# Missing software. but is available on fedora.. possible add fedora repo?

**URL:** <https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748>\
**Category:** Rocky Linux Help & Support\
**Created:** [September 8, 2024, 4:47am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748 "2024-09-08T04:47:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Marie](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/Marie)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 4:47am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/1 "2024-09-08T04:47:45Z")

</div>

Hi 🙂

I’m trying to get a working desktop setup for work (workstation)  
I missing some software and i just found out that fedora has a bit more software.

So i wonder if its possible to add a fedora repo to install some software…  
I have tried google and that gives zero working results.  
I have tried to create manually create URL’s from the fedora mirrors… but as things dont work the same in Rhel based as it does in Debian based… with the source.list… i have got stuck on ideas to try.

does any of you have the answer?  
and sadly flatpack do not have that software… it doesn’t even have a file search engine that is able to search file content in text files 🙂

Time for bed… way to late (6:45am)  
Good night folks 😴

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![label](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@label](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/label)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 4:56am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/2 "2024-09-08T04:56:59Z")

</div>

> [@Marie](#):
>
> So i wonder if its possible to add a fedora repo to install some software

> [@Marie](#):
>
> I have tried to create manually create URL’s from the fedora mirrors… but as things dont work the same in Rhel based as it does in Debian based

It’s not impossible, but you should _never_ do this. Fedora and Rocky Linux are way too diverged in terms of package sets and compatibility.

If you haven’t already, please see our [resources guide](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/rocky-linux-resources-and-you/7007). In particular, see the [Community Supported Repositories](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/rocky-linux-resources-and-you/7007#rocky-linux-repositories-and-community-supported-repositories-2) section, including our [wiki](https://wiki.rockylinux.org/rocky/repo/) that explains supported repositories.

Long and the short: Most users will enable at least the epel repository. I also suggest at a minimum rpmfusion free, which requires EPEL.

* * *

### Enable EPEL

```auto
% dnf install epel-release -y
% crb enable

```

### Enable rpmfusion free

```auto
% dnf install rpmfusion-free-release -y

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oldtux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/oldtux/32/4717_2.png) [@oldtux](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/oldtux)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 5:04am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/3 "2024-09-08T05:04:07Z")

</div>

> [@Marie](#):
>
> I missing some software and i just found out that fedora has a bit more software.

What I learnt in a few hour on RHEL that the default RHEL repos have only the very basic apps for enterprise. So it may have only Firefox browser and Libreoffice, but not Google Chrome browser and other office apps.  
So thy have a Fedora repo (enterprise quality and stability) that has those extra apps. It is called EPEL. Please read [Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) :: Fedora Docs](https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/epel/)

I might add this repo if I discovered an app is not in the default Rocky Linux repos and will give you feed back.

Maybe you need to update your system first then try agin to search for your app.

Please let me know how are things going. We are in the same boat.

I hope an expert give us feedback and comment on this post and tell us if we really need to add The Fedora EPEL repos.

Update:  
I see a reply to @Marie was posted by @label while I was replying.

I still hope an expert tell us a bit more about the contents of the default Rocky Linux repos and if it is necessary to add EPEL)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oldtux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/oldtux/32/4717_2.png) [@oldtux](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/oldtux)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 5:12am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/4 "2024-09-08T05:12:06Z")

</div>

> [@label](#):
>
> Fedora and Rocky Linux are way too diverged in terms of package sets and compatibility.

This is important. So for stability better not to add EPEL. Am I right?

Are the community supported repos stable and tested? Is it like AUR in Arch?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![label](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@label](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/label)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 5:50am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/5 "2024-09-08T05:50:28Z")

</div>

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> I hope an expert give us feedback and comment on this post and tell us if we really need to add The Fedora EPEL repos.

EPEL is not required, but most users of any Enterprise Linux distribution (RHEL and derivatives) usually have it and recommend to use it. EPEL will generally have things that the base distribution doesn’t have that ultimately enhance different parts of the experience. There’s a long list of things that are there, so even I won’t be able to provide any kind of comprehensive list.

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> I still hope an expert tell us a bit more about the contents of the default Rocky Linux repos and if it is necessary to add EPEL)

The answer will almost always be: It depends. It depends on what you plan on using your system(s) for and what packages are “mandatory” for you. For example, `weechat` is always in EPEL, and I use that on one of my systems.

The bulk of what you will see in the repositories can be determined by looking at the groups/environments.

```auto
% dnf group list
% dnf group info "name"

```

The environments will have groups within them and you can drill further down if you wish to. You can also do different kinds of dnf searches to see what’s there.

```auto
# Shows what's in baseos only
% dnf repo-pkgs baseos list

# Shows what's in epel only
% dnf repo-pkgs epel list

```

Packages can also be searched for at [pkgs.org](http://pkgs.org). See for example:

[https://rockylinux.pkgs.org/](https://rockylinux.pkgs.org/)

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> This is important. So for stability better not to add EPEL. Am I right?

EPEL is specific to Enterprise Linux distributions. Using EPEL will always be safe as they do not replace packages and there is a huge amount of compatibility. The times that it isn’t is during new minor releases, but that is a brief period of time only.

In my many years using Enterprise Linux distributions (and now building and maintaining Rocky Linux), the compatibility issues have been extremely minor or unnoticeable.

EPEL will always be a safe and compatible repository to use on Rocky Linux and RHEL.

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> Are the community supported repos stable and tested?

Common third party repositories will have their own testing of the packages they maintain and ship. The EPEL maintainers will typically do their own testing, for example.

We (this project) do not test anything in third party repositories ourselves in normal cases. With that said, a lot of the community repositories have been trusted for years because of the effort the maintainers of those repositories put into them. This is why we list them and mention them here and our wiki as much as we do.

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> Is it like AUR in Arch?

They are not comparable. AUR is specifically for user produced content. If you want something like AUR, you can look at [copr](https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/). Users can sign up at the Fedora Project and make their own COPR projects and build their own packages if they so choose. Users can also use said packages easily. I maintain [my own](https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/nalika/) for example. While my packages may be safe to use, there are plenty of others that are _not_ safe to use. Do your homework, read the descriptions of the COPR repos, and so on. YMMV and as always, use at your own risk.

Third-party repositories like EPEL, RPMFusion, ELRepo have teams behind them and do not allow random users to just show up and build and release a package, so no they are not an “AUR” and are not in the same boat.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oldtux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/oldtux/32/4717_2.png) [@oldtux](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/oldtux)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:13am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/6 "2024-09-08T06:13:17Z")

</div>

> [@label](#):
>
> Using EPEL will always be safe as they do not replace packages and there is a huge amount of compatibility. The times that it isn’t is during new minor releases, but that is a brief period of time only.

> [@label](#):
>
> In my many years using Enterprise Linux distributions (and now building and maintaining Rocky Linux), the compatibility issues have been extremely minor or unnoticeable.

> [@label](#):
>
> EPEL will always be a safe and compatible repository to use on Rocky Linux and RHEL.

Thanks a lot @label  
I see, as I used for example `dnf search chromium` to check if Chromium browser is there in the repos (the defaults that just came ith default installation) I found it there. So I can if I want install it from default repos.

I noticed as well as I said in my first post that it offered me to install `inxi` - which -if I properly remember- was not available when I tried RHEL in their default repos.

I will try learn more about Rocky default repos and their content.

Thank you very much.  
I am impressed with Rocky and the forum here.

UPDATE:  
I just did `dnf repolist` and I got:

```auto
[oldtux@localhost ~]$ dnf repolist
repo id repo name
appstream Rocky Linux 9 - AppStream
baseos Rocky Linux 9 - BaseOS
crb Rocky Linux 9 - CRB
epel Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 9 - x86_64
epel-cisco-openh264 Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 9 openh264 (From Cisco) - x86_64
extras Rocky Linux 9 - Extras

```

These were the defaults as I don’t remember I played with any repos or even tried adding any. I see EPEL is already there by default.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jlehtone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@jlehtone](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/jlehtone)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 8:53am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/7 "2024-09-08T08:53:40Z")

</div>

Now run:

```auto
dnf repolist -v | grep -E "Repo-id|Repo-pkgs"

```

Note how baseos has about 2k packages, the appstream about 8k, and the epel almost 23k.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ritov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Ritov](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/Ritov)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 9:41am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/8 "2024-09-08T09:41:54Z")

</div>

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> What I learnt in a few hour on RHEL that the default RHEL repos have only the very basic apps for enterprise. So it may have only Firefox browser and Libreoffice, but not Google Chrome browser and other office apps.

RHEL was already a very stripped variant of there upstream project (Fedora) but starting with EL8, and EL9 the package composition got more streamlined to the needs of RHEL customers and the target market. EL10 is even worse, the mentioned packages (libreoffice and firefox) are not included anymore. So, to summarize, as a container platform for application workloads based on OCI images, RHEL and all derivates are a good choice. For a _workstation_ setup its the wrong choice. Even with the great work of all EPEL developers …

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oldtux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/oldtux/32/4717_2.png) [@oldtux](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/oldtux)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 9:50am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/9 "2024-09-08T09:50:58Z")

</div>

> [@Ritov](#):
>
> For a _workstation_ setup its the wrong choice.

Maybe that’s why it survived only for 3 hours when I tried RHEL on my laptop last night.  
I see Rock Linux is much more convenient for a home user who might need to install another browser, or whatever software. It wasn’t easy on RHEL, but was amazing on Rocky Linux. I repeat again when I tried the command `inxi` and it wasn’t installed, it was so smart ans so user friendly to ask me if I want to install it and I just answered “y” to get it installed! That’s so smart and so friendly.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jlehtone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@jlehtone](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/jlehtone)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:02am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/10 "2024-09-08T10:02:07Z")

</div>

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> It wasn’t easy on RHEL, but was amazing on Rocky Linux. I repeat again when I tried the command `inxi` and it wasn’t installed, it was so smart ans so user friendly to ask me if I want to install it and I just answered “y” to get it installed! That’s so smart and so friendly.

The inxi is in EPEL. Did you have EPEL set up on RHEL?

* * *

```bash
[jlehtone@x ~]$ inxi
bash: inxi: command not found...
[jlehtone@x ~]$ sudo dnf config-manager --enable epel
[jlehtone@x ~]$ inxi
bash: inxi: command not found...
Install package 'inxi' to provide command 'inxi'? [N/y] n

```

Whose feature is this anyway? The bash clearly invokes package manager when command is not found. How? It seems unlikely that the feature is added by Rocky.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oldtux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/oldtux/32/4717_2.png) [@oldtux](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/oldtux)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:05am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/11 "2024-09-08T10:05:44Z")

</div>

> [@jlehtone](#):
>
> The inxi is in EPEL. Did you have EPEL set up on RHEL?

I think it wasn’t by default. I think it is default here on the wonderful Rocky Linux.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jlehtone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@jlehtone](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/jlehtone)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:07am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/12 "2024-09-08T10:07:44Z")

</div>

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> I think it wasn’t by default. I think it is default here on the wonderful Rocky Linux.

EPEL is not default in either, AFAIK. On Rocky you did `dnf install epel-release`  
No idea whether RHEL offers such convenience package to define the EPEL repo.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oldtux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/oldtux/32/4717_2.png) [@oldtux](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/oldtux)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:22am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/13 "2024-09-08T10:22:31Z")

</div>

> [@jlehtone](#):
>
> On Rocky you did `dnf install epel-release`  
> No idea whether RHEL offers such convenience package to define the EPEL repo.

I double checked the commands I did on Bash. I never did that command. It seems EPEL was there by default. I only did `sudo dnf update` and `sudo dnf upgrade` and a few others commands to uninstall some stuff I don’t need like games and clean after uninstall.

That’s all what I did!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ritov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Ritov](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/Ritov)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:23am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/14 "2024-09-08T10:23:56Z")

</div>

> [@jlehtone](#):
>
> Whose feature is this anyway? The bash clearly invokes package manager when command is not found. How? It seems unlikely that the feature is added by Rocky.

That feature is provides by `PackageKit-command-not-found` package.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jlehtone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@jlehtone](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/jlehtone)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:24am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/15 "2024-09-08T10:24:44Z")

</div>

You can see when a package (epel-release) has been installed/removed with:

```bash
dnf history list epel-release

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oldtux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/oldtux/32/4717_2.png) [@oldtux](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/oldtux)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:30am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/16 "2024-09-08T10:30:30Z")

</div>

```auto
[oldtux@localhost ~]$ dnf history list epel-release
ID | Command line | Date and time | Action(s) | Altered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     1 | | 2024-05-07 00:15 | Install | 1794 EE
[oldtux@localhost ~]$ 

```

I don;t understand this date as I just installed Rocky last night only!  
AFAIK I didn’t do it myself.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ritov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Ritov](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/Ritov)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:31am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/17 "2024-09-08T10:31:00Z")

</div>

> [@oldtux](#):
>
> Maybe that’s why it survived only for 3 hours when I tried RHEL on my laptop last night.  
> I see Rock Linux is much more convenient for a home user who might need to install another browser, or whatever software. It wasn’t easy on RHEL, but was amazing on Rocky Linux. I repeat again when I tried the command `inxi` and it wasn’t installed, it was so smart ans so user friendly to ask me if I want to install it and I just answered “y” to get it installed! That’s so smart and so friendly.

Briefly, I think there is here a misconception. RHEL (RedHat) and RL (Rocky) are the _“same”_ equal OS. So, both provide the same experience if prepared equally.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![iwalker](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/iwalker/32/2599_2.png) [@iwalker](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/iwalker)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:33am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/18 "2024-09-08T10:33:20Z")

</div>

If you used one of the desktop ISO installations, like for example KDE (I see you have other posts about having Rocky with KDE desktop), then EPEL would have been enabled in that ISO to allow you to install/use KDE. Since KDE exists in EPEL. Which will explain why it was enabled, and why the date shows being enabled in May.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oldtux](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forums.rockylinux.org/oldtux/32/4717_2.png) [@oldtux](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/oldtux)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:36am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/19 "2024-09-08T10:36:34Z")

</div>

> [@iwalker](#):
>
> like for example KDE (I see you have other posts about having Rocky with KDE desktop)

Yes, I downloaded and installed from `Rocky-9-KDE-x86_64-latest.iso`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/rockylinux/original/1X/91b7219eec10e30013422e4df76c1d898711a5d5.svg) [@system](https://forums.rockylinux.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 10:36am UTC](https://forums.rockylinux.org/t/missing-software-but-is-available-on-fedora-possible-add-fedora-repo/15748/20 "2024-11-07T10:36:43Z")

</div>

Closed on November 7, 2024, 10:36am UTC

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