Fedora vs Ubuntu
Ubuntu is the most popular Debian-based Linux distribution, Fedora is the most popular RedHat-based Linux distribution. Both Fedora and Ubuntu are based on software written by a large community of open source developers. Each also has a relationship to a major software company.
Red Hat Software uses the Fedora project as a base for its commercially-supported Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution. Staff of the company Canonical provide support for Ubuntu and also do a portion of the software development required to create the Ubuntu distribution.
Contents |
[edit] Desktop Environment
Both use tools from the GNOME desktop environment. Fedora 15 is being developed with the GNOME 3 desktop environment while Ubuntu 11.04 is developed around the Unity shell (which works alongside GNOME 2.3x tools). Ubuntu and Fedora each have a popular KDE edition available.
[edit] Prominent Software
Both distributions include Mozilla Firefox as the default web browser and LibreOffice as the default office suite (with word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation capabilities.)
[edit] Release Cycle
Ubuntu and Fedora put out a new release once every six months. Ubuntu releases are timed to come one month after the release of a new version of GNOME. Fedora's releases are about 2 months after the release of a new version of GNOME.
[edit] Testing Process
It is possible to test Ubuntu and its derivatives (Mint, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc) by copying the disc image to a USB stick and booting it using GRUB2 (or booting it directly from your hard drive).
