Mandriva was originally called Mandrake Linux (started in 1998), but after a litigation about the name (related, of course, with Mandrake the Magician) was forced to change it; and at the same time MandrakeSoft acquired Conectiva Linux (my first Linux installation ever), so the combination of those two did all the rest, and Madriva was created.

Related to Mandriva 2010, here are some of the improvements related with previous versions:

• Boot time improved.
• Clean and complete grub and install menu (failsafe, init3 entry, recovery entry, check tool for istallation media)
• Use of Plymouth and fallback on Splashy for non supported chipsets
• Switch to Tomoyo as security framework, provide GUI for common setup, integrated also in msec tool
• Guest account created on the fly when needed
• Packaging of Moblin, use it as default environment if stable enough  when light hardware configuration is detected
• Manage end of life distribution through mdkonline applet
• Autodetection of local urpmi repositories
• Improved hybrid isos use

I know what you are thinking, Why I would even consider to install an Alpha Linux distribution? Well, there’s no direct and simple answer to that one. As I mentioned before in 40 years of Unix post, the history of Linux has a long way and it is responsible for several other projects like Mac OS X, BSD and Sun operating system. The spirit is what did all the work.

And that’s the idea, go ahead, download it, test it, give your feedback, contribute and improve the work; that’s the spirit.

Final version for Mandriva 2010 will be available in October 21st.

• News Feed Reader for Linux – September 27, 2010
• 40 years of Unix – June 17, 2009
• Hong Kong Apple Store Tour – October 3, 2011
• Huffington Post To Be Leading Independent Online News Source in UK – July 9, 2011
• SearchBlox: Amazing Search Engine Tool for Your Linux Computer – June 10, 2011

Mandriva Linux 2010 Alpha 1 originally appeared on: Crenk
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