Fedora KDE is now on the samel level as Fedora GNOME

From Fedora 42 onwards, Fedora KDE isn’t just a spin but a full-fetched option. Therefore we should prepare for when Fedora 42 hit stable to reflect this change.

Finally :flexed_biceps:

This will probably attract even more users to Linux, especially those coming from Windows.

We can probably modify this snippet we have in the recommendations to mention KDE somehow:

Fedora has a semi-rolling release cycle. While some packages like GNOME are frozen until the next Fedora release, most packages (including the kernel) are updated frequently throughout the lifespan of the release. Each Fedora release is supported for one year, with a new version released every 6 months.

My question is whether there is explicit documentation stating that relevant packages in KDE will be frozen too.

1 Like

KDE does not get frozen in Fedora.

3 Likes

For now…

As far as I’m aware, they still plan on switching to a bi-annual release cadence (like GNOME).

2 Likes

Since 42 is releasing tomorrow we can begin to make this change. I see no reason that we should only recommend Fedora Workstation and not both editions equally, right?

We already recommend all Fedora Atomic Desktops, not just GNOME, so we should be able to recommend all Fedora Desktop Editions as well.

This would have been better if they had come up with unified marketing before making this change. “Workstation” vs “KDE Edition” is confusing.

4 Likes

One possible reason is alluded to in the Linux overview:

Desktop environments (DEs) that support the Wayland display protocol are more secure than those that only support X11. However, not all DEs take full advantage of Wayland’s architectural security improvements.

GNOME has a notable edge in security compared to other DEs by implementing permission controls for third-party software that tries to capture your screen. That is, when a third-party application attempts to capture your screen, you are prompted for your permission to share your screen with the app.

Many alternatives don’t provide these same permission controls yet,[1]

This was discussed in more detail somewhere on the forum a while back, but I can’t recall which thread it was in. I’m not sure whether I feel it rises to the level of being a blocker to recommending Plasma, but at a minimum a disclaimer seems reasonable.


  1. KDE currently has an open proposal to add controls for screen captures: Proposal: Add initial confirmation, even for noninteractive screenshots (#7) · Issues · Plasma / KDE Portal for XDG Desktop · GitLab :right_arrow_curving_left: ↩︎

4 Likes

I would also like to add this part from the secureblue dev’s which says:

Our Silverblue images utilize GNOME, which is the only desktop environment that secures privileged Wayland protocols like screencopy. This means that on non-GNOME systems, applications can access screen content of the entire desktop. This implicitly includes the content of other applications. It’s primarily for this reason that Silverblue images are recommended. KDE has plans to fix this. GNOME also provides thumbnailer sandboxing in Gnome Files, which mitigates attacks via thumbnailers. This is a relative recommendation between the desktop environments available on secureblue. GNOME has some extra security niceties like the ones listed above, however it does not solve any of the fundamental issues with desktop Linux security.

1 Like

We should wait for KDE to catch up to GNOME when it comes to security before recommending the KDE variant.

1 Like

I still feel Cinnamon is a better choice for people willing to come to Linux from Windows.

KDE feels just a bit much with all it can do but Cinnamon is a no brainer with its intuitive and easier user experience.

1 Like

True. That being said, one good feature of KDE Is that it has a built-in permission manager for Flatpak, compared to GNOME where you need to install flatseal.

3 Likes

We can talk about Cinnamon again once it has full Wayland support in terms of mentioning it on PG. And the Mint team has still a long way to go (but they make progress).

1 Like

Understandable, in which case we should explicitly mention that we only recommend GNOME-variant of Fedora.

3 Likes

I’m new here.

I did not mean I wanted it to be included in PG resources. It was a highly subjective comment on why I think its likely best for newcomers to Linux coming from Windows while GNOME is best for folks coming from macOS.

It’s fine, don’t worry. I also think that Cinnamon is a good DE for people who want to keep the “Windows” experience generally. I only said that because the main part of this discussion was focused on security of DEs and when to include it on PG.

Got it. And I only said what I did in case anyone reading may be trying to learn on what to do if they are considering their move to desktop Linux. Newcomers don’t have strict requirements like what you mentioned (as valid as it may be).

1 Like