What makes Mageia different from other Linux distribution ?s

[dave]

I want make it clear that this topic will not generate flame.
I know that this is the first release of mageia and it wants grown very well but now i'm asking what are the differences, in the near future, with mandriva.
Mandriva with the 2011 release brought many changes. Mageia will follow the "mandriva road" (i think about rosa-panel, rpm5, systemd) or take the "mageia road"? What will the new features that will bring us to choose mageia instead of mandriva?

[jkerr82508]

The most important reasons for choosing Mageia are described in the original announcement (why Mageia was created):

http://mageia.org/en/about/2010-sept-announcement.html

The future of Mageia will be decided in community-wide consultations during this summer. Mageia will definitely not automatically adopt changes that Mandriva makes. I expect the differences between Mageia and Mandriva may become greater over time.

Jim

[BigLizard]

Before anyone gets upset about my question, I LIKE Linux. I'm running Linux Mint 10 at the moment. I have been using Linux from time to time over the past 2 years, but I still consider myself a Noob. I've ran Mint in XFCE, KDE, and Gnome. I've also tried Puppy, Quirky, DSL, and Ylmf. I even tried Mageia RC, but found out it was for experienced users.

I downloaded the Mageia 1 CD earlier today. After loading up the CD, it looks great, but it's jam packed with all the exact same packages and applications as other Linux distributions.

So, tell me honestly, what makes Mageia any different?

[isadora]

Before anyone gets upset about my question, I LIKE Linux. I'm running Linux Mint 10 at the moment. I have been using Linux from time to time over the past 2 years, but I still consider myself a Noob. I've ran Mint in XFCE, KDE, and Gnome. I've also tried Puppy, Quirky, DSL, and Ylmf. I even tried Mageia RC, but found out it was for experienced users.

I downloaded the Mageia 1 CD earlier today. After loading up the CD, it looks great, but it's jam packed with all the exact same packages and applications as other Linux distributions.

So, tell me honestly, what makes Mageia any different?

You found out for yourself:
* it's for experienced users
* it's jam-packed with all the exact same packages and applications as others

For where it concerns your first conclusion: i am very interested, what makes you saying this?
For the other conclusion: yes, and why is this somewhat surprising for you?

One thing i would like to give you, is what was written today in the "Mageia-Blog")

Why might you choose Mageia?

Aside from our great distro, you mean? We’re a great community, and we’re getting better all the time. We care for each other, and in doing so, we try for the best user experience. We’d like to welcome you into our community, while making sure your Mageia installation is trouble-free and a joy to use.

What’s different about us? We’re completely community based, with everything that implies. Our organization is community-driven; no commercial management can dictate the path Mageia will take; you as a Mageia user can have more say in the future of this distribution than anywhere else.

Personally i want to add, Mageia is a brand-new distribution, made and supported by people who already know for many years, how to make and maintain a distribution, that suits everyones' needs.
The support through forum and other means is really amazing.
I would very much recommend Mageia, for its' stability, for its' ease-of-use, for it's great support, and last but not least for its' Mageia Control Centre.

Come on in and enjoy, you are more than welcome!!!!

[caieng]

Thanks for the question, and the reply.


I have a slightly different version of the same question, and then, a second question, perhaps off topic, or, depending on one's perspective, maybe not...

First, I would like to inquire whether there may be some practical difference between Mageia 1.0 and PCLOS 2010.10 ?

I am using the LXDE version of the latter, at the moment, and I find that the DRAKE control center is just marvelous. I think this is the same control center used in Mageia, correct?

Then, how is this new distro, Mageia, distinctive from PCLOS, or Mandriva?

Second question, perhaps off topic, or maybe not, depending, i suppose.....
I am accustomed to using two browsers, neither of which is supported, at present, at least, according to the release notes for Mageia.
Sea Monkey and Opera are my de facto standards.

I wonder whether I will be able to use either one with Mageia. I can make do with Firefox 4.0, if necessary.

I employ, religiously, day and night, VLC media player to listen to streaming audio. Yet, again in the release notes, I do not find VLC listed.

Is there a good reason why? But, let us suppose that there is a valid reason. Other distros also fail to include it, so, my question then is whether or not Magaeia developers have tested the new distro with VLC installed?

Some distros, e.g. Puppy, are excellent, but have a gaping hole when it comes to VLC.
Others, MINT comes to mind, include VLC, but fail to enable it, so it does not work properly;.

PCLOS also does not include VLC, so again, back to my original question, how is Mageia different from PCLOS, from the point of view of one who uses his Linux boxes, exclusively to play internet radio stations?

thanks again, for the new distro, and for your help with these questions...

CAI ENG

[BigLizard]

Hi Isadora and thanks for your reply.

Come on in and enjoy, you are more than welcome!!!!

I'm definitely going to run Mageia, I look forward to trying it out on a full install.

As with any "new" anything, I like to find out what makes it stand out from the rest. And with the large variety of Linux distributions, there is always a question of "What makes this one better than that one". I like Mint over Ubuntu because Mint just "handles" better. However, I've tried Mint 11RC, and I won't be installing that one at all because of some of their recent modifications. Again, with the large variety of distro's to choose from, I try to find out more about one before dedicating one of my desktops to a new OS. (I'd need about 50 computers to indulge in most of them that I'm curious about! ) [I've done dual and triple boots, but don't really like those setups.]

but it's jam packed with all the exact same packages and applications as other Linux distributions.

I guess I didn't think this one through. This is actually a "comfort" factor, especially for newer users.

In the long run, I'm searching for the one OS that says "Good Bye Forever" to the current Microsoft OS.

[isadora]

..................................
First, I would like to inquire whether there may be some practical difference between Mageia 1.0 and PCLOS 2010.10 ?

I am using the LXDE version of the latter, at the moment, and I find that the DRAKE control center is just marvelous. I think this is the same control center used in Mageia, correct?

Can't tell about LXDE, because i don use it, i am sorry.
For where it concerns MCC, yes they are both based on drakconf, as many recognize from Mandriva, and of course PCLOS.

Then, how is this new distro, Mageia, distinctive from PCLOS, or Mandriva?

One thing VERY important: you are sure of a very experienced group of developers and users, who have fiddled around in Mandrake/Mandriva for lots of years.
Continuity is guaranteed to a high level.

Second question, perhaps off topic, or maybe not, depending, i suppose.....
I am accustomed to using two browsers, neither of which is supported, at present, at least, according to the release notes for Mageia.
Sea Monkey and Opera are my de facto standards.

I wonder whether I will be able to use either one with Mageia. I can make do with Firefox 4.0, if necessary.

Opera can be installed after adding the "Nonfree-repositories". For SeaMonkey one could report a request for pckages into the Bugzilla. (https://bugs.mageia.org/enter_bug.cgi?p ... mat=guided)

I employ, religiously, day and night, VLC media player to listen to streaming audio. Yet, again in the release notes, I do not find VLC listed.

Is there a good reason why? But, let us suppose that there is a valid reason. Other distros also fail to include it, so, my question then is whether or not Magaeia developers have tested the new distro with VLC installed?

VLC can be installed after configuring the "Tainted repositories".

Good luck, and oh yes, in future please be so kind splitting up your questions into portions please.

Have a good and Mageia-time around!!!!!!

[isadora]

I'm definitely going to run Mageia, I look forward to trying it out on a full install.

Try and decide. It isn't you are buying an expensive license, it's about "freedom of choice". Choose, what fits you/your organization best.
But i give it a very good chance, you eventually choose for Mageia.

As with any "new" anything, I like to find out what makes it stand out from the rest. And with the large variety of Linux distributions, there is always a question of "What makes this one better than that one". I like Mint over Ubuntu because Mint just "handles" better. However, I've tried Mint 11RC, and I won't be installing that one at all because of some of their recent modifications. Again, with the large variety of distro's to choose from, I try to find out more about one before dedicating one of my desktops to a new OS. (I'd need about 50 computers to indulge in most of them that I'm curious about! ) [I've done dual and triple boots, but don't really like those setups.]

Very reasonable, take your time look around, and talk to people. And no better place than in this forum.

In the long run, I'm searching for the one OS that says "Good Bye Forever" to the current Microsoft OS.

Today, yesterday already, i cleaned up my last MS-partition in the house.
I didn't let a tear. (Truth is, i still have one Virtual Machine Windows2000 - necessary for connecting through VPN to my office, but this is also going to stand for no longer than two/three more weeks). The MS-chains vanished today for a great deal, a long existing wish nearly became true.
Together we can create a wonderful Linux-world. Let Mageia be a good step-up.

[ahmad]

Thanks for the question, and the reply.


I have a slightly different version of the same question, and then, a second question, perhaps off topic, or, depending on one's perspective, maybe not...

First, I would like to inquire whether there may be some practical difference between Mageia 1.0 and PCLOS 2010.10 ?

You've used PCLOS, right? now use Mageia, and you'll be able to answer that question yourself, I think.

I am using the LXDE version of the latter, at the moment, and I find that the DRAKE control center is just marvelous. I think this is the same control center used in Mageia, correct?

Yep.

Then, how is this new distro, Mageia, distinctive from PCLOS, or Mandriva?

Same question, same answer.

Second question, perhaps off topic, or maybe not, depending, i suppose.....
I am accustomed to using two browsers, neither of which is supported, at present, at least, according to the release notes for Mageia.
Sea Monkey and Opera are my de facto standards.

I wonder whether I will be able to use either one with Mageia. I can make do with Firefox 4.0, if necessary.

Well, not every single package in the repos will be listed in the release notes (would need a whole wiki for that), the release notes should give the highlights; however you're right, both those browsers should've been in the release notes. Both those browsers are already available in the official repositories, Opera is in the nonfree repo; as for seamonkey, it's been rebranded to iceape (that's the name of the package), due to trademakr/licensing issues.

I employ, religiously, day and night, VLC media player to listen to streaming audio. Yet, again in the release notes, I do not find VLC listed.

Is there a good reason why? But, let us suppose that there is a valid reason. Other distros also fail to include it, so, my question then is whether or not Magaeia developers have tested the new distro with VLC installed?

Some distros, e.g. Puppy, are excellent, but have a gaping hole when it comes to VLC.
Others, MINT comes to mind, include VLC, but fail to enable it, so it does not work properly;.

PCLOS also does not include VLC, so again, back to my original question, how is Mageia different from PCLOS, from the point of view of one who uses his Linux boxes, exclusively to play internet radio stations?

VLC is already available in the official repositories; it comes in two flavours, the package in the Core repo doesn't support any codecs that has patent issues (e.g. the AAC, x264... etc codecs), while on the other hand the package in the Tainted repo supports most of the known-to-humanity codecs. The tainted repo is added but disabled by default, so just open MCC -> S/W management -> Configure media sources for install and update and enable the "Tainted Release" and "Tainted Updates" repos.

Thanks for the feedback about the release notes (it was in the TODO list (mine, in fact) to add a whole section about multimedia applications, but I totally forgot). Both issues have been fixed in the notes, the two afromentioned browsers have been added to the list, and a whole section about multimedia app is now available.

[caieng]

Thank you Ahmad. Some good answers. MUCH APPRECIATED.

Why in the world would anyone choose "Tainted" anything, as a category for installation of something as

a. banal
b. benign
c. USEFUL
d. essential (for me)

as VLC?

I would not call toothpaste "tainted".
I don't describe the food I eat as "tainted".
I could not imagine regarding the movies I watch as "tainted".

What were people thinking when they created these categories, and why in the world would anyone include VLC in such a category???????

I am AFRAID to download and install Mageia.

Why would I wish to undergo the challenge of working with a new distro, that, INSTEAD OF MAKING IT EASIER to use VLC, (which for me, is the sine qua non for employing ANY linux distro,) --> at least compared with PCLOS and Mandriva, makes it MORE DIFFICULT to install VLC?

If anything, Mageia, to differentiate itself from PCLOS and Mandriva, ought to make it MUCH easier, than the other two clones, to install VLC....Strange.....

CAI ENG

[maat]

Hi caieng,

Please don't forget that Mageia is just born yesterday

It's yet a "baby" distro

With this first version we needed to give the proof (to ourselves first) that we were able to make a cool linux distribution (forked from Mandriva that a noticeable part of us used to contribute to). As this mere goal is not so simple to reach we limited ourselves (on purpose) on the subject of drastic changes because that would have delayed the first release by many monthes.

So Mageia 1 is is "just" heir to all the work we have previously invested in Mandriva... that's why it's not very different yet (but i guess one can already feel the improvements in terms of usability, appearance and willingness to listen to users).

Now we have a nice basis to use and to work on: The ideas that will make Mageia really different and (hopefully) fantastic will be implemented in Mageia 2.

You may have noticed on Mageia 1 page : http://mageia.org/en/1 that we have added a link ( what will it do for you?) at the end of the page.

On the page linked ( http://mageia.org/en/1/next/ ) there is an invitation to participate in discussions about the future of Mageia.

So in short the answer to your main question will be : Mageia will be as fantastic, user friendly and different from others as you have been creative this summer

[blas]

Hi cai eng,
What did you find difficult in installing vlc? It is there in the default repos as Ahmad already wrote it. Did you enabled them? (open mageia control center, click configure media, click add and there choose full set of sources) Btw I think you misunderstood the "tainted" thing. VLC is nowhere regarded tainted, but some of the codecs in it are illegal to use/distribute in some parts of the world. For this reason the version in the core media (not tainted) is striped from the questionable codecs, but it is there. So to have VLC you don't need to enable anything tainted, only if you want the restricted codecs. What do you find unfriendly about this approach?

[caieng]

Howdy Maat.

Thanks for your reply. I will follow up...

Greetings blas;

First, let me correct a small misunderstanding. I have not yet downloaded Mageia 1. I have not found anything difficult about the installation, because there is nothing, yet, to install.

....but some of the codecs in it are illegal to use/distribute in some parts of the world.....

you know, blas, this is a friendly forum, with very well meaning folks writing and reading here, so please don't misunderstand my next comments.

Frankly, sir, or madam, I doubt very much what you have written here. I believe you are either misinformed, or dishonest, or both.

If you have some DATA to support your accusation, then, I will be HAPPY to retract my assertion of your error.

Absent such DATA, I mean here, REAL information, (not internet rumors,) with names of countries, and identification of the precise statute in that country which has been violated, I cannot accept your explanation as CREDIBLE.

Au contraire, monsieur, it strikes me as derogatory, insulting, and defamatory.

PLEASE SHOW ME THE DATA.

Otherwise, APOLOGIZE, tout de suite, and make sure to include VLC in the default distribution of Mageia.

Let me just say this one further thing. I have lived in many countries. I have lived in countries where the INTERNET itself is illegal. I don't respect such countries, or their laws.

I have lived in countries where the "LAW" is whatever some wealthy person says it is.

I live today in a country, USA, which wages war on three continents, against many enemies, some real, most imaginary, and which has a legal system that is a complete farce.

If it is indeed USA, which possesses these notorious laws prohibiting VLC, let me just say, that I DEFY the goddamned USA government, and all of its worthless leaders, and I don't give a rat's ass whether or not that dishonest group of gangsters gets upset with my intention to use VLC EVERY SINGLE DAY for the rest of my life, or not.

CAI ENG

[blas]

Hi caeng,
The answer I gave you (about the legal stuff) was the one I always saw when somebody asked why some codecs are not included by default. So yes, you are right it could be possible that it is only a rumor as I didn't give any proof. I didn't think it was needed. It's maybe my limited English, but did I really made an accusation?

To be honest, I never questioned this explanation. Why would anybody lie about it or spread misinformation? Why would any packager take the time and make two separate packages if there were no possible patent issues? I may have been misinformed, but why in blue hell would have I been dishonest with you?

Although it may be only internet rumor, every time I saw a discussion about codec patents, DMCA and the USA were mentioned. This may give a clue.

For a possibly more credible source please check the official vlc FAQ, the section about libdvdcss and libaacs. Other people asking the same: here, and here (both possibly outdated though). You can find more with google, there are plenty.

Personally I don't care about such codec patents, even if it was an issue where I live. You also have the freedom and "don't give a rat's ass" about it, the only extra step you need to do to have all the codecs is to put a checkmark in a box and click OK.

[caieng]

Thank you blas.

The point is this: What is the OP?

In my opinion, the OP stresses HOW Mageia is distinctive, i.e. different, from other Linux distros, and here, in particular, one seeks clarification on how Mageia is different from other Mandriva derivatives, i.e. Mandriva itself, and PCLOS.

So far as I am aware, none of them include VLC, by default. This is a pity. My question to you, remains unanswered. WHY is VLC omitted from the default distribution?

If one responds with some sort of slander about laws being violated, then, one is obliged to SHOW THE LAWS, with precision, not generalities.

I use other linux distros, which DO INCLUDE VLC as the default streaming audio player. Those distros WORK VERY WELL, including in USA.

If the gestapo shows up at my house some day, and drags me away in chains for having downloaded a Linux distro which includes VLC, well, I guess I am willing to bear the consequences of that misfortune.

WHY should all of the rest of the (sane) world be deprived, because of some rumor of insanity in USA?

You MUST NOT HIDE behind the rumors and gossip. That's not the method we use to convince someone to try out Mageia. If you wish to persuade me, I need to SEE THE WOUND. SHow me the evidence, don't send me off to Google. You made the allegation. BACK IT UP, or apologize, AND, then, make sure to include VLC in the default distro.

CAI ENG

[buchan]

....but some of the codecs in it are illegal to use/distribute in some parts of the world.....

Absent such DATA, I mean here, REAL information, (not internet rumors,) with names of countries, and identification of the precise statute in that country which has been violated, I cannot accept your explanation as CREDIBLE.

Software patents, and software patent litigation is unfortunately quite common these days. I don't think it is necessary to specifically cite examples, when Googling for 'software patent lawsuit' or 'DMCA violation' yields hundreds of relevant hits.

Let me just say this one further thing. I have lived in many countries. I have lived in countries where the INTERNET itself is illegal. I don't respect such countries, or their laws.

But, you said it was illegal, the same term used above.

If it is indeed USA, which possesses these notorious laws prohibiting VLC, let me just say, that I DEFY the goddamned USA government, and all of its worthless leaders, and I don't give a rat's ass whether or not that dishonest group of gangsters gets upset with my intention to use VLC EVERY SINGLE DAY for the rest of my life, or not.

We respect your choice, and you can enable the tainted repository. However, we do not want to make assumptions or users who could be prosecuted for various reasons related to software use, which is why tainted is not enabled by default.

If you take issue with the term 'tainted', well, this was the best choice after a very long debate on the topic. Feel free to suggest a better (short, sufficiently descriptive, sufficiently alarming to users such that they won't enable it without thinking about the matter) term, which could possibly be used in future.

[maat]

Please caieng... using uppercase every other word, asking for proofs, talking of rumors and above all saying that people are either "misinformed, or dishonest, or both"... this is not something that i'd welcome here. This is a very offensive way of speaking to people. Please go back to courtesy forgiveness: most here speak with true goodwill as you do.

Now, with communication problems left apart, Saint Thomas way of thinking is perfectly ok (though a little bit bloody if we think back of Jesus' wounds).

The main law you're searching for is called "United States patent law" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_patent_law ). but you have also the famous DMCA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmca ).

As you may know, in Europe and in France patents on software are not allowed. Hence having all codecs you can imagine embedded in a software you distribute is perfectly ok there. But for USA things do not work the same way. Distributing codecs with inside patented code or libdvdcss or libaac without the right to do so given by patents owners would give these patents owners the right to prosecute you (and fearfully win).

The simplest way to avoid this legal risk (we are not really in the case of pure law infrigement for codecs) is to avoid ditributing codecs and libs like libdvdcss by default

(Note alsa that this problem rises because we prefer to play by the rules even if some could consider the heresaid rules noxious)

Maybe there are cleverer ways we could use to ease the lives of our users. Suggestions and ideas are welcome for Mageia 2.

But please don't underestimate legal aspects... laws and patents are matters as complex as kernel code. For kernel we need the help of kernel hackers. For laws and patents we need lawyers help.

[dave]

I already know that mageia will be a community-driven project ^^ I'm speaking about technical idea and improvements. For example, mageia will still use the mageia 1 theme (Ia-orta, I think), and the mandriva 2010.2 style, or will use the new 2011 interface (this one: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mandriva ... 3668.shtml )

[jkerr82508]

Mageia 1 was forked from Mandriva 2010.1 and so does not include any customisations (such as the Rosa desktop) planned for Mandriva 2011, The release notes provide some information on what is included in Mageia 1.

http://mageia.org/en/1/notes/

Jim

[caieng]

Thank you maat, good reply, well written, insightful.

umm, with regard to legal questions in USA, one should recall that this is a country founded on slavery, where the right to vote was decided by Jefferson and Madison, to appease the slave owners, as giving 0.6 votes to each black male slave, appropriated, of course, by their owners. Females of any race, obviously, had no vote whatsoever. Aboriginal peoples were awarded one each lead bullet to the brain, and no votes.

Even in the middle of the 19th century, the good christian folk who settled here from Europe, took pleasure in killing the aboriginal peoples, in "hunting" parties, eliminating "heathen", in accord with good judeo christian muslim ethics. The slaughter continued until the end of the 1870's. This is not what I would call a law abiding nation.

But, nevertheless, as you are undoubtedly an optimist, whereas I am someone for whom the glass is always completely dry, I turn to your main point: avoiding "legal risk".

What you need to furnish, to win your argument, is ONE, just one simple case, any case, from any court, in the USA, in which a successful prosecution has been accomplished with a legal decision awarding some kind of punishment, whether fair, or just, or simply dreadful, because of the guilty party's having downloaded a codec used by VLC, or libdvdcss or libaac.

just one, single, case. That's all I need to acknowledge defeat, and proceed to download Mageia, though it does not contain VLC.

I doubt you will find any case. I am not positive, but I doubt you can locate a single example in support of your fear.

Fear. It isn't wrong to avoid fearful things. On the other hand, we would not want to live our whole lives, without visiting France, would we, just because the people there do dreadful things, like eating fois gras, or goat cheese, instead of consuming, as all intelligent people do, McDonald's exquisite hamburgers. I agree, it is truly frightening to go somewhere else, start some new activity, engage in new hobbies.

But, should we be fearful, of making any change???? I think Linux itself would never have gotten off the ground, if everyone were afraid of the big bad M$. Let's find one case, shall we, then, you will be correct, in arguing that any distro including VLC by default, without proclaiming terrible sins on those guilty of downloading same, is in violation of some sacred statute, and liable to suffer at the rack in the USA embassy of the country of origin of that distribution.

CAI ENG

[ahmad]

Mageia 1 was forked from Mandriva 2010.1

(That was indeed the plan, however, somehow we went ahead and made Mageia a fork of Cooker from last September, so it's much newer than 2010.{1,2} :)).

[maat]

Just a few illustrative things about codecs then :

One of them : the speech codec : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_M ... udio_codec

Some of the patents concerned : http://www.wikipatents.com/US-Patent-54 ... eech-codec

And this codec can be embedded in VLC. So technically AT&T could prosecute people distributing VLC in USA for patent infrigement on that codec specific case if embedded. (And as they prosecudted Microsoft i think VLC or Mageia people are not likely to scare them)

An other example: H.264 codec is not compiled/embedded in Ubuntu's VLC... if you want this codec you need to download the VLC sources and compile it by yourself...

For further reading : http://ipmetrics.net/blog/2011/02/11/an ... tion-case/

For the matter of our being able to distribute a distro without exposing our users to legal threats, it does not really matter that a case has been or not won... the important part is to know if a case could be won against one of us or one of our users or fellow mirror providers.

By the way the borderline argument used by some people in favor of "ignoring legal threats" attitude is that patent owners, for example, mpeg-la, would not prosecute vlc like project owners because that would not bring them money but rather bad reputation... well : perhaps... but perhaps not... Who can say for sure ? (well it's also easier to ask others to expose themselves than decide to expose oneself )

All the question is that of deciding if we permit ourselves to expose people (our users) to legal risk (even if truly unlikely) without their knowing...

This issue has been raised during our meetings and the position has been voted after exposing pros and cons.

If you want to change things on our current position, the process is open and you are welcome : come on in, bring with you your datas and proofs, explain and demonstrate that we can do what we thought impossible without exposig our users. And then the next vote on this subject could be different

We welcome all good wills and if you're a lawyer you are more than welcome

[caieng]

(That was indeed the plan, however, somehow we went ahead and made Mageia a fork of Cooker from last September, so it's much newer than 2010.{1,2} ).

Thank you ahmad, but, in my opinion, the fact that the Mageia fork is even newer than Mandriva 2010, suggests, contrarily, that there is essentially no, or very little, difference between Mageia and Mandriva.

Then, one wonders, (back to the OP,) why (if there is very little to distinguish the two distros) did half of the folks wander away from the main distro, to form their "own", but taking with them the essential features of the parent distro?

It is a bit fuzzy now, but, back at the beginning, when Mandrake split from Red Hat, weren't there some deep philosophical differences between the two, distinctions which then translated into unique aspects of the two distros?

Creative differences of opinion can lead to good things: look at the marvelous Drake control center, for example. Which other distro (not in the Mandrake family) possesses such a feature?

However, most of the branches away from the main tendency, serve, in my opinion, only to dilute and weaken the parent distro. That may not be the case for Mageia, but so far, in this thread, no one has offered a convincing argument for switching from Mandriva itself, to the new kid on the block.

One way to approach an answer to this question, is to prepare a chart of the standard programs included in the default distribution downloaded, perhaps, as illustration, the kernel in Mageia is xxx.yy, whereas, in Mandriva it is nnn.rrr.

Another way to address the question is by comparison with other distros, both those which have been successful, and those which have been unsuccessful, after splitting from the parent distro.

Several distros come to mind: Debian versus Ubuntu/CrunchBang/Mint; Slackware versus Vector/Zenwalk/Salix.

Which succeeded, and why? How has the analysis of their successes or failures, or both, for those distros helped the developers of Mageia either to avoid problems, or encourage successful modifications from the parent distro?

Here's a very simple test, one could perform, to highlight the unique aspects of Mageia, to show how it differs, or how it represents an improvement, over (not only Mandriva itself, but also) all other Linux distros:

how long does it take to install? on a P3 1GHz cpu system with half a Gigabyte of RAM, i.e. an obsolete computer, which nevertheless has some good benefits compared with most modern computers: LESS power required for operation.

So, if one has a task, such as I do, receiving internet radio broadcasts by streaming audio, then a 32 bit P3 system is just as performant as a more modern 64 bit system which demands three times as much electrical power, as the old obsolete system. One cannot hear any difference between the radio broadcasts received by a 32 bit computer versus the most contemporary, 64 bit machine available today.

Yes, for most users of Linux, this is not an interesting test, because most folks are disinclined to waste their time with such silly activities, preferring instead to engage in more productive tasks, for which a more powerful computer is a handy tool. But, you see, with a faster computer, the distinctions blur, whereas, with an old, slow machine, like the ones I use, the differences between distros, magnify.

If one seeks to know the advantages of Mageia, compared with Mandriva, or any other distro, it will be useful, in my opinion, to provide such information, to prospective users. In other words, instead of simply writing platitudes, all of which may well be accurate, it is always fashionable, (and in my opinion, useful,) to flash some numbers on folks. Here's why we should download and install Mageia: It is faster than mnopqrst, or, it executes the following task faster than mnopqrst, or, the computer shuts down or boots up faster with Mageia than with mnopqrst. Numbers, like the frosting on a cake, generally deliver a pleasant taste.

CAI ENG

[Garthhh]

Hi caieng,

Please don't forget that Mageia is just born yesterday

It's yet a "baby" distro

With this first version we needed to give the proof (to ourselves first) that we were able to make a cool linux distribution (forked from Mandriva that a noticeable part of us used to contribute to). As this mere goal is not so simple to reach we limited ourselves (on purpose) on the subject of drastic changes because that would have delayed the first release by many monthes.

So Mageia 1 is is "just" heir to all the work we have previously invested in Mandriva... that's why it's not very different yet (but i guess one can already feel the improvements in terms of usability, appearance and willingness to listen to users).

Now we have a nice basis to use and to work on: The ideas that will make Mageia really different and (hopefully) fantastic will be implemented in Mageia 2.

You may have noticed on Mageia 1 page : http://mageia.org/en/1 that we have added a link ( what will it do for you?) at the end of the page.

On the page linked ( http://mageia.org/en/1/next/ ) there is an invitation to participate in discussions about the future of Mageia.

So in short the answer to your main question will be : Mageia will be as fantastic, user friendly and different from others as you have been creative this summer

I'm not seeing the invitation to participate?
unless you are referring to Twitter?

[maat]

The invitation is just made of words on the page

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/invitation

in·vi·ta·tion
n.
1. The act of inviting.
2. A spoken or written request for someone's presence or participation.

If you want the next steps to get in : http://www.mageia.org/en/contribute/

(I think a big part of discussions will be made on mailing lists (dev and discuss) and hopefully here on the forum )

(edit : contribute link in french replaced by contribute link in english)