Mandriva Linux
Mandrake Linux is a Linux distribution. The first release was based on Red Hat Linux (version 5.1) and KDE (version 1.0) in July 1998. It has since diverged from Red Hat and has included a number of original tools mostly to ease system configuration. Mandrake Linux is also notable for compiling its packages with optimizations for Pentium-class and more advanced processors which are incompatible with older CPU versions such as 386 and 486. MandrakeSoft is the company behind Mandrake Linux. Mandrake Linux was originated by Gaël Duval, who was also a co-founder of Mandrakesoft.
Features
The major features that Mandrake Linux has are
Internationalization
Mandrake Linux supports over 60 languages
Installation, Control and Administration
Mandrake Linux uses the Control Center for administration of Linux rather than using a text editor to change settings. It has many programs known as Drakes or Draks, collectively named drakxtools, to configure many different settings. Examples include such as MouseDrake to set up a mouse, DiskDrake to set up disk partitions and drakconnect (previously known as draknet but had to change its name after a company of the same name complained) to set up a network connection. They are written using GTK and Perl, and most of them can run in both graphical and text mode.
Software
Mandrake Linux comes with several thousands of software packages containing many different varieties of software.
Community
Mandrake Linux has a large of community of users, that provides help, support, and software to the user of Mandrake Linux.
Constant Development
Mandrake Linux is constantly in development. A development version of Mandrake, known as the "cooker" is publicly available, but it is not recommended for use in a production environment because of the constant changes going on in it. Next to that, community members provide rpms for the latest packages of popular software.
Optimization
From the ground up, Mandrake Linux was compiled for Pentium-class processors, thus benefiting of a few percents of additional performance on these machines - to the cost of being unusable with 386 and 486, a problem that rapidly faded out with nowadays CPU power and memory requirements of latest versions of popular software.
The provided kernel and glibc have enhancements for more recent processors. For example, the glibc will load libraries from the special directory /lib/i686 if the detected processor is compatible.
Desktops
Mandrake Linux is geared to use KDE or GNOME as the standard desktops, but includes others such as IceWM, Blackbox, Window Maker and Twm. A unique theme known as "Mandrakegalaxy" provides consistency between applications and desktop environments. Mandrakegalaxy debuted in version 9.1 and Mandrakegalaxy II appared in 10.0. A variant of Mandrakegalaxy is "Mandrakegalaxy Squared", which uses square window buttons rather than round ones.
Package Manager
Mandrake Linux uses a package manager called urpmi. It uses the RPM package format. It is similar to apt-get: it allows seemless installation of a given software package by automatically installing the other packages needed, possibly transparently over the network. Urpmi also has a front-end called RPMdrake, which the majority of users use to install software in Mandrake Linux.
Versions
Latest Version
The latest version 10.0 Official Edition was released for download to Mandrakeclub Members on April 14, 2004. The Official FTP tree has been released within a week, and public ISO images on May, 25th. This is in line with Mandrakesoft's new strategy of making releases available first to paying customers. In general, the Official Edition is intended to be more stable and well tested than the Community Edition.
The Community Edition, effectively an early release for the Official Edition, was released as ISO files on March 4, 2004 to Mandrakeclub Members and the ISO files were made publicly available less than two weeks later. The Community Edition can be updated to the same software as in the Official Edition using the urpmi update tool. In general, the Community Edition is intended to more quickly incorporate new versions and new packages than the Official Edition.
The Free Edition contains some advertisements in the form of bookmarks in the web browser and slides during installation, to help cover the costs of producing the distribution.
Table of Versions
| Year | Number | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 5.1 | Venice |
| 1998 | 5.2 | Leeloo |
| 1999 | 5.3 | Festen |
| 1999 | 6.0 | Venus |
| 1999 | 6.1 | Helios |
| 2000 | 7.0 | Air |
| 2000 | 7.1 | Helium |
| 2001 | 7.2 | Ulysses |
| 2001 | 8.0 | Traktopel |
| 2001 | 8.1 | Vitamin |
| 2002 | 8.2 | Bluebird |
| 2002 | 9.0 | Dolphin |
| 2003 | 9.1 | Bamboo |
| 2003 | 9.2 | FiveStar |
| 2004 | 10.0 | Community and Official |
| N/A | N/A | Cooker |
Offsprings
Distributions that are based on Mandrake, some by mandrake itself, others by independent projects. Some keep compatible with mandrake, so that installing an mandrake rpm also works on the offspring.
Gaming Edition
Mandrake Linux 8.1 had a Gaming Edition, which was a game oriented Linux distribution. It had a port of The Sims and used the Transgaming WineX technology to support some games produced for Windows.
MandrakeMove
A LiveMove is the set formed by a LiveCD and a bootfloppy or USB key.
MandrakeMove is a MandrakeSoft product that benefits from a Mandrake Linux LiveCD which doesn't need to be installed to run on a computer, and a USB key that automatically records bootloader, hardware configuration and personal data.
First version of MandrakeMove was released in December 2003 (but only distributed to customers in January 2004, due to production delays - a problem very common to Mandrake releases, unfortunately). It brought two main innovations compared to competitors:
- ability to eject the cdrom if the machine has 256 MB of RAM or more (Knoppix also can, but needs to copy the whole cdrom into RAM, therefore needs a machine with 1 GB of RAM or more), and continue to operate in a "downgraded" mode allowing only to play multimedia files
- transparent save of any user modification of her own files and system configuration files, if operated with a USB key
PCLinuxOS
A bootable Live CD distribution called PCLinuxOS, initially based on Mandrake Linux 9.2, was created by an active contributor known as Texstar. It is comparable to MandrakeMove, but it is reported to have better hardware support and a broader selection of useful software.