I tested Fedora Miracle: Why Linux needs a 'broken' flag for orphaned spins

## Summary
Tech Home Tech Services & Software Operating Systems Linux I tested Fedora Miracle: Why Linux needs a 'broken' flag for orphaned spins Opinion: Tiling managers are supposed to make your life easier, but the Miracle Window Manager did anything but for me last week. ZDNET's key takeaways Fedora Miracle blends a tiling window manager with this top distro. This version of Fedora Linux uses the Miracle Window Manager (Miracle WM, for short), which aims to vastly simplify learning and using. There's supposed to be a top bar in the Miracle Window Manager, but no matter how many times I installed Fedora Miracle, or upgraded Fedora -- that rascally top bar refused to show itself.

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I tested Fedora Miracle: Why Linux needs a 'broken' flag for orphaned spins
Opinion: Tiling managers are supposed to make your life easier, but the Miracle Window Manager did anything but for me last week. Here's what happened.
Written by
Jack Wallen,
Contributing Writer
Contributing Writer
April 6, 2026 at 8:33 a.m. PT
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
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ZDNET's key takeaways
Fedora Miracle blends a tiling window manager with this top distro.
Unfortunately, the distribution isn't worth using, and it points to a problem.
I've experienced this issue before, and developers need to know how frustrating it can be.
There are a figurative metric ton of Linux distributions available. That vast amount of choice can cause problems for some, especially for new users. However, there's a much bigger problem that needs to be addressed: Broken software that isn't labeled as such.
This tripped me up a week ago, when I installed Fedora Miracle for testing and wasted two hours on it before figuring out why it was unusable.
Fedora Miracle leans heavily into the Miracle tiling window manager. Tiling window managers are fascinating. On paper, they sound like the most efficient way to interact with your desktop. You open an app, and the tiling window manager automatically places it to make the most of your current screen real estate. You don't have to open an app, place it where you want it, and then adjust its size to fit the screen.
Sounds great, doesn't it? It's like window snapping on steroids.
The problem is that many
tiling window managers
are overly complicated. To use these window managers, you have to forget how you've interacted with your desktop for years and learn keyboard shortcuts.
That's a lot.
Also:
This fun tiling window manager may be rough around the edges - but it has big potential
But not all tiling window managers are created equal. Take, for instance, the Fedora Miracle spin. This version of Fedora Linux uses the Miracle Window Manager (Miracle WM, for short), which aims to vastly simplify learning and using.
In theory.
The Miracle that wasn't
I've used Miracle before, and it seemed like a solid entry in the tiling window manager space. So, I decided to try its new(ish) spin to see if it succeeds at the task.
Miracle WM is based on Canonical's Mir Display Server and somewhat resembles i3 and Sway. This new take on the tiling window manager is highly configurable, supports customizable keyboard shortcuts, allows tiled and floating windows on the same workspace, offers animations for window transitions/movements, and includes a plugin system for adding other features and capabilities.
That's when things took a turn for the worse.
The Miracle Window manager, for some time, depended on the nw-shell. Unfortunately, Miracle-WM has transitioned from nw-shell to QuickShell, which is based on DankMaterialShell, for Fedora 44. Because of this transition, the Miracle SIG (Standardized Information Gathering ) has orphaned those packages, and
Fedora Miracle has yet to make the change to DankMaterialShell.
.
The key to this is
soon
, because the current iteration of Fedora Miracle still contains nw-shell... which is broken.
The fix Linux needs
This sort of thing happens. I've seen it occur many times over the past few decades with open-source software, but such transitions can happen fairly quickly and seamlessly. In this case, however, the Fedora Miracle seems to have been broken for a while, and devs neglected to mention this on the official spin site. It took me considerable digging to find out why things weren't working during my review.
That's a big problem, one that could lead to a lot of frustration... especially with those new to Linux. When projects are in a state of brokenness, the developers need to flag it as such. Front and center on the distribution's main page, display something like "Warning: This software is currently broken, and we're working to fix it." Then they need to remove the download files, so those who don't read such warnings can't download the app/OS and install it, only to find out after the fact that it's broken.
Hopefully, the transition to DankMaterialShell will happen soon (the transition was decided in February 2026), so Fedora Miracle can live up to its name.
With that in mind, let's talk about the current state of Fedora Miracle. Just remember: That which is broken will soon be unbroken.
What to expect with Fedora Miracle
The first thing to expect from the current build of Fedora Miracle is... not much.
There's supposed to be a top bar in the Miracle Window Manager, but no matter how many times I installed Fedora Miracle, or upgraded Fedora -- that rascally top bar refused to show itself. I tested this on both Virt-Manager (using KVM) and VirtualBox.
Also:
I installed this Arch-based distro my way in under 5 minutes - so can you
Oddly enough, the nwg-panel Settings app did op

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- Unfortunately, the distribution isn't worth using, and it points to a problem.
- I've experienced this issue before, and developers need to know how frustrating it can be.
- However, there's a much bigger problem that needs to be addressed: Broken software that isn't labeled as such.

### Implications
- Also: This fun tiling window manager may be rough around the edges - but it has big potential But not all tiling window managers are created equal.
- Because of this transition, the Miracle SIG (Standardized Information Gathering ) has orphaned those packages, and Fedora Miracle has yet to make the change to DankMaterialShell. .
- That's a big problem, one that could lead to a lot of frustration... especially with those new to Linux.
- Hopefully, the transition to DankMaterialShell will happen soon (the transition was decided in February 2026), so Fedora Miracle can live up to its name.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers miracle, fedora, window topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1355.