Fedora Linux 44 is here, and it brings several important updates for the Atomic Desktop variants—Silverblue, Kinoite, Sway Atomic, Budgie Atomic, and COSMIC Atomic. Whether you're a long-time user or new to these immutable desktops, understanding these changes can help you transition smoothly. This Q&A covers the most significant modifications, from the move to a new issue tracker and unified documentation to the removal of legacy FUSE 2 libraries and its impact on AppImages and Plasma Vaults. Each question dives into the details, offering practical advice for upgrading and migrating. Let's explore what's new.
What are the main changes for all Atomic Desktops in Fedora 44?
This release introduces several cross-variant modifications that affect every Atomic Desktop. First, the issue tracker has moved to the new Fedora forge, providing a central hub for filing bugs that impact all variants. If your issue is specific to a desktop environment, it's better to use each SIG's own tracker, as detailed in the atomic-desktops organization's README. Second, a unified documentation site is now live on the new forge, bringing together help for all variants in one place. However, translations from the old site haven't been migrated yet—volunteers are needed to re-translate content once the setup is ready. Finally, support for the legacy pkla Polkit rules format has been dropped. This is unlikely to affect most users, but if you rely on custom pkla files, you'll need to convert them to the modern JavaScript-based rules.
Why was the issue tracker moved to the new Fedora forge?
The move consolidates coordination across all Atomic Desktop variants. Previously, issues were scattered across different platforms, making it hard to track cross-cutting problems. The new Fedora forge now hosts the universal tracker, making it the best place to report bugs that affect multiple variants (e.g., Silverblue and Kinoite). It also streamlines collaboration between SIGs. For environment-specific issues—like a Budgie bug or a COSMIC glitch—you should still use the respective desktop SIG's tracker. Links to these are available in the README on the atomic-desktops organization's GitHub or Forge page. This change aligns with Fedora's broader move to the forge, which improves integration with the packaging and development workflow.
What's new with the unified documentation for Atomic Desktops?
The long-awaited unified documentation is finally live! It combines guides, troubleshooting tips, and configuration references for all Atomic Desktop variants under one roof, hosted on the new Fedora forge. This means you no longer have to hop between variant-specific wikis. However, there's a catch: the old translations were not migrated to the new site. Once the translation infrastructure is ready on the forge, the community will need to re-translate everything from scratch. The good news is that content transfer is mostly copy-paste work, and this time, translations need to be done only once—not separately for each variant. See the tracking issue atomic-desktops#10 for progress. If you're bilingual, consider helping to bring the docs to a wider audience.
Why was FUSE version 2 removed, and what does it mean?
FUSE version 2 has been deprecated and unmaintained for years, so it has been removed from Fedora Atomic Desktops 44. This change primarily affects two things: AppImages that rely on an old runtime using FUSE 2, and legacy backends for Plasma Vault (specifically EncFS and CryFS). For AppImages, if you have any that stop working after the upgrade, you can check their runtime version (see the discussion thread for methods). For Plasma Vault on Kinoite, users of EncFS or CryFS must migrate to the gocryptfs backend, which is the only maintained option. KDE upstream no longer recommends the older backends due to security and maintenance issues. The removal also extends to the fuse-encfs and cryfs packages—if you need them temporarily, you can layer them with rpm-ostree install to access data, then migrate and reset layers.
How does the removal of FUSE 2 affect AppImages, and what should I do?
Some AppImages still ship with an old runtime that depends on FUSE 2 libraries being available on the host. After upgrading to Fedora 44, those AppImages may fail to run. To check if an AppImage uses the old runtime, inspect it with tools mentioned in the Fedora Discussion thread—look for strings indicating an old AppImage version. If you encounter issues, the recommended steps are: First, search for a Flatpak version of the application and try that instead. Many popular apps are available as Flatpaks and work perfectly on Atomic Desktops. Second, report the problem upstream to the AppImage developer and encourage them to adopt a newer runtime. This helps the entire Linux ecosystem move away from deprecated dependencies. If you can't wait, you can temporarily re-add FUSE 2 by layering the fuse2 package with rpm-ostree install fuse2, but this is not a long-term solution.
What changes were made to Plasma Vault backends on Kinoite, and how do I migrate?
KDE has discontinued support for EncFS and CryFS backends in Plasma Vault because they rely on FUSE 2, which is now removed. If you were using one of these backends, your vaults will become inaccessible after upgrading to Fedora 44. The only maintained backend is gocryptfs. To migrate, you should create a new vault using gocryptfs and copy your data from the old vault before upgrading. If you've already upgraded and need access, you can layer the required packages (cryfs or fuse-encfs) using rpm-ostree install <package> to mount the old vault temporarily. Then move your files to a new gocryptfs vault. Once done, reset the layered packages with rpm-ostree reset. This process ensures your data is secure and compatible with future updates. Always backup important data before migrating.
What is the change regarding legacy pkla Polkit rules?
Fedora 44 drops support for the legacy 'pkla' format for Polkit rules. This format was used in older versions of polkit to define authorization policies. It has been superseded by the modern JavaScript-based rules format, which is more flexible and maintainable. Most users won't notice this change because typical desktop environments and applications already use the modern format. However, if you had custom pkla files (e.g., to allow specific users to run commands without a password), those will no longer be honored. You'll need to convert them to the new JavaScript syntax. Check the Fedora Change documentation for details on the conversion process. This cleanup aligns with upstream's deprecation plan, improving security and consistency across the system.