The beta version of Fedora 41 is now available for all of its different editions, including Fedora Workstation, Fedora Server, Fedora IoT, Fedora Cloud, Fedora CoreOS, Fedora Spins, and Fedora Labs. All you need to do to try out the beta is head to the download page of your desired edition and then look for the Show Beta downloads toggle. Then, version 41 should be available, complete with a checksum file to ensure the veracity of the ISO file.
According to Fedora Magazine, beta releases are code-complete and closely resemble what you can expect in the final release. By grabbing the beta, you can test out the things you care about to ensure they work, and if not, you can report them and have them fixed by the time of the final release. Not only will you benefit Fedora users, but these tweaks will be pushed upstream to improve Linux in general.
There are quite a few notable changes coming in Fedora 41. One big change for developers is that Python 2 is being dropped, meaning software needs to be updated to support Python 3. There is also a new spin available called Fedora Miracle, which uses a tiling window manager built on the Mir compositor library.
Here's a full list of changes provided by Fedora Magazine:
Valkey replaces Redis
- As Redis recently changed to a proprietary license, we have replaced Redis with Valkey. All software shipped by Fedora is open source and free software, in line with our Freedom foundation. If you are currently using Redis, see How to move from Redis to Valkey for migration help.
Goodbye, Python 2!
- Starting with Fedora Linux 41, there will be no Python 2 in Fedora, other than PyPy. Packages requiring Python 2.7 at runtime will need to upgrade to a new version, or be retired also. Developers who still need to test their software on Python 2, or users of software that cannot be updated, can use containers with older Fedora releases.
Proprietary Nvidia driver installation with Secure Boot support
- Although it can’t be part of Fedora Linux, we know that the Nvidia binary driver is pragmatically essential for many people. Previously, Nvidia driver installation had been removed from GNOME Software because it didn’t support Secure Boot, which is increasingly-often enabled by default on laptops. This change brings the option back for Fedora Workstation users with Secure Boot supported. This is good news for folks who want to use Fedora Linux for gaming and CUDA. The change also helps Fedora stay relevant for AI/LLVM workloads.
DNF 5 is here
- In Fedora Linux 41, the dnf package management command will be updated to version 5. (DNF5 and bootc will be available on image-based Fedora variants such as Atomic desktops and Fedora IoT.) The new packages will make it simpler to build and update bootable container images based on these variants.
DNF and bootc in Image Mode Fedora Variants
- In Fedora Linux 41, the DNF package manager will be updated to version 5. This release is faster, smaller, and better. (Pick all three!) You won’t need to change habits — the command is still just dnf, and the basic syntax isn’t different. As one might expect with a major version, there are some incompatible changes. See the DNF 5 documentation for details.
RPM 4.20
- Under the hood, our lower-level package management tool is RPM, which also gets a new release, bringing new features for Fedora development. Users won’t see a direct impact immediately, but this update will help us make the distro better overall over time.
Reproducible-builds progress
- A post-build cleanup is integrated into the RPM build process, making most Fedora packages now reproducible. That is, you can re-build a package from source and expect the package contents to be exactly identical. If this is interesting to you, check out Fedora Reproducible Builds for more.
New fedora-repoquery tool
- Fedora-repoquery is a small command line tool for doing repoqueries of Fedora, EPEL, eln, and Centos Stream package repositories. It wraps dnf repoquery separating the cached repo data under separate repo names for faster cached querying. Repoqueries are frequently used by Fedora developers and users, so a more powerful tool like this is generally useful.
KDE Plasma Mobile Spin
- KDE Plasma Mobile brings the KDE Plasma Desktop to a flexible, mobile format in Fedora 41 as a Spin. This promises to work on both phones, tablets and 2-in-1 laptops.
LXQt 2.0
- LXQt in Fedora will be upgraded to v2.0, which notably ports the whole desktop to Qt 6 and adds experimental Wayland support.
New “Fedora Miracle” spin
- The Miracle window manager is a tiling window manager based on the Mir compositor library. While it is a newer project, it contains many useful features such as a manual tiling algorithm, floating window manager support, support for many Wayland protocols, proprietary Nvidia driver support, and much more. Miracle will provide Fedora Linux with a high-quality Wayland experience built with support for all kinds of platforms, including low-end ARM and x86 devices. On top of this, Fedora Linux will be the first distribution to provide a Miracle-based spin, ensuring that it will become the de facto distribution for running Miracle.
If you want to try the beta, head to the download page of the version you want and click the toggle mentioned earlier to download the beta ISOs. Make sure you only run it on a non-primary computer so that you don't lose any important stuff. The final version of Fedora 41 is currently targeted for October 22, but this could change.
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