Impact looks reasonable on boot time. First boot after enabling it:
root@fedora:~# systemctl status fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service
● fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to refresh the appstream cache
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/service.d
└─10-timeout-abort.conf
Active: active (exited) since Tue 2026-03-17 11:40:32 CET; 18min ago
Invocation: 585fa2e640d44d189a5d2b0bbe92ab64
Docs: https://gitlab.com/fedora/ostree/sig/-/work_items/103
Process: 1047 ExecStart=appstreamcli refresh --force (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 1047 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Mem peak: 18.6M
CPU: 185ms
Mar 17 11:40:31 fedora systemd[1]: Starting fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to refresh the appstream ca>
Mar 17 11:40:31 fedora appstreamcli[1047]: ✔ Metadata cache was updated successfully.
Mar 17 11:40:32 fedora systemd[1]: Finished fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to refresh the appstream ca>Later boot:
root@fedora:~# systemctl status fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service
● fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to refresh the appstream cache
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/service.d
└─10-timeout-abort.conf
Active: active (exited) since Tue 2026-03-17 12:01:02 CET; 1h 4min ago
Invocation: b4ca9e97b75448d885d7f732a0b517b1
Docs: https://gitlab.com/fedora/ostree/sig/-/work_items/103
Process: 1028 ExecStart=appstreamcli refresh --force (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 1028 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Mem peak: 18.8M
CPU: 196ms
Mar 17 12:01:02 fedora systemd[1]: Starting fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to refresh the appstream ca>
Mar 17 12:01:02 fedora appstreamcli[1028]: ✔ Metadata cache was updated successfully.
Mar 17 12:01:02 fedora systemd[1]: Finished fedora-atomic-desktop-appstream-cache-refresh.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to refresh the appstream ca>As expected, this has a cost on the first boot after it is enabled:
root@fedora:~# systemctl status fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service
● fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to update mandb cache
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/service.d
└─10-timeout-abort.conf
Active: active (exited) since Tue 2026-03-17 11:40:36 CET; 18min ago
Invocation: 9039152095c54e1395dcb1d81a249521
Docs: https://gitlab.com/fedora/ostree/sig/-/work_items/62
Process: 1048 ExecStart=mandb -q (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 1048 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Mem peak: 76M
CPU: 1.999s
Mar 17 11:40:31 fedora systemd[1]: Starting fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to update mandb cache...
Mar 17 11:40:36 fedora systemd[1]: Finished fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to update mandb cache.
root@fedora:~# systemd-analyze critical-chain
The time when unit became active or started is printed after the "@" character.
The time the unit took to start is printed after the "+" character.
graphical.target @10.765s
└─multi-user.target @10.765s
└─fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service @5.340s +5.424s
└─basic.target @5.210s
└─dbus-broker.service @5.133s +50ms
└─dbus.socket @5.114s +445us
└─sysinit.target @5.109s
└─systemd-update-done.service @5.097s +11ms
└─ldconfig.service @3.693s +1.401s
└─systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service @3.372s +313ms
└─local-fs.target @3.343s
└─run-user-967.mount @7.311s
└─swap.target @2.579s
└─dev-zram0.swap @2.516s +61ms
└─[email protected] @2.477s +35ms
└─dev-zram0.device @2.475sBut then the impact is smaller on subsequent boots:
root@fedora:~# systemctl status fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service
● fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to update mandb cache
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/service.d
└─10-timeout-abort.conf
Active: active (exited) since Tue 2026-03-17 12:01:03 CET; 1h 4min ago
Invocation: 4c96e3732bbc47a1806efeb6b4f46167
Docs: https://gitlab.com/fedora/ostree/sig/-/work_items/62
Process: 1029 ExecStart=mandb -q (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 1029 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Tasks: 0 (limit: 4372)
Memory: 20.2M (peak: 24.4M)
CPU: 225ms
CGroup: /system.slice/fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service
Mar 17 12:01:02 fedora systemd[1]: Starting fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to update mandb cache...
Mar 17 12:01:03 fedora systemd[1]: Finished fedora-atomic-desktop-mandb-update.service - Workaround for Atomic Destkops to update mandb cache.
root@fedora:~# systemd-analyze critical-chain
The time when unit became active or started is printed after the "@" character.
The time the unit took to start is printed after the "+" character.
graphical.target @6.462s
└─multi-user.target @6.461s
└─tuned-ppd.service @6.261s +200ms
└─tuned.service @5.778s +480ms
└─network.target @5.745s
└─NetworkManager.service @5.617s +124ms
└─network-pre.target @5.615s
└─firewalld.service @4.698s +917ms
└─polkit.service @4.103s +549ms
└─basic.target @4.028s
└─dbus-broker.service @3.952s +50ms
└─dbus.socket @3.927s +2ms
└─sysinit.target @3.919s
└─systemd-update-utmp.service @3.901s +17ms
└─auditd.service @3.873s +24ms
└─systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service @3.515s +355ms
└─systemd-journal-flush.service @3.328s +183ms
└─ostree-remount.service @3.296s +24ms
└─var.mount @3.269s +17ms
└─dev-vda3.deviceRe-opening this one as it impacts Atomic Desktops more than other variants and I'll merge the workaround here first until this is fixed properly in the mandb package.
Updated as this is planned for F45 not 44. Edit: It was planned for F44 but was deferred to F45.
The change that triggered this bug is https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/ComposefsAtomicDesktops.
This issue should not break your system. In the most common case, it will only disables Btrfs compression for new files.
Please tell us what commands you tried as a workaround.
Timothée Ravier (05ff50c7) at 17 Mar 10:32
atomic-desktops: Add a community page for Sway Atomic
Timothée Ravier (dbbd2b7a) at 17 Mar 10:25
atomic-desktops: Add a community page for Sway Atomic
Timothée Ravier (5d93d050) at 17 Mar 10:24
atomic-desktops: Add a community page for Sway Atomic
... and 5730 more commits
Timothée Ravier (d6335352) at 17 Mar 10:21
Timothée Ravier (5177b0c2) at 17 Mar 10:21
community: Update issue trackers, chat rooms & docs links
... and 1 more commit
Timothée Ravier (3b16f2aa) at 17 Mar 09:56
Timothée Ravier (c2dc3e9b) at 17 Mar 09:55
community: Update issue trackers, chat rooms & docs links
Timothée Ravier (c1abec36) at 17 Mar 09:31