Mageia
Mageia is the result of
the community-driven fork of the Mandriva Linux distribution. Back in 1998,
Mandrake Linux, based on Red Hat Linux 5.1, was the first distro designed for
the everyday user. The distro underwent several name changes and acquisitions.
After persisting with many incarnations, the community members decided to fork
Mandriva.
The first Mageia release
was in 2011 and the project has produced four major releases since then. The
latest, Mageia 4, was unleashed early this year.
Mageia is an RPM-based
distro backed by a solid community infrastructure. Along with an installable
Live image, the project also ships an install-only DVD. The distro offer both
KDE and Gnome desktops. Software packages are split into three repositories named
Core, Nonfree and Tainted. Between the three, the distro provides just about
all the packages you may need. Proprietary packages are relegated to the
Nonfree repository while Tainted is home to all packages that may infringe on
copyright and patent laws in some countries.
Its installer is easy to
navigate and several screens have the Advanced button which brings up more
options for experienced users. The distro uses the Urpmi tool, native to
Mageia/Mandriva and derivatives, for software management.
The most distinctive
feature of the distro is the Mageia Control Centre, from where you can tweak
almost all aspects of the system.
Verdict: This community-driven distro builds on a solid foundation and is
an able distro for everyday use.
Rating: 8/10
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