How Korora fits my workstation like a glove

I used to be a huge Microsoft fan, completely unaware of operating systems except for Microsoft Windows. It did not take me long to realize that I ended up having troubles with my Dell Studio 1558 quite often and to re-setup a Windows machine is far too scary then it might sound, especially with a single hard-drive partition which makes you not only transfer the entire hard-drive full of data but also wastes a lot of game time. I found a solution to this problem: I could use Linux as my primary operating system and have a small Windows partition on the hard-drive where I could sandbox my games.

Since the last three years or so, I've been using various Linux distributions and have been re-setting up the machine every few months with relative ease as and when I saw a need to try out a new distribution.

It's not Ubuntu (or Ubuntu-based)

Like most of the newbies to Linux, I started with Ubuntu (13.04 when I first installed it as my primary operating system). I've tried the default Ubuntu (with Unity), Ubuntu GNOME, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Linux Mint, LMDE, Net Runner, etc. and Zorin.

Though Ubuntu is great, it makes me feel like a Linux noob every time I install it on a system. Besides, I often had my apt sources broken. Korora is not at all Ubuntu or even Debian. Based on Fedora (indirectly Red Hat), it is a completely different and fresh echo system for Ubuntu users.

Defaults suit my style

The defaults that come with Korora are better than most of the Linux distributions I've tried. Though it is directly based on Fedora (and as many people say it is just a matter of a few minutes to turn Fedora into Korora), it has the right settings by default. You would find all the repositories there right out of the box.

Out of the box applications & drivers

With all the right repositories included since the start, it also comes with all the required drivers (Laptop users, we have the Wireless drivers before you even trigger a distro-sync, which is like a sudo apt-get upgrade in Ubuntu (Debian) terms).

It comes with almost all the applications you would need on a generic computer, including Libre-Office, GIMP, VLC, Audacity, Shotwell and err... even GIT.

GNOME is well represented

Installing GNOME on a Linux system always is followed by that one step: adding the GNOME extensions that I can't live without. Korora has it there for me right when it boots for the first time. It also has a lot of visual tweaks including nice fonts, colors, and improved controls.

DNF is awesome

DNF (Dandified yum) has replaced Yum as the default package manager on Fedora since version 22 and hence on Korara 22. It is smarter, quicker and a lot friendly. It is easy enough to get started with and would surprise you with its smart stuff all the time. Also, you do not have to do a sudo apt-get update every now and then: it manages it all by itself.

Needs fewer system reboots

For me personally, Korora has had a few extra features. With Linux, I've always had problems with frequent WiFi drops. For anything task needing internet and lasting more than even fifteen minutes, ethernet cable was the only option. With Korora, every time my WiFi drops, I just have to toggle it ON and OFF and it works again, without any reboots required. I'm not sure whether this trick would have worked with any other Linux distribution (that I did not think of trying out with), but why would I want to try something else now that I have Korora?

Conclusion

Korora seems to be the Linux distribution that I have been looking for almost since I started using Linux. It has great support for packages as everything that is an RPM works here, I found it a lot more stable as compared to all the Ubuntu's I have used. I hope I do not find something better, as I'm not planning to re-setup my PC anytime soon :).