Review Fedora 24 Workstation A week with and ratings-Part 6
A week with thoughts and overview
I mentioned earlier, that because I'm writing these reviews, I'm looking through a different set of "lenses". Because of that, I was forced to quickly admit that Fedora definitely has more things to work through after the install than a distro like Mint or Ubuntu. However, following a few quick guides online can have you up and running quick and easy. Unfortunately, I think some people will get turned off by that.
Currently day 5 with Fedora and as always I enjoy this distro. I'm not sure why I tend to like some distros over others, but hopefully I'll be able to define those reasons as I work through more reviews. Regardless, Fedora runs great. There's been a few small quirks, but nothing major, and a few nice surprises.
In general though, Fedora is a distro I've used plenty before and I know well. It works for me, just like it's worked for me this time.
Ratings
Ease of installation: 6
The fedora Anaconda installer looks great and is easy. I have to ding it because it's not a completely linear process and a newbie may get somewhat tripped up through the process.
Package management: 10
Zero issues here. Plenty of options for the inexperienced and experienced alike. A grandmother should be able to figure out the Software center.
Amount of packages available: 7
Giving it a little lower score due to the need to add repositories. Fedora of course can't have non-free software available by default though, so there's nothing to change. However, will a new person know to track down and add other repositories? No...
Distro innovation: 8
This is Fedora innovation only. If I were to look at the overall Red Hat contribution to Linux, including innovation, it would be off the scale. However, this is about Fedora. Fedora innovates. But as far as I can tell, it innovates towards more business practical things. Which is awesome, but one of those things that generally flies under my radar and I either don't notice, or don't care. So...do they innovate...heck yeah! Could I tell you anything about it?....nope.
Community/support/documentation: 7
Overall support is there, and it's great. HOWEVER, and it's a big however, the documentation and support itself doesn't strike me as the most new-user friendly.
The documentation is thorough and all the information anyone needs is there, but it looks like it's written for more experienced users or even systems administrators. I doubt a true new user would take the time or the effort to work through this stuff.
The forums are similar in that sense. The tutorials and walkthroughs geared towards newbies are sparse and random. Someone would need to really dig through the information available to start to wrap their heads around even the basics. I don't think most people will do that. Fedora, for silly little (and unnecessary) reasons may send new users running away screaming, when it doesn't have to.
Stable enough for a business: 9
Definitely, I guess theoretically, the fact that it runs current software virtually guarantees that there will be some issues, but I rarely have them with Fedora. Combine that will the business-centric focus of red hat, I think this is not only a fine distro for a work machine, but a preferred one.
Overall performance:10
It's fast, no real issues, good workflow with Gnome3. Can't say this sort of thing for sure without actual performance testing, but it is zippy and fast.
Fun-factor: 8
I like Fedora, there's enough there to keep me occupied tweaking and customizing to my hearts content. It's a fun distro for me and I enjoy running it.
Overall rating: 8.125
Summary
Ugh, I can't believe this is below my review rating for Linux Mint. However, it's apples and oranges as they are very different distros for very different reasons.
This week with Fedora 24 and writing this review has forced me to acknowledge that Fedora is definitely not a distribution that is great for new Linux users. I hate to say it, but it's true. It is definitely a distribution for someone who has spent a little time on Linux and has a solid grasp of the concepts within Linux that are inherently different from Windows. IF you're past that first step, Fedora is a great distro. But for taking that first step, unfortunately...no.
A beginner friendly Fedora-based distro like Korora is the obvious answer here. I'll work that into a future review.
Review Fedora 24 Workstation A week with and ratings-Part 6
Reviewed by cptr13
on
11:25 AM
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Reviewed by cptr13
on
11:25 AM
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