Fedora 42, which was released in April 2025, has just reached end of life. This was supposed to happen on May 27, but got pushed back a day to May 28 due to a “slight delay.” This means that your Fedora 42 installations will receive no more updates of any kind, including security updates or security announcements.
Due to this, all Fedora 42 users must upgrade to Fedora 43, which will get updates for one month after the release of Fedora 45. If you are running the Workstation version of Fedora 42, you should be able to go to the Software Center and head to the Updates tab, where you should be offered the upgrade to Fedora 43.
If you’re not familiar with Fedora, it’s quite a large Linux distribution that goes head-to-head with Ubuntu. It is stable for desktop users but focuses on the latest stable software. Red Hat also uses Fedora as a testing ground for super-stable software that eventually ends up in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
Fedora usually gets two major versions per year, which users are expected to keep up with via in-place upgrades. Each version is supported until one month after the next plus one release. So if you take Fedora 42, it was supported through Fedora 43, then hit the end of life one month after Fedora 44 arrived.
This is in stark contrast to Ubuntu, which maintains two upgrade tracks, one for the Long Term Support (LTS) releases and one for the interim upgrades that are made optionally available every six months. Most Ubuntu users get the LTS versions and then remain on that for years at a time before upgrading. The main downside to this is that you might not always get the most cutting-edge software that Fedora gets.
So, if you are still on Fedora 42, now is the time to upgrade. If it only lets you go to Fedora 43, it might be worth taking the jump to Fedora 44 after completing the first upgrade.
4 Comments
Load the comments and join the conversation!
Read the comments, ask the editors questions, show respect and join the conversation.