Fedora 31 Highlights: GNOME 3.34, Docker Replacement, 32‑bit Drop & Upgrade Tips

Fedora 31 Changes and New Features

Fedora 31 was released six months after Fedora 30, bringing visual updates and several underlying improvements.

GNOME 3.34 Update

Fedora Workstation now ships with GNOME 3.34, offering new background and lock‑screen wallpaper controls, easier creation of application folders, and overall visual and performance enhancements.

For a complete list of GNOME 3.34 features, refer to the GNOME.org documentation or the Fedora‑specific GNOME blog post.

Dropping 32‑bit Support

Fedora 31 no longer provides bootable 32‑bit (i686) images and has fully dropped support for the 32‑bit kernel. Popular 32‑bit applications such as Steam and Wine will still run, but users should not expect robust 32‑bit support.

Docker Package Removed

The Docker package has been removed from Fedora 31. It is replaced by the upstream moby‑engine package, which includes both the Docker CLI and Docker Engine.

Fedora now recommends using podman, a container engine compatible with Cgroups v2 and offering a Docker‑compatible CLI. Fedora 31 defaults to Cgroups v2.

Updated Packages

Several core packages receive major version upgrades in this release, including:

Glibc 2.30

Node.js 12

Python 3 (Python 2 is reaching end‑of‑life)

Fedora Flavors and Hardware Support

All Fedora flavors—Workstation, Server, IoT, Astronomy, etc.—receive updates. Hardware support has been expanded for several System‑on‑Chip platforms such as Rock64, RockPro 64, and other similar chips.

Other Improvements

Additional behind‑the‑scenes changes include disabling root password login over SSH and other security hardenings.

How to Get Fedora 31

Fedora 31 will be supported for the next 13 months, just like previous releases. Fedora 29 will reach end‑of‑life in about a month, so users of Fedora 29 should plan to upgrade. Users of Fedora 30 are also encouraged to upgrade soon, preferably after a few weeks of bug‑fix releases.

Upgrades can be performed directly from an existing Fedora installation via the Software Center, which will notify you of the new version, or by downloading the ISO from the official site and performing a fresh install.

Conclusion

Fedora 31 offers a solid upgrade path with notable UI improvements, updated development runtimes, and a shift toward modern container tooling. The author plans to share personal experiences with Fedora 31 in a follow‑up post.