Not all Linux distributions provide platforms for enterprise and non-business adopters. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and the Fedora Project let users keep their Linux computing all in the family.
Both the enterprise and community versions have upgraded over the last few weeks. RHEL is a commercial distribution available through a subscription and does not rely solely on community support. On the other hand, Fedora Linux is a free distro supported and maintained by the open-source community. In this case, Red Hat is the Fedora Project’s primary sponsor.
However, independent developers in the Fedora community also contribute to the project. Often, Fedora Linux is a proving ground for new features that ultimately become part of the RHEL operating system.
While Fedora caters to developers and enthusiasts, RHEL focuses on delivering enterprise-grade solutions. What’s the difference? Each edition caters to the needs of users’ business or consumer goals. Of course, using Fedora comes at a great price: it is free to download.
On Nov. 13, Red Hat released Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.5 with improved functionality in deploying applications and more effectively managing workloads across hybrid clouds while mitigating IT risks from the data center to public clouds to the edge. Matt Miller, the Fedora Linux project leader, announced the release of Fedora 41 on Oct. 29.
Meet the Latest RHEL
According to global market intelligence firm IDC, organizations struggle to strike a balance between maintaining their Linux operating system environments and their workloads, which are hampered by time and resource constraints. The proliferation of the cloud and next-generation workloads such as AI and ML worsen their computing productivity.
RHEL standardization increased the agility of IT infrastructure administration management teams by consolidating OSes, automating highly manual tasks such as scaling and provisioning, and decreasing the complexity of deployments. As a result, infrastructure teams spent 26% more time on business and infrastructure innovation, Red Hat noted.
RHEL 9.5 delivers enhanced capabilities to bring more consistency to the operating system underpinning rapid IT innovations. This impacts the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in edge computing to make these booming advancements an accessible reality for more organizations.
Enterprise IT complexity is growing exponentially, fueled by the rapid adoption of new technologies like AI. This growth affects both the applications Red Hat develops and the environments in which they operate, according to Gunnar Hellekson, VP and GM for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
“While more complexity can impact the attack surface, we are committed to making Red Hat Enterprise Linux the most secure, zero-trust platform on the market so businesses can tackle each challenge head-on with a secure base at the most fundamental levels of a system. This commitment enables the business to embrace the next wave of technology innovations,” he told LinuxInsider.
Stronger Security and Compliance Management
The release includes a collection of Red Hat Ansible Content subscriptions that automate everyday administrative tasks at scale. The latest version also adds several new system roles, including a new role for sudo, a command-line utility in Linux, to automate the configuration of sudo at scale.
By leveraging this capability, users can execute commands typically reserved for administrators while proper guardrails ensure rules are managed effectively. With automation, users with elevated privileges can implement sudo configurations securely and consistently across their environments, helping organizations reduce complexity and improve operational efficiency.
Increased platform support for confidential computing enables data protection for AI workloads and lowers the attack surface for insider threats. By preventing potential threats from viewing or tampering with sensitive data, confidential computing allows enterprises to have more opportunities to use AI more securely to review large amounts of data while still maintaining data segmentation and adhering to data compliance regulations.
The Image Builder feature advances a “shift left” approach by integrating security testing and vulnerability fixes earlier in the development cycle. This methodology delivers pre-hardened image configurations to customers, enhancing security while reducing setup time. The benefit of these built-in capabilities is the ability to configure without being security experts.
Reduced Automation Complexity
Management tools simplify system administration. Users can automate manual tasks, standardize deployment at scale, and reduce system complexities.
New file management capabilities in the web console allow routine file management tasks without using the command line, simplifying actions such as browsing the file system, uploading and downloading files, changing permissions, and creating directories.
Another benefit addresses cloud computing storage. Container-native innovation at the platform level fully supports Podman 5.0, the latest version of the open-source container engine. It gives developers a powerful tool for building, managing, and running containers in Linux environments.
According to Greg Macatee, research manager for infrastructure software platforms and worldwide infrastructure research at IDC, companies using the new RHEL release validated that the platform simplified management while reducing overall system complexity.
“They also noted that it radically reduced the time required for patching while simplifying kernel modifications and centralizing policy controls. They further called out the value of automation, better scalability, and access to Red Hat Enterprise Linux expertise,” he told LinuxInsider.
Added Support Key to Enterprise
Application streams provide the latest curated developer tools, languages, and databases needed to fuel innovative applications. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.5 includes PG Vector for PostgreSQL, new versions of node.js, GCC toolset, Rust toolset, and LLVM toolset.
While Java Dev Kit (JDK) 11 reached its end of maintenance in RHEL 9, this new release continues supporting customers using it. The new default JDK 17 brings new features and tools for building and managing modern Java applications while maintaining backward compatibility to keep JDK upgrades consistent for applications and users.
Highlighting the Fedora Community Release
The Fedora Project calls its community operating system Fedora Workstation. It provides a polished Linux OS for laptop and desktop computers and a complete set of tools for developers and consumers at all experience levels.
Fedora Server provides a flexible OS for users needing the latest data center technologies. The community also has Fedora IoT for foundation ecosystems, Fedora Cloud edition, and Fedora CoreOS for container-focused operations.
According to Miller’s announcement in the online Fedora Magazine, Fedora 41 includes updates to thousands of packages, ranging from tiny patches to extensive new features. These include a new major release of the command-line package management tool, DNF (Dandified YUM), which improves performance and enhances dependency resolution.
The Workstation edition offers various desktop environment options, known as spins, including Xfce, LxQt, and Cinnamon. It also introduces a new line of Atomic-flavored desktops, which streamline updates by bundling them into a single image that users install, eliminating the need to download multiple package updates.
Fedora Workstation 41 is based on Gnome 47. One of its main changes is its customization potential. In the Appearance setting, you can change the standard blue accent color of Gnome interfaces, choosing from an assortment of vibrant colors. Enhanced small-screen support helps users with lower-resolution screens see optimized icons scaled for easier interaction and better visibility on smaller screens, and new-style dialogue windows enhance usability across many screen sizes.
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