Questions from a new User evaluating Fedora 37 KDE

Project Discussion
1

Seasons greetings,

What I’m looking to do:
I’m looking to evaluate Fedora KDE to determine if the distro would be a good fit for me as a Linux Desktop OS for general purpose computing use and for Linux gaming. For Linux gaming I would be using Steam (native Linux games), Steam Proton (Windows games), and WINE/Lutris (non-Steam windows games). If the general install, update/upgrade, and and install of packages goes well in a VM, then the OS would be installed direct to hardware on a separate hard drive from a Windows 10 Pro installation. This would result in a dual boot scenario. I’ve downloaded Fedora KDE v36 and v37. I will testing v36 and going through the upgrade process to be come familiar with it. I will also be testing an install of v37 separately.

My hardware:
CPU = Ryzen 7 5800x
RAM = 32GB (G.Skill DDR4-3200)
Mobo = Asus RoG Crosshair VIII Hero Wi-Fi
Graphics Card = Asus TUF RX 6800XT
Display = Dell S2721DGF 27" 165Hz
Keyboard = G.Skill KM780 MX Keyboard (gaming/programmable)
Mouse = Xtrfy M42 wired
Network = Gigabit wired Ethernet and WiFi 5/6 are on the motherboard

Questions:

  • Does Fedora come with CODECS pre-installed? If not, where would I go to get them and how would they be installed?
  • What backup tools/applications are available are any installed by default?
  • Do the repositories have up-to-date Steam, WINE, and Lutris packages?
  • What kernels are available and supported with v37?
  • Do the repositories have the up-to-date Mesa, Vulkan, and AMD GPU packages?
  • Does OpenSuSe use Grub and Systemd?.. and is Grub the default boot loader?
  • What versions of KDE is available during the installation?
  • Can the updates and upgrades, and install/removal of kernels/drivers be done via command line tools?

Thanks in advance.

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  1. Yes, but only those that have no restrictions. For the full codec support you will need to install additional packages and/or replace some packages that fedora provides.
    I use rpmfusion and installed the following.
# dnf list installed gstreamer* ffmpeg* | grep rpmfusion
ffmpeg.x86_64                                 5.1.2-3.fc37                      @rpmfusion-free        
ffmpeg-devel.x86_64                           5.1.2-3.fc37                      @rpmfusion-free        
ffmpeg-libs.x86_64                            5.1.2-3.fc37                      @rpmfusion-free        
ffmpegthumbnailer.x86_64                      2.2.3-0.3.20210902gitd92e191.fc37 @rpmfusion-free        
gstreamer1-plugins-bad-freeworld.x86_64       1:1.20.4-1.fc37                   @rpmfusion-free-updates
gstreamer1-plugins-ugly.x86_64                1:1.20.4-1.fc37                   @rpmfusion-free-updates

Note that these will also pull in other dependent packages. Installing ffmpeg should be done with dnf install ffmpeg --allowerasing or dnf swap ffmpeg ffmpeg-free --allowerasing so it is able to remove the codec and library limited ffmpeg-free package installed by fedora and replace them with the unrestricted codecs and libraries in the free world…

  1. No dedicated backup tools are installed by default, but several are available for installation. Most can be installed using dnf and the cli.

  2. Steam can be installed from rpmfusion-nonfree-steam repo. Wine and lutris can be installed directly from fedora.

  3. F37 currently is at kernel 6.0.15. I think the release image may be at 6.0.8.

  4. yes

  5. grub is the default boot loader and systemd is used.

  6. The fedora KDE spin has the latest available version after you do a system update. I don’t know what version is on the install image, but if you install F36 then upgrade it will automatically do a full upgrade to the latest version while upgrading the release version.

  7. Absolutely. I use only the cli for all software maintenance; no gui. dnf is the main package management tool.

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I started writing a reply in a text editor and never posted and pasted here. My apologies. Thank you @computersavvy for providing simple, direct answers. Life sometimes send us on a detour. So, now I will be evaluating v37 and v38.