Submitted by Mandriva has announced the launch of the final version of Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring (codename Pauillac). This new version comes with a host of improvements and changes, as always. Fun fact: this is the first release reported to us by Anne Nicolas instead of Adam Williamson. For those that keep score.
The Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring comes in the flavour of your choice, KDE, GNOME or LXDE, in more than 70 languages. There’s the Free edition (100% open source software) in 2 DVDs for 32 and 64 architecture and the One edition (installable live CD, available in KDE and GNOME versions). Major updates includes KDE 4.2.2, GNOME 2.26, Xorg server 1.6, Linux kernel 2.6.29, Xfce 4.6, Qt Creator 1, Tcl/Tk 8.6, syslinux 3.75, and much more.
Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring comes with an improvement in boot time. The tools of Mandriva Control Center have also been optimised. Network center now supports advanced network configuration together with additional pre-configured Internet providers, integration with new network devices and support for different wireless regulatory domains. msev, the Mandriva security framework, has been also redesigned.
The ext4 file system is now supported in the stable version and proposed during installation. Last update of syslinux comes with the HDT module (Hardware Detection Tool), which brings you a way to detect all your hardware before booting your system.
You can take the 2009 Spring tour, read the Release notes and
Errata, and of course, download.
s/msev/msec
This sounds like good release… Almost bleeding-edge packages, hopefully nicely integrated.
I have started my Linux journey with Mandrake 6.4 or 7.2, can’t really tell now, and it was a pleasant experience. Hasn’t touched Mandrake/iva for 3 or 4 years now but problems I have with Ubuntu 9.04/Intel 965GM graphics may be good reason to try something else.
Looking at their site: purple-violet theme is gone?! WTF!?
There is nothing funny here. It’s sad. OK it’s funny for Adam maybe (being a RedHat employee).
Been running cooker since the first alpha. This is the best Mandriva release since 2008.1
Edited 2009-04-29 21:37 UTC
I remember my first taste of Linux was back with Mandrake 6 and used that for a long time before I found more simplicity/stability on the Debian side.
That’s the one thing that gets hard.. I’ve built the last many years around Kubuntu and then something great like this comes out and you shift over to this… until the next great thing. Good thing we all love computers this much!
If someone wouldn’t mind… Mandriva One vs. the Powerpack. Worth buying or stick with One?
Powerpack is worth buying if you like the distro they make and want to support them.
Otherwise, if you live in a country (read USA) where the libdecss is illegal, you might want Powerpack to be able to play encrypted DVD’s legally.
If you don’t want to pay, or you live in a country (most European countries) with more liberal copyright laws, it’s just as easy to use the PLF repositories.
With Powerpack you also get support, Cedega (for playing win-games), etc.
Firstly, Linux does not use DeCss.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS
Instead, it uses libdvdcss
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libdvdcss
These two work in entirely different ways.
After all, a DVD actually has the key required to decode it actually stored on the DVD itself (somewhere within a long list of possible keys) … otherwise a stand-alone DVD player could not decode the DVD. AFAIK libdvdcss just tries, one after another, all of the keys it finds (in plaintext) on the DVD, until it finds one that works.
Since libdvdcss was written before the US DMCA law was passed, and since libdvdcss does not reverse-engineer anything anyway, and since it works in order to be able to play DVDs that have been legally purchased … I cannot personally see a sensible way to consider it illegal even under US laws.
libdvdcss is not itself a copy of any other copyrighted work. It does not use any kind of “key cracking” mechanism and its purpose is to play legally-purchased DVDs so it is not a “circumvention device”, and it is not reverse-engineered from anything else.
IANAL. YMMV.
I would stick with the One edition if you just want to try things out. There is no 64bit ‘One’ so if you want that you need to install ‘Free’. I’m running 2009.0 Free 64bit and I like it. Don’t let the ‘free’ scare you, simply install the proprietary goodies you need from the PLF. Keep in mind that ‘Free’ is install only, no liveCD.
I only wish the system was more responsive. The package manager is unbearably slow, like openSuSE slow. Other bits seem sluggish too but a good overall system.
Man, the mirrors are busy like hell. The system IS responsive. Wait a few weeks and you’ll see that the mirrors will become responsive too. Do you have any idea how many downloads are there simultaneously?
Edited 2009-04-29 23:38 UTC
Sometimes you need the graphic package manager to search for titles or descriptions. If you know the aproximate or exact package name then it’s far faster to go command line:
urpmi –update
urpmq firefo
urpmi mozilla-firefox
(where urpmq “firefo” returns any package name containing the text including “firefox” or “mozilla-firefox”)
I’ve been waiting for 2009 Spring for a good while. Mandriva is an awesome distro, and I’ve seen a lot better installers than theirs the distro itself is rock-solid.
Gotta go and install soon!
damn it, too many distros to try.
I cannot recommend 2009 spring with KDE enough.
Everyone who was disappointed by KDE4 (as I was, a big fan of KDE during the 3 series) should give this one a try.
I haven’t been a big user of rpm distros before but this one works very well at least.
Does this version of KDE4 allow you to configure click-in-root-window window-list and application menus (what you get to in KDE3 by ControlCenter>Desktop>Behavior>Mouse Button Actions)? Every other WM I’ve used (since OLWM on Sparc2’s around 1990) has allowed some measure of configurability here; from what I hear, KDE4 is completely broken in that regard.
Unless it does, it’s good-bye to KDE for me and probably good-by to Mandriva/Mandrake after twelve years of use.
Since you seem to be a fan of the distribution wouldn’t be easier if you just installed a different window manager – Fluxbox judging by the description of your needs – and retain all of the qualities that make Mandriva a good distro for you instead of switching distros completely?
Hi !
Please have a look in System Settings then choose “Window behaviour”. You will find there all what you need.
.
Edited 2009-04-30 06:52 UTC
I can boot from the KDE4-CD (2009.1, checked MD5 and SHA1), but Mandriva fails to detect my graphics card and stays at a black screen forever after the services started.
Any idea?
Did you have a look at the erratas ?
for example:
http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/2009.1_Errata#Upgrade_of_x11-server
Regards,
glyj
Edited 2009-04-30 10:09 UTC
IMHO you are affected by the following bug :
https://qa.mandriva.com/show_bug.cgi?id=49503
Try the workaround as described in the bug report :
CTRL+ALT+F1
log as root ( login = root )
service dm restart
and normally you should be ok.
I first started out with Mandrake 9.1. Might be time to check out the distro again that started it all for me. Looks like a nice release.
Mandriva always was the best KDE-based distribution. And the better is that Gnome and LXDE can be installed from the same media (on the Free or Powerpack versions).
There only 2 distributions with a complete control panel and both a powerfull tradicional installer and livecd options: Mandriva and OpenSuse. But Mandriva is lighter and faster and has more packages in official repositories.
One of the best distribution now? with the best control center that works in the console too.