Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 12, 2026

Korora (operating system)

Korora was a remix of the Fedora Linux distribution. Originally Kororaa was a binary installation method for Gentoo Linux which aimed for easy installation of a Gentoo system by using install scripts instead of manual configuration. The name derives from the Māori word kororā – the little penguin.

Last revised
Aug 12, 2026
Read time
≈ 4 min
Length
931 w
Citations
36
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Kororā
DeveloperChristopher Smart and Ian Firns1
OS familyLinux (Unix-like)
Working stateDiscontinued
Source modelOpen source
Latest releaseKorora 26 / 16 September 2017 (2017-09-16)2
Update methodDNF (PackageKit)
Package managerRPM Package Manager
Supported platformsi686, AMD64
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
Default
user interface		KDE Plasma Desktop, GNOME, Xfce, Cinnamon, MATE
LicenseVarious
Official websitekororaproject.org

Korora (previously Kororaa) was a remix of the Fedora Linux distribution. Originally Kororaa was a binary installation method for Gentoo Linux which aimed for easy installation of a Gentoo system by using install scripts instead of manual configuration. The name derives from the Māori word kororā – the little penguin.

History

Korora was started by Christopher Smart as a method to quickly reproduce a Gentoo Linux installation on multiple desktop machines. Smart also intended that Korora be used to quickly demonstrate the power of Gentoo Linux to users critical of 'compile times'. On November 7, 2007, Smart announced that he was discontinuing his work on the project, and that there would be no new versions of Korora.

The introduction of the Korora XGL Live CD was intended to demonstrate the capabilities of Novell's Xgl and Compiz.

On December 23, 2010, Smart announced rebirth of Korora as a Fedora remix.3

On May 2, 2013, Korora 18 was released,4 featuring a revised name spelled with only one A and a new logo.5

On May 16, 2018, Korora stopped its development.6

Kororaa XGL Live CD

Screenshot of the Xgl abilities of the Kororaa Live CD source ↗

In March 2006, a Korora based Live CD was released, preconfigured with Xgl capabilities. The live CD supports NVIDIA, ATI and Intel graphics cards, and the latest version (0.3) comes with both K Desktop Environment 3 and GNOME.

Development hiatus and restart

On November 7, 2007, Smart announced that development on Korora would be ended, and no further versions would be released;7 the reasons given were that:

  • Sabayon Linux already serves a purpose as a binary Gentoo distribution
  • Gentoo already comes with a GUI installer
  • Compiz is already installed by default in the MATE-edition.
  • Korora could not compete with other distributions which include non-free drivers by default.
  • the weight of the project was too much for a single developer.

On December 23, 2010, Smart announced the restart of Korora with a release of the Fedora-based version of the distro:

I know that you'll be looking for something Linux related to do over your Christmas holidays and New Year, so I've just released the first installable live DVD beta for testing. The final release will be Korora 14 (derived from Fedora 14), code-named 'Nemo'. As with the original Korora, it's based on KDE. Essentially, Korora has been reborn as a Fedora remix, inspired by Rahul Sundaram's Omega GNOME remix. It aims to provide all general computing uses out of the box and it aims to include software packages that most users will want.

Version history

Version Release date Underlying System
Beta 2 R1 2005-12-12 Gentoo
XGL Live CD 0.18 2006-03-08
XGL Live CD 0.29 2006-04-06
XGL Live CD 0.3 2006-10-04
14 Beta 2010-12-25 Fedora
14 Beta 2 2011-02-11
14 Beta 3 2011-03-02
14 Beta 4 2011-03-22
14 Beta 5 2011-03-31
14 Beta 6 2011-04-22
Kororaa Linux 14 2011-05-31
15 Beta 2011-07-16
15 Beta 2 2011-07-20
Kororaa Linux 1510 2011-09-20
Kororaa Linux 15.1 2011-10-20
Kororaa Linux 161112 2011-12-16
Kororaa Linux 1713 2012-07-16
Korora 18 2013-05-024
Korora 191415 2013-07-0216
Korora 19.1 2013-10-0817
Korora 20181920 2014-01-1021
Korora 21 Beta 2015-01-0322
Korora 2123 2015-02-0724
Korora 2225 2015-08-021
Korora 23262728 2016-02-0729
Korora 2430 2016-07-1931
Korora 25 2016-12-0732
Korora 2633 2017-09-162
References

References

  1. csmart. "Korora 22 (Selina) - Available". Archived from the original on 2015-08-04. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  2. ozjd. "Korora 26 is Here!". Archived from the original on 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  3. "Kororaa is back". Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  4. DistroWatch. "Development Release: Korora 18 Beta (DistroWatch.com News)". Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  5. "Introducing the Korora Project". 14 February 2013. Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  6. "Sad News! Development Stopped for Korora Linux - It's FOSS". It's FOSS. 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  7. "Korora Project - No more Kororaa". Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  8. "Kororaa XGL LiveCD". Tux Machines.
  9. "Kororaa XGL - Part 0.2: The Harddrive Installer". Tux Machines.
  10. "Kororaa Linux - The best Fedora remix available". Dedoimedo.
  11. Watson, J.A. (20 December 2011). "Kororaa Linux 16 - A Fedora++ Distribution". ZDNet. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  12. "DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 439". 16 January 2012.
  13. "DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 472". 3 September 2012.
  14. "Korora 19 review – Bruce". LinuxBSDos.com.
  15. "DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 521". 19 August 2013.
  16. DistroWatch. "Distribution Release: Korora 19 (DistroWatch.com News)". Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  17. DistroWatch. "Distribution Release: Korora 19.1 (DistroWatch.com News)". Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  18. "Korora 20 (Peach) hand-on: Even better than I expected". ZDNet.
  19. "DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 543". 27 January 2014.
  20. "Korora 20 Peach review - Fuzzy". Dedoimedo.
  21. firnsy. "Korora Project". Archived from the original on 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  22. "Korora 21 (Darla) Beta - Now Available". Archived from the original on 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  23. "DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 600". 9 March 2015.
  24. "Korora 21 (Darla) - Now Available". Archived from the original on 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  25. "Korora 22 (Gnome3) Review: Works Right Out Of the Box & Includes Lots of Apps". Hectic Geek. Archived from the original on 2018-08-08.
  26. "If You Like Fedora, You'll Love Korora | Reviews". LinuxInsider.
  27. "Korora 23 Gnome - Fedora on steroids".
  28. "DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 651". 7 March 2016.
  29. csmart. "Korora 23 (Coral) - Available". Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
  30. "DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 676". 29 August 2016.
  31. ozjd. "Korora 24 (Sheldon) - Available". Archived from the original on 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  32. ozjd. "Korora 25 (Gurgle) - is Ready". Archived from the original on 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  33. "Korora 26 Bloat - More is less or less is more?". Dedoimedo.
External links