Fedora Core is a Unix-like operating system based on the Linux kernel and GNU programs (a Linux distribution) developed by the community-supported Fedora project and sponsored by Red Hat. Fedora contains software distributed under several free and open source licenses and aims to be at the forefront of such technologies. Fedora is the upstream source of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Since the release of Fedora 21, three different editions have been available: Workstation, focused on the personal computer, Server and Cloud for servers, and Atomic is the edition for cloud computing. As of February 2016, Fedora has an estimated 1.2 million users, including Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel.
Fedora has a reputation for focusing on innovation, integrating new technologies and working closely with Linux communities. Making changes in the upstream rather than specifically for Fedora ensures that changes are available for all Linux distributions.
Fedora has a relatively short life cycle: each version is usually supported for at least 13 months, where version X is only supported up to 1 month after the X + 2 version and approximately 6 months between most versions. Fedora users can upgrade from one version to another without reinstalling.