Fedora Workstation has become an easy-to-use, well-supported version of Linux. If you just want an operating system for your computer that shows you some of the best of what free and open-source software has to offer, Fedora Linux is an easy recommendation.

But there are some areas where new users may encounter some friction. Why do some video files fail to load? Where are all the apps? risiOS is a Fedora-based alternative distribution that takes care of most of these issues for you. For some, that makes risiOS an even easier recommendation.

What Is risiOS?

risiOS is a relatively young distro based on Fedora Linux. The project was born in America's Pacific Northwest, with the website describing risiOS as a "Seattle-based OS you can trust."

In a nutshell, risiOS utilizes the GNOME desktop with Fedora underpinnings to provide a highly customizable experience that's easy to set up with minimal technical knowledge.

Support for theming and extensions comes built-in. There's a "store" for web app versions of software that isn't natively available for Linux. There are scripts that can make gaming-related tweaks to your machine without you having to scour Reddit or ProtonDB to discover these tweaks yourself. Many of the things you might do right after installing Fedora have been done for you.

In a sense, risiOS does for Fedora what Ubuntu did for Debian and, later, what Linux Mint did for Ubuntu. Each took the base distro and added features that made it easier for people to use without certain technical knowledge. But like with Ubuntu and Linux Mint, you don't need to be a newcomer to appreciate what risiOS has included.

Download: risiOS

risiWelcome: The Welcome Screen

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Most Windows, macOS, and ChromeOS users are simply using the OS that came with their device. Most probably have no concept of the OS as something separate from the hardware.

By contrast, most people who use Linux have installed it themselves. They're switching over from a previous OS. And there often isn't someone at a store, school, or home to teach them how to use it. As a result, Linux needs to itself teach people how to use it. This is where a tool like risiWelcome comes in.

risiWelcome handles many of the issues you may encounter from a vanilla Fedora Linux install. risiWelcome can add the Flathub repository, so new apps are easier to find without you needing to know what Flathub or Flatpak is. It can add RPM Fusion, giving you access to additional apps and multimedia codecs that the Fedora Project can't legally ship.

risiWelcome also offers app bundles, a plus for people looking to use Linux to perform a certain task but having no idea what apps are good for the job. There are bundles for audio production, graphic design, video production, gaming, and more.

Create Web Apps With Web App Manager

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Linux is as stable and usable as the commercial operating systems many people are accustomed to, but it doesn't have many of the same apps. Many companies, quite frankly, see no point in making Linux versions of software.

Yet these days many programs are available as web apps that you use in a browser. Web apps provide a way to gain access to the software you want from other platforms on your Linux desktop. Yet most Linux distros don't make such software readily available, with you needing to create web apps yourself using an app like GNOME Web.

Web App Manager is a program born out of the Linux Mint project, but risiOS provides its own fork of the project. Web App Manager provides an easy way to create your own web app out of any website and select a suitable icon.

In the risiOS version, you can also click on a "store" button to browse from many pre-existing web apps. If you don't like GIMP, for example, a web app like Photopea may be the image editor that enables you to transition your photography workflow over to Linux.

Customize Your Desktop With risiTweaks

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risiOS doesn't look all that different from Fedora out of the box, aside from its bright and vibrant wallpaper. But one extra theme already comes preinstalled, the adw-gtk3 theme that makes legacy applications share the same look as the newer apps built with GTK 4 and libadwaita.

For more obvious theming, there's the risiTweaks app. Here you can change accent colors, a feature present on some other Linux desktop environments but not yet built into GNOME. You can change icon themes and cursor themes as well. Plus you can change your fonts.

Here you can also adjust additional mouse and keyboard options that aren't present in the main Settings app. And you can adjust window behavior. The experience is comparable to what you find in GNOME Tweaks.

risiTweaks is also your built-in tool for managing GNOME extensions. But if you want to dip into an area not common in other GNOME-based distros, head over to the risiScript tab.

risiScript

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risiScript has its own special name, but it isn't a separate tool. Found inside the risiTweaks app, risiScript provides you with automated ways to install software that you can't find in the Fedora software repositories or, at least not officially, in Flathub.

Default scripts focus on web browsers. There are scripts to install Brave, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Vivaldi. This saves you the hassle of having to go to any of their individual websites and looking for a download in a format likely foreign to Linux newcomers.

Who Is risiOS For?

If you've never used Linux before, risiOS isn't a bad place to start. So much hand-holding is done for you. Just know that if you encounter an issue unrelated to any of the apps described above, then you may have to search for Fedora-related bugs and solutions rather than risiOS.

If you like Fedora but aren't particularly fond of stock GNOME or find yourself frustrated by the lack of proprietary software, risiOS is a logical next step. You can get what you want without sacrificing all that you love about Fedora.