If you fancy sampling a Linux distro that’s not based on Ubuntu, check out the new Mageia 7 release, now available for download.
Mageia 7 arrives two years after the release of Mageia 6 and is packed full of the latest Linux software, utilities and desktop environments.
“Everyone at Mageia is very happy to announce the release of Mageia 7. We all hope that the release works as well for you as it has during our testing and development,” writes Mageia’s Donald Stewart on the project blog.
A RPM-based Linux distribution, Mageia is a fork of Mandriva, which was a mildly popular Linux distro that shut up shop in 2011.
Mageia 7: Features & Updates
With two years worth of updates to provide it’s fair to say that Mageia 7 is overflowing with new capabilities, such as “experimental” support for ARMv7 and aarch64 devices, as well as plenty of package updates.
Mageia 7 runs on Linux Kernel 5.1, uses the Plasma 5.15 desktop by default (though other DEs are available) and includes the latest and greatest open-source software, including LibreOffice 6.2.3, Chromium 73 and Mozilla Firefox 67.
The distro also features a small crop of home-grown software, including the tidy looking Mageia Control Center (MCC) app and a Welcome screen. The latter has been ‘reworked’ to be simpler for new users to follow.
Continuing to be all things to all people, Mageia 7 provides the latest DNF package manager in addition to RPM, as well as support for ‘AppStream’ software front-ends (like GNOME Software and Plasma Discover), and third-party apps in Fedora COPR and openSUSE Build service.
The distro also now lets you switch to the rEFInd boot manager should GRUB 2 not satisfy your needs.
Hardware wise the distro makes use of X.Org 1.20.4 (though various Wayland options are available too), offers Mesa 19.1, and support s Nvidia Optimus graphics switching technology via Bumblebee, Nouveau offloading, or the new, home-grown mageia-prime package.
The proprietary AMDGPU-PRO driver is not compatible with Mageia 7.
Woah, Sneddon: this isn’t OMG! Mageia! bro
Wondering why you’re reading about a non-Ubuntu based distro on an Ubuntu-based web magazine?
Well, it’s because you asked!
The biggest piece of feedback our recent content survey turned up — survey is still open if you haven’t already taken it — is that you want to see more posts about what’s happening in the wider Linux community, the one beyond Ubuntu.
I’ve peppered this site with a modest sprinkling of “beyond the orange bubble” posts a while (though I do try to link things back to Ubuntu in some fashion) but you say you want to see more.
Now, if you’re here for Ubuntu exclusively you needn’t fear: I’m not about to turn this site in to “omglinux.com”. There won’t be a flood of daily items on every dog and their distro that’s out there.
But, now and again, for notable or interesting items, I’m gonna bite. And the arrival of Mageia 7, which makes an interesting alternative to big-name distros like Fedora and Arch, felt like a fitting place to start.
Download Mageia 7
Check our the full release notes for Mageia 7 to learn more, and pay attention to the Errata section for known issues.
To try Mageia 7 first hand you can grab a download from the link below.
Various different ISOs are available. The regular Live ISO image comes in three flavours: Plasma, GNOME and Xfce.
Use the “Classical” ISO if you want to install multiple desktop environments, such as Cinnamon or the MATE desktop.