What is DNF (Dandified Yum)?

Posted on July 1, 2015 by J. Mays

Category: Technical Support | Tags: DNF, Fedora, Fedora 18, Fedora 22, Hawkey, Libsolv, Package Management, Package Manager, Yum

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DNF (Dandified Yum) 101: Basic Package Manager Interaction

I. What is DNF (Dandified Yum)?
II. DNF Examples: Install, Remove, Upgrade, and Downgrade

What is DNF (Dandified Yum)?

Yum, or the Yellowdog Updater Modified, is a package manager for RPM-based distributions; DNF, sometimes referred to as Dandified Yum, is the next generation of that package manager.

Do yum commands still work with DNF?

Yes, for the most part DNF usage is very similar to yum’s. Additional information on DNF detailing the similarities, and differences, will be available in the Liquid Web Knowledge Base very soon.

When did DNF become the default package manager for Fedora?

DNF has been the default package manager for since the 22nd version of Fedora, Fedora 22. Dandified Yum was introduced in Fedora 18.

Why was yum replaced with DNF?

Yum has long been considered a poor performer. It was notorious for high memory usage, and the slowness when resolving dependencies. DNF now uses libsolv, an external dependency resolver, and hawkey for resolving dependencies, while yum used its own, internal, dependency resolver.

About the Author: J. Mays

As a previous contributor, JMays shares his insight with our Knowledge Base center. In our Knowledge Base, you'll be able to find how-to articles on Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora and much more!