Getting started with Fedora

By default Linux creates the root user account. It is the highest level account on the system and is used for administration. It gives the user full permission to modify files, and start and stop critical programs (called processes) on the system. It is a security feature in Linux that limits normal user privileges only to those required for normal tasks.

For security reasons, the root account is disabled by default on Fedora Workstation. Instead, the default user will be added to the group 'wheel'. Members of this group are able to acquire root permissions using the 'sudo' command. Whenever this user wants to make a system-wide change, such as stopping a fundamental program like the web server (httpd), the corresponding command is preceded by a sudo, e.g. sudo systemctl stop httpd. The sudo then asks for the password of the user, not of root.

Use the Terminal program to perform command line tasks. Benefits to using the command line include the ability to give multiple commands on one line, but it requires greater knowledge of Linux commands. Documentation published on this site, as well as various tutorials and guides on the internet and elsewhere, often makes use of these terminal commands.

GNOME, Fedora’s default window manager, is the underlying graphical user environment. It provides a visual front-end using a desktop analogy. When you log into Fedora, GNOME is started with a predefined set of icons and menus on the desktop.

Mozilla Firefox is the default web browsing application. It is accessed through Activities  Firefox. Firefox is also available on other platforms such as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.

There is no longer a default email client bundled with Fedora, but you can install one by searching in Software.

You can choose Evolution. Use it to access e-mail, organize contacts, manage tasks, and schedule calendars. Evolution is similar in functionality to Microsoft Outlook.

Another choice for an email client is Thunderbird, developed by the Mozilla Foundation. It is a popular email client on multiple operating systems. It is used for handling email and newsgroups without the calendaring functions that Evolution provides.

The Pidgin application is popularly used for instant messaging. The instant messaging protocols that Pidgin supports include MSN, AIM, IRC, and Yahoo. You can install Pidgin using Software.

Fedora provides built-in support for sound cards and playing music CDs. Applications to import audio from CDs and manage music files are available. Extracting audio from CDs and storing it in compressed format on the hard drive is one way to manage a music collection.

To extract, or rip, the music from a CD, use the Sound Juicer program. You can install it by searching for "Sound Juicer" in Software. By default, Sound Juicer encodes music files to the free and open OGG Vorbis format. Once music files are generated, use Rhythmbox to manage and play tracks. In addition to playing audio file formats, Rhythmbox is also used for streaming media from Internet radio stations.

The office suite included by default in Fedora is LibreOffice, a well-known and mature collection of software. LibreOffice, includes a word processor (Write), a spreadsheet program (Calc), and presentation software (Impress). A simple image editing package (Draw) and a relational database (Base) are also available for optional installation.