Fedora Linux 40 Beta now available
The Fedora Project has just rolled out the Beta version of Fedora Linux 40. One of the most noteworthy aspects of the pre-release operating system is its versatility. The release comes in various editions, catering to different user preferences and needs.
Whether you’re looking for a robust workstation, a reliable server, a nimble IoT platform, a streamlined cloud experience, or the cutting-edge Fedora CoreOS, this Beta release has you covered. Additionally, Fedora Linux Spins offers a variety of desktop environments, including KDE Plasma, Xfce, and Cinnamon, for those who prefer a customized user experience.
A significant highlight of this release is the integration of PyTorch, a popular open-source machine learning framework. While this Beta version only includes CPU support, it lays the foundation for future updates that will include support for GPUs and NPUs. This is a big step towards making Fedora an even more attractive platform for machine learning enthusiasts and researchers.
Fedora IoT is also making strides with the introduction of ostree native containers, or “bootable containers.” This feature showcases the next generation of ostree technology for operating system composition, promising enhanced flexibility and reliability for Fedora IoT deployments.
In a nod to nostalgia, the Fedora Project has revived the “Atomic Desktop” brand for its collection of desktop spins based on ostree. This change aims to simplify the naming scheme while retaining well-known names like Silverblue and Kinoite.
For KDE fans, Fedora KDE Desktop now ships with the Wayland-only Plasma 6, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Fedora KDE Special Interest Group and the upstream KDE project. And let’s not forget Fedora Workstation 40 Beta, which brings GNOME 46, Podman 5 for container management, and an updated AMD ROCm accelerator framework to version 6, among other updates.
The Beta release also introduces a slew of system-wide changes. These include the update of the golang package to version 1.22, the enablement of IPv4 Address Conflict Detection by default in NetworkManager, and the update of all LLVM sub-projects to version 18. Additionally, the firefox.desktop file has been updated to comply with DBus/Gnome search provider rules, and NetworkManager now adopts stable-ssid as the default mode for assigning individual, stable MAC addresses to Wi-Fi connections.
Other notable changes include the use of Kiwi for building Fedora Cloud Edition images, the update of the system JDK to java-21-openjdk, and the upgrade to Boost 1.83. The build infrastructure in Fedora now uses DNF 5 as the package manager, and high-level systemd security hardening settings have been enabled for default system services.
Fedora Linux 40 Beta should offer a great preview of what's to come in the next full release. If you're interested in experiencing the future of Fedora Linux, you can download the Beta version here. However, please keep in mind that as a Beta release, it may contain bugs and is not recommended for use in production environments.