora 30, the latest version of the fully open source Fedora operating system. As with previous iterations of Fedora, Fedora 30 continues the Fedora Project’s commitment to delivering distinct editions that address specific computing needs. The Fedora Project community continues to refine the look and feel of these editions, and Fedora 30 provides a look at the future of Fedora and the Linux operating system in an IT landscape powered by Linux containers, Kubernetes and cloud computing.

From containerized developer workspaces with Flatpak and Silverblue to expanded server and container infrastructure options in Fedora 30 Cloud and Fedora CoreOS, the Fedora Project remains focused on Linux innovation. Matthew Miller Fedora Project Leader

Fedora 30 brings enhancements to all editions with updates to the common underlying packages, from bug fixes and performance tweaks to new versions. In Fedora 30, base updates include Bash shell 5.0, Fish 3.0, the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) 9 and Ruby 2.6. Fedora 30 also now uses the zchunk format for data compression within the DNF repository. When metadata is compressed using zchunk DNF downloads the differences between earlier copies of metadata and the current versions, saving on resources and increasing efficiency.

A fresh look at Fedora editions

In the build-up to Fedora 30, the Fedora Project community took a fresh look at the computing use cases answered by the three primary editions of the Fedora operating system: Fedora Workstation, Fedora Server and Fedora Atomic Host. As the associated technology areas continue to evolve, these editions have been updated to better reflect the emerging realities of modern computing:

Fedora Workstation continues to be refined and will now also provide a container-driven variant in Fedora Silverblue

Fedora Atomic Host will now be superseded by Fedora CoreOS as a container-centric operating system

Fedora Server has been merged with the capabilities of Fedora Cloud to provide a more modern take on server operating systems

Fedora 30 Workstation

To help provide developers and desktop users alike with some of the latest open source advancements, Fedora 30 Workstation includes the latest version of the GNOME desktop, GNOME 3.32. The desktop includes fractional scaling, a refreshed visual style, animation improvements and new icons. Fedora 30 Workstation will also introduce Fedora Silverblue, an Atomic Workstation designed to provide an immutable desktop operating system.

Silverblue brings the capabilities of Fedora CoreOS to the desktop, creating a workstation environment that can operate hand-in-hand with Kubernetes. Contributing to the evolution of Silverblue is the Fedora Project’s continued work on Flatpak, a container-like technology for building and distributing desktop applications, and part of the Silverblue mission is to deliver desktop applications for the variant via Flatpak.

Fedora CoreOS

As Linux containers and Kubernetes take a greater role in IT infrastructure, the Fedora Project is working to deliver an operating system tailored for these scenarios. Fedora CoreOS blends many of the innovative features of CoreOS Container Linux with Project Atomic, and intends to deliver an operating system based on rpm-ostree and system-wide immutability. An initial release of Fedora CoreOS is expected around June 2019.

Fedora 30 Cloud

The use cases for server operating systems are also changing in the face of containerized applications and hybrid cloud deployments. With this in mind, the Fedora Project has melded the traditional server capabilities of Fedora Server with Fedora Cloud, providing a Fedora 30 edition that can address more varied infrastructure needs.

Beyond the cloud with the Internet-of-Things

In an increasingly interconnected world, the Fedora Project is also working to address use cases around the Internet-of-Things (IoT) with Fedora IoT. From home-based projects to industrial R&D testbeds, the upcoming Fedora IoT edition is intended to provide a foundation for the next generation of the connected world.

To see Fedora IoT in action and to learn more about Fedora 30 and Fedora’s extended projects, visit the Fedora booth in the Community Central area at Red Hat Summit 2019 on May 6 - 9 in Boston to see Fedora IoT in action.