Fedora 30 Beta Now Available

The Fedora 30 beta is here and with it comes new updates for the future of the Fedora operating system. The Fedora Project, a global community that works to help advance free and open source software, is still the driving force behind Fedora 30. Fedora 30 Beta will also continue to be available in three editions designed to answer end user needs across a range of computing tasks.

So what’s changing in Fedora 30? It’s not so much what’s changing in Fedora, but rather how the operating system, in general, is changing. As microservices, Kubernetes and cloud computing deployments grow in popularity, the role of the OS changes; not in its importance, but in how it’s used. The Fedora Project is living these changes and seeing the evolution of open source technology firsthand, and we’re committed to designing the Fedora operating system to meet the demands of these new use cases.

Fedora CoreOS: An update

Fedora CoreOS blends some of the best features of Container Linux with Project Atomic, with an aim for delivering an operating system built around rpm-ostree and immutability. While we aren’t ready to deliver a working code base just yet, the community is driving towards that goal and is still looking for dedicated testers and contributors. If you want to help shape the Fedora of the future, join in at coreos.fedoraproject.org.

Silverblue: The desktop’s future

In a container-based world, even the Linux desktop needs to change. Silverblue is Fedora’s answer to this change, aiming to deliver an Atomic Workstation which will use rpm-ostree to provide an immutable operating system with more reliable updates and easier rollbacks. Essentially, Silverblue is bringing the capabilities of Container Linux (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. Part of the Silverblue mission is to deliver ALL desktop applications for the variant via Flatpak, a goal that we continue to strive towards. If you’re interested in the future of the container-native workstation, Silverblue would welcome your feedback and contribution - you can learn more at https://silverblue.fedoraproject.org/.

Fedora in the Internet-of-Everything

Beyond Linux containers and Kubernetes, the Fedora Project is also working to address use case around the Internet-of-Things (IoT). From home-based projects to industrial R&D testbeds, the Fedora IoT edition is intended to provide a foundation for the next generation of the connected world. If you’re interested in Fedora as a connection point for the digital world, Fedora IoT would love to hear from you - learn more or get involved at iot.fedora.org

Fedora 30 Beta continues Fedora’s mission to deliver a fully open, community-powered operating system that meets a variety of user needs, from the workstation to the cloud. Fedora has previously delivered three editions in Fedora Workstation, Fedora Server and Fedora Atomic. Fedora Workstation will continue to be offered (with Silverblue as a variant), while Fedora Atomic will be superseded by Fedora CoreOS when available.

Fedora 30 Workstation Beta

To help provide developers and desktop users alike with some of the latest open source advancements, Fedora 30 Workstation Beta includes the latest version of the GNOME desktop, GNOME 3.32. The desktop includes fractional scaling, a refreshed visual style, animation improvements, new icons and much more.

Fedora 30 Server Beta

As the use cases for all Fedora editions continue to evolve, the Fedora Project is constantly looking at ways to improve the capabilities of the operating system. The changes to Fedora 30 Server Beta are an example, as we are merging with Fedora Cloud to better reflect modern server scenarios. This provides the flexibility to meet traditional server roles wherever they may be - in a server rack or in the public cloud.

As always, the Fedora Project team wants to hear from you – let us know about any bugs or problems that you encounter, as your feedback can help us improve Fedora 30. Common issues can be found on the Fedora 30 common bugs page (please read this on how to effectively report bugs).

If you are interested in becoming more involved with Fedora, we want you on our team! You can contribute to the Fedora Project in many ways other than bug reporting – the Fedora Project is always looking for translators, testers, content creators, marketers, designers and so much more. Whatever your skill set, we would love to have you involved – find out more at http://whatcanidoforfedora.org/.

The Fedora Project is a Red Hat-sponsored community project. For more information about Fedora, please visit the Fedora Project homepage.

Matthew Miller is Fedora Project Leader.