7 reasons to choose Nobara Linux instead of Fedora

Nobara is a modified version of Fedora Linux that is easy to use for both light tasks and heavy gaming. It achieves this by streamlining every part of the distribution for speed and third-party driver support. This article will show you 7 reasons why you should choose Nobara Linux instead of Fedora.

1. Comes with Post-Installation Wizard

One of the biggest advantages of Nobara Linux over Fedora is the Post-Installation Wizard. This is a small utility that guides you through the process of updating your system to the latest binaries immediately after you install the distribution.

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The Post-Installation Wizard also guides you through the process of installing third-party programs like Discord and Blender. Not only that, it also provides troubleshooting tips and web links for further community support. This is a marked difference from Fedora, where you are expected to know how to find tips and help on your own.

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2. Includes free and non-free software archives

Nobara Linux comes with a number of additional repositories that contain some packages that are missing from the default Fedora installation. These include third-party codecs for media support such as H.264 and H.265.

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Besides, Nobara also offers Flatpak and Flathub out of the box. Unlike Fedora, this means you can quickly install any proprietary packages and web applications directly from the distribution's app store.

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3. Actively patch graphics drivers

Finding and installing the appropriate graphics driver is the most difficult problem for every Fedora user. Nobara Linux solves this problem by providing pre-configured graphics packages for both Nvidia and AMD Radeon devices.

Furthermore, Nobara Linux also includes several patches that significantly increase your device's performance on some graphics-intensive programs. For example, both Nvidia and AMD drivers for Nobara use more optimized video encoders in OBS and Blender.

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4. Include custom fixes for packages

Another advantage of Nobara Linux over Fedora is that its developers release custom patches for some of the packages they distribute. These patches fix unresolved upstream issues or provide faster and more optimized versions of these packages.

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As a result, using Nobara will prevent you from being able to do anything with the Linux desktop. This distribution is often ahead of the official Fedora repositories when it comes to rolling out security fixes to their packages.

5. Comes with WINE and Proton support

At its core, Nobara is a Linux distribution focused on games and media content. It focuses heavily on compatibility and stability with Windows native programs. That's why it includes both WINE and Proton in the system default settings.

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Nobara Linux also provides optimization-related patches for WINE to ensure that it runs smoothly without any additional configuration. That said, you can expect this distro to work excellently with any Windows-based game as long as it's compatible with Proton.

6. Use AppArmor instead of SELinux

SELinux is one of the most difficult parts of maintaining a Fedora installation. Essentially, this is a powerful security framework that gives you the ability to fine-tune how programs can access processes and hardware devices. While it is useful for system administrators and power users, understanding it can be difficult and not very straightforward.

To solve that problem, Nobara abandoned SELinux and replaced it with AppArmor as its primary security framework. This is a more user-friendly way to control the system's security policies. For example, you can run sudo aa-status to quickly see the current AppArmor settings for your machine.

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7. Contains various kernel optimizations

Nobara Linux also outperforms Fedora by providing major kernel optimizations for its own kernel binary. For example, the Nobara Linux kernel contains both Zen performance patches and additional support for many laptop models.

Not only that, Nobara also patched its kernel to support proper DRM for both Nvidia and AMD graphics cards as well as device-agnostic RGB drivers for third-party devices. This makes Nobara an attractive option for users who want a performance-tuned Linux kernel but don't want to compile their own custom binaries.

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Overall, Nobara Linux is a great alternative to Fedora for both new and power users. It contains a lot of performance-oriented features while improving the overall user-friendliness of the entire distribution.

Marvin Fry

Update 28 December 2023