Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

CentOS

13.5K
8.9K
+ 1
53
Fedora

593
500
+ 1
89
Ubuntu

77.2K
56.7K
+ 1
468

Centos vs Fedora vs Ubuntu: What are the differences?

Key differences between Centos, Fedora, and Ubuntu

CentOS, Fedora, and Ubuntu are three popular Linux distributions, each with its own unique features and characteristics. Understanding the key differences between these distributions can help users make an informed decision about which one to choose for their specific needs.

  1. Package Management: CentOS and Fedora utilize the RPM package manager, while Ubuntu uses the Debian package manager. This difference in package management systems affects the way software is installed, updated, and removed on each distribution.

  2. Release Schedule: CentOS is known for its long-term stability and is based on the corresponding Enterprise Linux distribution. Its releases are infrequent but have long-term support. Fedora, on the other hand, follows a rapid development cycle and provides regular updates and new features. Ubuntu falls somewhere in between, with both LTS (Long-Term Support) and non-LTS versions available, offering a balance between stability and timely updates.

  3. Community Involvement: Fedora and Ubuntu are community-driven distributions with active communities contributing to their development and support. CentOS, on the other hand, is primarily backed by a commercial entity, focusing on stability and security while relying on the upstream development of its Enterprise Linux counterpart.

  4. Desktop Environments: Fedora and Ubuntu come in different flavors supporting various desktop environments, such as GNOME, KDE, Xfce, and others. CentOS, on the other hand, is typically used as a server distribution and does not provide official spins or support for specific desktop environments.

  5. Out-of-the-Box Software: Ubuntu stands out for its focus on user-friendliness, providing a wide range of pre-installed software and drivers to enhance the out-of-the-box experience for users. CentOS and Fedora, being more server-oriented distributions, offer a more minimal installation and require additional setup for software and codec support.

  6. Security Updates: Ubuntu is often praised for its prompt security updates, with a dedicated security team that focuses on keeping the system secure and protected. CentOS and Fedora also provide security updates, but the frequency and release schedule may vary compared to Ubuntu.

In summary, CentOS emphasizes stability and long-term support, Fedora offers a bleeding-edge experience with frequent updates and new features, while Ubuntu strikes a balance between stability and regular updates. The choice between these distributions ultimately depends on the specific requirements and preferences of the user.

Decisions about CentOS, Fedora, and Ubuntu
Michaël SCHERER
Fullstack Dev at Synovo Group · | 10 upvotes · 40.9K views
Chose
UbuntuUbuntu
over
WindowsWindows

Ubuntu always let people do what they want to do, it pushes its users to know what they are doing, what they want and helps them learn what they ignore.

Ubuntu is simple, works out-of-the-box after installation and has a incredibly huge community behind.

Ubuntu is lightweight and open, in the way, that the user has access to free AND efficient applications (most of the time, without ads) and, even if learning its folder structure is challenging, once done, you are really able to call yourself "someone who knows what is in your computer".

Windows, in comparison, is heavy, tends to make decision for you and always enable tracking application by default. grr

It has a simple user interface, of course, but on the stability point of view, it is hard to compete with something simpler (even with less features).

Personal preference : I prefer something simple that works 99% of the time, than a full-featured auto-magical system that works 50% of the time (and ask if the good version of the driver is really installed...)

See more
Dimelo Waterson

Coming from a Debian-based Linux background, using the Ubuntu base image for my Docker containers was a natural choice. However, the overhead, even on the impressively-slimmed Hub images, was hard to justify. Seeking to create images that were "just right" in size, without unused packages or dependencies, I made the switch to Alpine.

Alpine's modified BusyBox has a surprising amount of functionality, and the package repository contains plenty of muslc-safe versions of commonly-used packages. It's been a valuable exercise in doing more with less, and, as Alpine is keen to point out, an image with fewer packages makes for a more sustainable environment with a smaller attack surface.

My only regret is that Alpine's documentation leaves a lot to be desired.

See more
Michael Fogassy

I have used libvirt in every Linux hypervisor deployment I do. I frequently deploy RHEL or CentOS hypervisor servers with libvirt as the VMM of choice. It's installable via the guided setup for EL-based Linux distros, it uses minimal resources and overhead, integrates seamlessly with KVM and Qemu, and provides powerful CLI for advanced users and experts looking for automated deployments, or via VirtManager in your favorite Linux desktop environment. Best used with Linux VMs, it allows KVM and QEMU direct hardware virtualization access.

See more
Jaron Viëtor

Using Arch Linux for our systems and servers means getting the latest technology and fixes early, as well as early warnings for potential future breakage in other (slower) distributions. It's been easy to maintain, easy to automate, and most importantly: easy to debug.

While our software target is every recent Linux distribution, using Arch internally ensured that everyone understands the full system without any knowledge gaps.

See more

Ubuntu is much more faster over Windows and helps to get software and other utilities easier and within a short span of time compared to Windows.

Ubuntu helps to get robustness and resiliency over Windows. Ubuntu runs faster than Windows on every computer that I have ever tested. LibreOffice (Ubuntu's default office suite) runs much faster than Microsoft Office on every computer that I have ever tested.

See more
Jerome/Zen Quah
Chose
UbuntuUbuntu
over
CentOSCentOS

Global familiarity, free, widely used, and as a debian distro feels more comfortable when rapidly switching between local macOS and remote command lines.

CentOS does boast quite a few security/stability improvements, however as a RHEL-based distro, differs quite significantly in the command line and suffers from slightly less frequent package updates. (Could be a good or bad thing depending on your use-case and if it is public facing)

See more
Simon Aronsson
Developer Advocate at k6 / Load Impact · | 7 upvotes · 267.9K views

At the moment of the decision, my desktop was the primary place I did work. Due to this, I can't have it blow up on me while I work. While Arch is interesting and powerful, Ubuntu offers (at least for me) a lot more stability and lets me focus on other things than maintaining my own OS installation.

See more
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of CentOS
Pros of Fedora
Pros of Ubuntu
  • 16
    Stable
  • 9
    Free to use
  • 9
    Reliable
  • 6
    Has epel packages
  • 6
    Good support
  • 5
    Great Community
  • 2
    I've moved from gentoo to centos
  • 22
    Great for developers
  • 10
    Great integration with system tools
  • 10
    Represents the future of rhel/centos
  • 9
    Good release schedule
  • 7
    Reliable
  • 6
    Fast
  • 5
    Docker integration
  • 4
    Has SeLinux
  • 3
    Latest packages
  • 3
    Updated with Bleeding-edge software
  • 3
    Great for ops teams
  • 3
    Awesome community
  • 2
    Python distribution
  • 2
    Complies with International Standard
  • 230
    Free to use
  • 96
    Easy setup for testing discord bot
  • 57
    Gateway Linux Distro
  • 54
    Simple interface
  • 9
    Don't need driver installation in most cases
  • 6
    Open Source
  • 6
    Many active communities
  • 3
    Software Availability
  • 3
    Easy to custom
  • 2
    Many flavors/distros based on ubuntu
  • 1
    Lightweight container base OS
  • 1
    Great OotB Linux Shell Experience

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of CentOS
Cons of Fedora
Cons of Ubuntu
  • 1
    Yum is a horrible package manager
  • 3
    Bugs get fixed slowly from kernel side
  • 2
    Much less support from Wiki
  • 2
    Systemd
  • 2
    Boring
  • 1
    Less packages in official repository
  • 1
    A bit complicated
  • 1
    Learning curve for new users
  • 0
    Slightly difficult to install for beginners
  • 5
    Demanding system requirements
  • 4
    Adds overhead and unnecessary complexity over Debian
  • 2
    Snapd installed by default
  • 1
    Systemd

Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

What is CentOS?

The CentOS Project is a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem. For users, we offer a consistent manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For open source communities, we offer a solid, predictable base to build upon, along with extensive resources to build, test, release, and maintain their code.

What is Fedora?

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form. Fedora is the largest of many free software creations of the Fedora Project. Because of its predominance, the word "Fedora" is often used interchangeably to mean both the Fedora Project and the Fedora operating system.

What is Ubuntu?

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

What companies use CentOS?
What companies use Fedora?
What companies use Ubuntu?

Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

What tools integrate with CentOS?
What tools integrate with Fedora?
What tools integrate with Ubuntu?

Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

Blog Posts

JavaScriptGitHubGit+33
20
2084
What are some alternatives to CentOS, Fedora, and Ubuntu?
Debian
Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.
Amazon Linux
The Amazon Linux AMI is a supported and maintained Linux image provided by Amazon Web Services for use on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2).
openSUSE
The openSUSE project is a worldwide effort that promotes the use of Linux everywhere. openSUSE creates one of the world's best Linux distributions, working together in an open, transparent and friendly manner as part of the worldwide Free and Open Source Software community.
Linux
A clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.
iOS
It is the operating system that presently powers many of the mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. It is designed to make your iPhone and iPad experience even faster, more responsive, and more delightful.
See all alternatives