Fedora Kinoite vs. Silverblue: My decision after testing both stable Linux distros

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Highlights taken by ZDNET

• Silverblue and Kinoite are atomic/immutable Linux distributions.
• Silverblue uses GNOME, while Kinoite uses KDE Plasma.
• Both are highly secure and reliable desktop applications.

Fixed Linux distributions are becoming more and more popular. Given the increased vulnerability found, any additional security you can get is a bonus.

For those who don’t know, a fixed Linux distribution is one that places certain directories, such as /usr, /var, and /etc, as read-only so they can’t be changed. That’s a good thing.

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Fedora Linux developers understand this and have developed a distribution called Silverblue. In that distribution came Kinoite.

What is the difference?

As I said, the two are not interchangeable, so the basics are the same. The difference lies on the desktop side. Let’s dive in and see which one of these suits you best.

What is Fedora Kinoite?

Fedora Kinoite is an atomic/immutable Fedora distribution dedicated to KDE Plasma. You get the same immutable core (and atomic updates), but with a more traditional desktop environment. Of course, KDE Plasma is much more than a “traditional” desktop. After all, this is Linux, and Linux doesn’t always follow the rules.

Why KDE Plasma?

One of the reasons why KDE Plasma is so popular is that it doesn’t require users from Windows to think too hard to work with the desktop. There’s the bottom panel, the desktop menu, the system tray, the quick launch icons… all the things you’re used to on the desktop.

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KDE Plasma is still Linux, so it’s highly customizable. Without much effort, you can make the desktop look and feel the way you want. Or, you can leave it as it is and enjoy all the goodness that comes with the default settings.

I could end it there, just by saying that Fedora is not compatible with the KDE Plasma desktop, but that’s not exciting.

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Let me talk about why I think KDE Plasma and the stable Fedora make a good pair.

When you open KDE Discover (the KDE Plasma app store), you can search for any apps you’d like to install. But this is where it can get tricky (especially if you’re curious).

Let’s say you want to install LibreOffice. You can search for LibreOffice and click the install button. The installation will take place, even without you typing your user password. If you look closely at the settings, however, you will find that Flathub is not enabled by default, so LibreOffice is installed from the Fedora repositories. That piqued my curiosity, so I opened a terminal window and typed:

rpm -qa libreoffice

Nothing.

Next, I used the list option with Flatpak like this:

flatpak list

There was: org.libreoffice.LibreOffice.

Although Flathub was not enabled by default, KDE Discover installed Flatpak applications from the Fedora repository. Then I downloaded the RPM files to install LibreOffice, and found that /usr/share/rpm was locked.

Then I enabled Flathub in KDE Discover > Settings > Add Flathub. Once that is taken care of, the list of available apps has grown significantly.

Because this is an immutable distribution, applications must be installed in containers (such as Flatpak); otherwise, those directories that are read-only will need to be included with write permissions, thus defeating the purpose of immutability.

What this does is give you a much safer KDE Plasma experience than it would otherwise be. If you’ve ever compared Flatpak apps to native apps (like Fedora .rpm), you know that 1) installation takes longer and 2) apps don’t launch as quickly.

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Does extra collateral cost extra time? Of course it is. And because KDE Plasma is already a fast and efficient desktop, the extra time is unnecessary.

Who is Fedora Kinoite?

Fedora Kinoite is for anyone who wants a KDE Plasma desktop but can also enjoy the added benefit of a consistent distribution. Easy peasy.

Oh, but there’s more. Because of how non-modifiable Fedora distributions are built, you can do what’s called a “reconfiguration,” which allows you to switch between versions. Let’s say you’d like to try the COSMIC desktop. You can do that with the command:

rpm-ostree rebase fedora:fedora/44/x86_64/cosmic-atomic

The process takes a little time, but it’s very cool. When it finishes, reboot with command systemctl restartand you will be greeted with the COSMIC desktop.

But we’re talking about KDE Plasma, so you might not want to hold back until you give the default desktop a lot of time.

What is Fedora Silverblue?

Silverblue is to GNOME what Kinoite is to KDE Plasma. However, Kinoite is not the basis of Silverblue. However, you can replace Silverblue in KDE Plasma if you want, but if you want to do that, just go with Kinoite.

Confused though?

Don’t be like that. All you have to do is remember that Fedora Silverblue is an atomic/immutable version with the GNOME desktop.

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Why GNOME?

If you prefer your desktops to be small and out of the way, then GNOME is what you’re looking for. GNOME is not for everyone. If you like the standard Windows layout, you’ll find GNOME problematic. Yes, you can add GNOME extensions to make it Windows-like (or Windows-like if you prefer), but GNOME is all about simplicity, and it does that very well.

Silverblue enjoys all the bells and whistles available in Kinoite, so you get a consistent file system for protection and atomic updates (which ensures that if there is a problem with an update, the program will not continue, so Linux always works).

There is one difference. With Silverblue, you don’t need to enable Flathub support in the app store. When you go to install an app, you can choose between Fedora and Flathub repositories out of the box. That’s an important difference, especially for those who don’t want to take the extra steps to add repositories to Flathub.

Who is Silverblue?

With Silverblue, you get a static file system, atomic optimization, the GNOME desktop (and everything that comes with it), and Flathub repositories enabled by default.

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To that end, Silverblue is for those who want a small desktop that gets out of their way, want the added security and reliability of an atomic/immutable OS, and don’t want to set up an app store to pull apps from Flathub’s repositories.

Which one is right for you?

Ultimately, it boils down to this: Do you want the KDE Plasma desktop or the GNOME desktop? Make that choice, and you’ll know exactly which version is right for you. Whichever way you go, you’ll get the same reliable/secure OS with the speed and power of Fedora Linux.