Will use the lightweight Qt-based desktop environment

Jan 17, 2017 02:04 GMT  ·  By

There's a new self-contained change planned for the upcoming Fedora 26 Linux distribution, due for release on June 6, 2017, namely a new flavor built around the lightweight, Qt-based LXQt desktop environment.

Red Hat's Fedora Program Manager Jan Kurik dropped the awesome news earlier on Fedora's mailing list, informing the community of the fact that the Fedora Project is considering adding a new member to the already big family of Fedora Spins, the Fedora LXQt Spin.

"Now that LXQt is much more complete, it is time to provide a live spin to our users. Therefore some effort has been made to provide a first impression and it is ready for submission as an official spin," explained Jan Kurik, Platform & Fedora Program Manager, Red Hat.

The LXQt flavor will not replace the existing LXDE spin

The default desktop environment of Fedora Linux is GNOME, which is used on the Workstation edition, but users can also download the GNU/Linux distribution with the KDE Plasma, Xfce, LXDE, MATE-Compiz, Cinnamon, and Sugar desktop environment from the official Fedora Spins website.

Users were able to install the latest LXQt desktop environment from the official software repositories since Fedora 22, but now that LXQt proved to be a more mature product, it could be included as an officially recognized spin. Best of all, it looks like it won't replace the existing Fedora LXDE spin.

That being said, we can't wait for Fedora 26 Linux to hit the streets this summer and test drive the new LXQt flavor, but development will start next month with a mass rebuild, and the Alpha release is planned for March 14, 2017. After that, we shall be able to download the Beta of Fedora 26 on May 9.

The final release of Fedora 26 is expected on June 6, 2017, but we all know that these dates can change anytime due to certain issues blocking the development process. Until then, we'll keep an eye out and let you know if the Fedora LXQt spin is becoming a reality.