We can count on Ubuntu to deliver a solid computing experience atop the latest and greatest open source tech, every six months.
We can count on elementary OS and Deepin Linux to wow the previously ‘unwowable’ Linux naysayers with sleek desktop designs.
And we can count on the Fedora Linux community to serve up a stunning set of desktop backgrounds in its twice-yearly supplemental wallpapers pack.
Yup, forget the forthcoming flicker-free-boot: Fedora 30’s artwork is the where the real eye candy is.
Fedora 30 Wallpapers
Okay, before anyone gets offended let me stress that there are a tonne of compelling reasons to use Fedora beyond its choice of desktop backgrounds. I’m being facetious for effect.
But there is no denying that the Fedora community is nothing if not a creative one. Each and every new release delivers the goods when it comes deliciously designed desktop backgrounds.
Heck, Micah Denn‘s default Fedora 29 wallpaper was a veritable slow-mo mic-drop to other distros, yelling: “Up yo artwork game, y’all!”.
Fedora 30 Wallpapers
Revealed on the (always excellent) Fedora Magazine, a set of 16 new backgrounds have been selected for the Fedora 30 supplemental wallpapers pack.
All of the drapes come from the Fedora community itself. There are 14 photographic nature and landscape shots and 1 close-up fabric shot:
A selection of Fedora 30 wallpapers
But the sole illustration, titled ‘I See Stars‘, is my standout highlight:
Admittedly I’m a sucker for illustrated wallpapers in general, but that goes double when they’re cute, optimistic and space related. I doff my invisible Red Hat to whoever created it.
Download these wallpapers
You can download this, and the other 15 backgrounds, targeted at Fedora 30 from the Fedora design Github repo or the Fedora packages page. I’m not sure which link will be updated with them first, so you may want to bookmark them now to check back at a later date.
If you’re pawing after the illustrated image above you can snare it in crisp 4K resolution via this link.
Erm, What about Ubuntu’s Wallpaper
This isn’t the first time I’ve let my drool drip in public; I’ve written about Fedora’s wallpapers a fair few times in the past (and as it’s my blog, I think I’m allowed).
But Fedora isn’t the only distro that scouts its community for suitable desktop drapes. Ubuntu also has its own wallpaper contest.
Sadly, as I’ve mentioned before, the participation rate is bafflingly low.
In the past I suggested that the decline in the participation rate may have been down to a name change. After all, the “Ubuntu Free Culture Showcase” sounds more like something its showing you something rather than asking you to join in something.
Alas that theory doesn’t hold; this cycle the contest went under the moniker of the ‘Ubuntu Wallpaper Competition’ but has fared little better.
Either Unity desktop drove away designers, or the creative types in the Ubuntu community are really rather shy!
It’s a shame. The Ubuntu wallpaper contest was once a major highlight of the release cycle. Entries totalled in the hundreds. Selection took ages. And the final picks would be a major news event.
Perhaps Ubuntu 19.10 should take the elementary OS approach?
The eOS team — apologies to them; I can hear theirs scream at my use of the abbreviation — pick a pack of (incredibly high-quality) wallpapers from community-based, royalty-free and copyright-free website Unsplash.
And their OS is regularly touted at one of the (if not the) best looking Linux desktop available.
Food for thought.
In the meantime, feel free to pad out your ~/Pictures directory with the fabulous offerings from Fedora. And if you like them, be sure to pass them on to others!
