7 of the Best Distros Based on Fedora Linux

Fedora is a powerful and feature-filled Linux distro for both individuals and SOHO users. It serves as a sandbox where Red Hat introduces features that it might implement in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). This makes it a great and solid foundation for third-party systems to tweak and expand. This article will show some of the best distros that use Fedora Linux as its base.

Tip: also check out some of the best distros that come with Openbox.

1. Nobara Linux

Nobara Linux is a powerful gaming-focused Fedora-based Linux distro that aims to provide a complete and user-friendly system. It works by creating easy-to-use graphical tools that can install and maintain your machine. This makes it great for individuals who are new to Linux and are looking for a distro.

Another selling point of Nobara Linux is its commitment to be compatible with most modern hardware and video games. For example, the distro comes with custom patches that a variety of issues for both device drivers and packages.

Good to know: learn more about the reasons why Nobara Linux is better than Fedora.

2. Qubes OS

Qubes OS is a security and privacy-focused Fedora-based Linux distro that takes a proactive approach to user security and privacy. Unlike a regular system, Qubes protects you by splitting the OS into discrete virtualized buckets. For instance, the networking component of the system lives on a separate VM from the actual kernel of the distro.

This approach of isolating system components guarantees that anyone trying to access your machine won’t be able to completely take over your OS. Qubes OS also comes with Tor right out of the box. This ensures that any connection you make to the internet is anonymized.

Not feeling Fedora? Try one of the best Linux distros, none of which is based on Fedora.

3. Berry Linux

Berry Linux is a lightweight Linux distro that offers a live system that you can install on your USB drive. It aims to provide the all features, settings, and programs for basic computing tasks and connecting to the internet. As an example, the distro ships with Firefox, GIMP, and WPS Office for basic tasks.

Due to its Fedora 39 base, Berry Linux is also incredibly stable and up-to-date with its device drivers. This means that you can write the Berry Linux ISO file on a USB and expect it to run on both old and new machines. However, it is important to note that recent versions of Berry Linux use the Japanese locale by default. As such, you might need to change its system language to use it properly.

4. Ultramarine Linux

Ultramarine Linux is a stable and easy-to-use Fedora-based Linux distro. Similar to Nobara, it is a system that is complete with utilities that simplify how you use your machine. This means that it doesn’t rely on the command line for managing your distro.

One of the selling points of this distro is it comes with a script that converts a Fedora installation to Ultramarine. Not only that, the developers also guarantee that it will always be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Fedora. As such, Ultramarine is a great distro if you are looking for a system that doesn’t use the command line but is still compatible with Fedora.

5. risiOS

RisiOS is a feature-filled and highly customizable Linux distro. It aims to create a system that is easy to deploy while still providing you with the tools to tweak and modify your machine. Further, its Fedora base also ensures that your system is always updated with the latest OS and kernel features.

Another selling point of risiOS is that its developers are constantly importing and creating non-Fedora native tools to its distro’s toolkit. For example, the distro uses Linux Mint’s web application manager to install Electron-based apps as well as its own GTK Theme engine for custom themes.

Are you a developer? Have a look at the best code debuggers for Linux.

6. CentOS Stream

CentOS Stream is a Fedora-based Linux distro that aims to create an Enterprise-like environment while still providing frequent updates compared to RHEL. It also serves as a “staging” system for RHEL. This means that its developers take bleeding-edge packages from Fedora and convert them to usable Enterprise products.

One benefit of this approach is that it gives you a single, constantly updated installation that is roughly compatible with the slower-paced RHEL. For example, the development happening in CentOS Stream 9 acts as the upstream for the various RHEL 9 point releases. As such, CentOS Stream is a great choice if you are familiar with RHEL but want a Fedora-like distro.

Note: you might want to find out the differences between RedHat, CentOS and Fedora.

7. Network Security Toolkit

Network Security Toolkit is a powerful live Linux distro that provides a comprehensive set of tools for networking and computer security. It uses Fedora 38 as its base to ensure that the system is both usable and reliable in the long run.

One of the unique selling points of Network Security Toolkit is that it comes with a variety of custom networking scripts along with well-known tools such as Wireshark. This makes it a good option for users looking for a networking-oriented distro that they can run on both legacy and modern hardware.

FYI: know more about computer networking by using dig to take a look at DNS servers.

Learning about the various options for Fedora-based systems is just the first step in understanding Linux. Explore the internals of a Linux system by installing Gentoo in your machine today.

Image credit: Riku Lu via Unsplash and Wikimedia Commons. All alterations and screenshots by Ramces Red.