Potions in Mageia. 04 – How proper cooking makes the final recipe pleasing to our users

Posted on September 15, 2026 by joselp

This time, as promised in this new phase of publications on our official sites, we’re giving a voice to one of our users from the Mageia community. Today, we’re sharing their opinion piece. We’re struck by the sincerity with which they speak about the benefits of Mageia, and also, because nothing is perfect, by some usage ideas we can improve within Mageia. Without further ado, here’s their analysis, which encourages us to continue improving our distribution!

Why and when I prefer Mageia Linux. By Ricardo Naranjo Faccini

1.- Personal reasons.

In the vast universe of Linux distributions, every user has their own preferences and reasons for choosing one over another. Today I want to talk about Mageia, a distribution that may not be the most well-known, but which offers a number of advantages that make it stand out. Here I’ll tell you why and when I prefer to use Mageia Linux, and why you might consider giving it a try.

1.a. Flexibility without Complications

One of the main reasons I choose Mageia is its incredible flexibility. This distribution allows me to set up a complete lab that seamlessly combines server tools with desktop applications. I can have an Apache server and PostgreSQL running simultaneously while using LibreOffice and GIMP. This duality is ideal for both development environments and personal use.

1.b. Package and Repository Management

Mageia stands out for its repository organization. You can opt for an extremely stable system by keeping the repositories in their default configuration, or you can enable the “testing” repositories to stay up-to-date with the latest updates. Additionally, you can activate the “debug” repositories to access source code and debugging tools. This adaptability is perfect for different needs and risk levels.

1.c. Safety during Installation and Uninstallation

One of the biggest fears of Linux users is breaking the system when installing or uninstalling software due to dependency issues. Mageia handles dependencies efficiently, allowing me to install and uninstall programs with the peace of mind that the system will continue to function correctly.

1.d. Powerful Graphics Tools

Mageia’s Control Center is one of its gems. This graphical tool allows you to manage the entire system intuitively, from hardware and network configuration to user administration and security. Not many distributions offer such comprehensive and accessible control.

Furthermore, Mageia simplifies disk partitioning during installation. I can create and manage partitions graphically, and even retain my user settings if I need to reinstall the system. This functionality is especially useful for those who are not comfortable with command-line partitioning tools.

1.e. Similarity to Red Hat

Mageia shares many similarities with Red Hat, a distribution widely used in corporate environments. This makes Mageia an excellent option for those seeking an enterprise-grade distribution without the associated costs. Furthermore, familiarity with Mageia facilitates the transition to Red Hat in the workplace.

1.f. Community and Support

Although not the most popular distribution, Mageia boasts an active and supportive community. Users can find help, share experiences, and access additional repositories. This kind of community support is invaluable, especially for new users.

1.g. Ease of Use and Diversity

Mageia is user-friendly for both beginners and advanced users. It’s easy to install and offers a wide variety of desktop environments to choose from. The full DVD version lets you try different desktops with a single click, making it easy to find the environment that best suits your needs.

Another advantage that I greatly value about Mageia is the availability of its Live versions, which allow you to boot the entire system from a USB memory without modifying the hard drive. This is perfect for both testing the distribution and verifying hardware compatibility without compromising the main equipment, or for setting up a temporary, homogeneous laboratory in minutes during a teaching session.

Furthermore, in the context of a trip, the Live version becomes an invaluable protection tool. If I need to use a rented computer at an internet cafe, just restart the computer from my USB to work in a clean environment controlled by me.

This way, I can carry out my tasks with complete peace of mind, eliminating the suspicion of interacting with malware installed on the host system and ensuring that no trace of my information or credentials is left when the machine is shut down.

2. When do I use Mageia?

I prefer to use Mageia in several scenarios:

  • Laboratory or Development Environments: Its ability to combine server and desktop applications in a single system is ideal for testing and development.
  • Personal Use: The stability and ease of management make Mageia an excellent choice for my daily use.
  • Teaching: When I teach Linux, Mageia is a formidable educational tool thanks to its flexibility and wealth of graphical tools.
  • Transition to Corporate Environments: For those interested in a career in IT, Mageia offers a solid foundation similar to Red Hat, facilitating the transition to corporate environments.

3. When I Prefer Other Distributions

Although Mageia is my preferred choice in most cases, there are very specific situations where other Linux distributions can be more suitable:

  • AlmaLinux OS and Rocky Linux—the successors to CentOS—for managing standalone enterprise servers.
  • Red Hat or SUSE, for corporate environments requiring support contracts and strict certifications.
  • Ubuntu: while its desktop environment currently bears no resemblance to Microsoft’s system, it remains highly recommended for the transition from Windows to Linux. Much of this recommendation likely stems from a lack of awareness regarding solid, user-friendly alternatives like Mageia.
  • Slackware or Gentoo: for extreme customization and absolute system control, suited for advanced Linux users who prefer terminal-based management.
  • Kali Linux or Fire, for digital forensics and penetration testing, featuring specialized environments designed to run from a live version without requiring local installation.

4. Conclusion

Mageia may not be the most popular distribution, but its advantages are undeniable. From its flexibility and efficient package management to its powerful graphical tools and active community, Mageia offers a robust and accessible experience. Whether you are looking for a development environment, a stable system for personal use, or an educational tool, Mageia is an option worth considering. Give it a try, and you will likely discover why it could become your preferred Linux distribution.

That concludes the analysis by our user Ricardo Naranjo Faccini; we will continue to work towards improving Mageia and giving our users a voice. Our distribution is a community project, legally established as a not-for-profit association run by an elected board of directors, unlike some of our better-known competitors. As advocates who recognize the benefits of free software, we invite you to share your ideas about Mageia with us on our open social media channels Mageia Matrix or Mageia IRC. You can also share your experiences using Mageia on other social networks by mentioning @Mageia or #Mageia, or by posting on our page Mageia Facebook.

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Potions in Mageia. 03 – Elograf or how have voice dictation with Mageia

Posted on September 3, 2026 by joselp

Have you ever needed voice dictation but couldn’t find a way to do it on Linux? Mageia offers Elograf with everything you need to get it working with just a few clicks. Let’s get started!

Tutorial – Installation

From our Mageia repositories

Since the release of Mageia 9, installing Elograf from our repositories is as simple as selecting the application from the package manager from “Install and remove applications” in the start menu or by entering the Mageia Control Center (MCC), and Mageia will install all the necessary packages to make Elograf fully functional, including kaldi, voxk-api, and nerd-dictation.


Voice model installation


The program requires a voice model function. This model is specific to each language. The available models are listed on this page. The tests were performed using one of the extended models from the link mentioned above. These models can also be downloaded directly from Elograf and can be saved in either user or system space (root password required for this option).

Use

When you launch Elograf from the Mageia application menu, a microphone icon will appear in the system tray, which is disabled by default. Clicking the icon will activate Elograf and begin voice dictation.


Right-clicking displays a menu that allows you to start dictation or access the settings. The settings menu shows options for adding models both locally, by downloading the file from the aforementioned link and specifying the saved location, and online. In the latter case, Elograf will open a list of available models for download and prompt you to choose the installation location, offering the option to install it in the user’s space or the system space from the same window.


By choosing “Activate direct click on the icon”, the start of dictation is controlled by a left click on the icon.

It is recommended to add Elograf to the list of applications set to run automatically at system startup. This will add its icon to the system tray, allowing quick access to commands. The method for configuring this option depends on your desktop environment.

After these settings, you can go to the application where you would normally write text, such as Libreoffice Writer, place the cursor where you want to start and begin dictating. At launch, you may have to wait a little while before the first vocalizations are recognized; this is the template’s loading time.

Some of the advantages you can find with this application:

  • Offline dictation. Voice recognition is performed using Vosk and locally downloaded models, so there’s no need to send the audio to a cloud service. This provides privacy and allows dictation even without an internet connection.
  • Works in almost any application. The recognized text is entered into the currently active application, so it can be used in text editors, browsers, email, forms, etc.
    • Saving on text when writing long texts. Speaking is usually faster and more comfortable than typing large amounts of text, especially for drafts, notes, emails, or documents.
    • Reduced keyboard usage. Especially useful when you want to decrease continuous keyboard use or alternate between typing and dictation.
    • Control from the system tray.
    • A selection of different downloadable language packs.
    • Simple setup, compatibility with X11 and Wayland (For Wayland, the keyboard emulator should be set to “DOTOOL” in the “Advanced settings”, with the keyboard specified.
    • Open source.

    More information in our Wiki!: Voice recognition in Mageia.

    Posted in Atelier, Collaboration, community, Mageia, Uncategorized, users | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

    Potions in Mageia. 02 – “Discover” Flatpak Gui App Installer

    Posted on August 24, 2026 by joselp

    Do you have a need for a software title that does not appear on the Mageia repositories list (MCC–>Software Management–>Install & Remove Software)? Such as the Google Chrome, Zoom, Spotify etc.? 

    The KDE/Plasma project offers a solution to this with their “Discover” flatpak GUI app installer. This app is available for installation on the MCC repositories.

    Tutorial 

    To install and set up the Discover app, do the following:

    • Go to the MCC (Mageia Control Centre) –> Software Management –> Install & Remove Software section.
    • In the search field put “discover”.
    • The MCC will return a list of apps that contain the word “discover”.
    • Choose “discover” (KDE and Plasma resources management GUI).
    • Click on the “Apply” button on the bottom of the MCC window.
    • Click on “OK” to complete the installation of “Discover”.
    • Once the installation is completed, close the MCC window as you no longer need it for the next steps.
    • Click on the bottom-left-hand taskbard Start button and go to “Tools –> System Tools –> Discover”.
    • Discover will start for the first time.

    You will now need to complete the Discover configuration.

    • Click on the left-hand menu item “Settings”.
    • Choose the item where it says to “Install Flathub – dl.flathub.org”.
    • Then, *** COMPLETE THIS IMPORTANT STEP *** — Under the “Mageia 10” column, UNCHECK every other category on the remaining list items.
      • This should leave the only checked category of “Flathub – dl.flathum.org”; “vendor-directory – Vendor (Automatic); lvfs – Linux Vendor Firmware Service” on the whole list.
    • You will now need to define the frequency of Discover’s update routine.
      • On the upper-right-hand-side of the Discover window, click on the three dots.
      • Choose “Configure Updates”. This will take you to the “KDE System Settings App Update” page.
      • Choose the settings that best suit you.
    • You have now installed and completed the Discover “flatpak” configuration.

    To install flatpak Discover apps:

    • In the Discover app, click on the left-hand menu item “Home”.
    • In the search field (at the top of that window), type in the software app that you would like to install.
      • For the purposes of this tutorial, we will use the “Google Chrome” app.
    • Type “Chrome” in the search field and do a keyboard “Return”.
    • You will now see the Google Chrome app (that is not found/supported in the MCC repositories).
    • Click on “Install” on the “Google Chrome” selection.
    • Discover will then install the flatpak Chrome app
    • At some point, Discover may/will ask you for the root password to complete the installation process.
    • Once the Chrome app is installed you will now see that the “Install” button now shows “Remove”, which, you may use later if you wish to remove the app.
    • You will now find the “Chrome” browser somewhere in your Mageia Start-button menu (lower-left-hand bottom taskbar) — > Internet — > More.

    The same process of installing other flatpak apps will follow the same procedure.

    A note on the Discover repositories and upkeep/updates.

    The KDE/Plasma project developers maintain the Discover app updates and, from experience, do an excellent job of keeping the official supported app versions current. Discover will, from time to time, notify you of needed updates with a notification button-icon on the bottom-right-hand side of your bottom taskbar. 

    Make sure to complete Discover updates as soon as possible for the sake of keeping these apps as up to date as possible. A reminder that you should also complete as soon as possible any MCC update notifications when they come up on your bottom-right-hand taskbar as well.

    This author suggests to continue to use the MCC as your main package and update app, and use the Discover app to install only those packages that are not found on the MCC app lists; the Mageia app maintainers do an excellent job of keeping the MCC repositories current and the URPMI management tools are well known as dependable and efficient.

    Notes of importance/warnings.

    If you would like to use Discover along with the MCC, make sure that you complete the Discover setup as mentioned above and leave the only checked categories of “Flathub – dl.flathum.org”; “vendor-directory – Vendor (Automatic); lvfs – Linux Vendor Firmware Service” on the whole list just as detailed above. OTHERWISE, both of the MCC and Discover will suggest updates to your Mageia system that may conflict with each other. This author suggests to continue to use the MCC as your main package and update app, and use the Discover app to install only those packages that are not found on the MCC app lists; the Mageia app maintainers do an excellent job of keeping the MCC repositories current and the URPMI management tools are well known as dependable and efficient.

    • NOTE that this tutorial is meant for a Mageia installation and, although the Discover app may be installed on other Linux flavours, this author does not accept any responsibility for any installation of Discover on any other distros.
    • NOTE that, as per usual, the installation of Discover should only be done on a Mageia system that has been well backed up, and, also fully updated through the MCC GUI.
    • NOTE that this author presents this tutorial purposely through the GUI version of the MCC and Discover with no mention of any use of any console.

    You also have this tutorial available in our wiki for future reference here: “Configure Discover as a Flatpak package manager”

    Posted in Atelier, community, Mageia, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

    Potions in Mageia. 01 – Pidgin and its accessories

    Posted on August 5, 2026 by joselp

    We started a series of blog posts. Ideas, applications, processes, customizations, contributions about our distribution that are relevant to our users, bringing the use of Mageia closer to everyone. We certainly hope that these new publications are of interest to you, you can share them on social networks, your personal blog, website, news sites or any other place that serves to show the qualities of Mageia!

    Prologue

    Today we’re going to talk about this application which, although somewhat forgotten by many, is a great low-resource alternative for managing multiple messaging protocols simultaneously. In Mageia, it’s very well packaged with many plugins that you won’t find in other distributions and that complement Pidgin very well, allowing you to use it like modern messaging apps.

    Pidgin is cross-platform and multi-protocol, which means that if you add what you need, you’ll have a multitude of messaging applications in one.

    On the other hand, resource optimization is such that the impact on the system is truly minimal. Just look at some data from two of the most requested applications by the average user: WhatsApp and Telegram, for example.

      • Opening Telegram will consume 300 to 400MB of your computer’s RAM.

      • Opening WhatsApp will consume 700 to 900MB of your computer’s RAM—a truly outrageous amount for a messaging app… Of course, most of these versions are built on Electron, and their optimization is about as good as Mageia is for Windows…

    Opening Pidgin with both accounts configured consumes 90 to 150 MB of your computer’s RAM, at most, so as you can see, in terms of performance and resource optimization, it’s highly recommended…

    After this, Pidgin has its plugins. It’s highly recommended to leave the “History” plugin activated, which allows you to save conversations in the log. Note that it’s advisable not to delete conversations from the conversation window, which you can find in the “View History” option in each conversation’s menu.

    Installation

    Installation in Mageia is very simple, although some accounts may require the installation of a few extra packages. There are two ways to do it: through the software manager or via the terminal. Let’s get started:

      • Terminal: It is recommended to have the Blogdrake community repositories enabled for some packages. Enter the terminal as root and write: “urpmi pidgin pidgin-telegram-tdlib purple-gowhatsapp purple-telegram-tdlib pidgin-libnotify pidgin-indicator pidgin-window_merge pidgin-wemoji-theme”. With this command, pidgin and plugins for telegram, whatsapp and a complete emoji theme will be installed.



      • Software Manager: Go to the Start menu and search for “Install or Remove Apps.” Once there, make sure both search filters are set to “All.” Next, we install the following packages: “pidgin pidgin-telegram-tdlib” “pidgin-wemoji-theme” “purple-gowhatsapp” “purple-telegram-tdlib” “pidgin-libnotify” “pidgin-indicator” “pidgin-window_merge”. As before, this will install plugins and the emoji theme.



    Configure Pidgin to manage these two messages It’s relatively simple. As soon as you launch the application, a greeting and a window to start configuring the accounts will appear. Note that Pidgin supports many other communication protocols, such as Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, IRC, XMPP, etc. For more information about them and how to install them, you can visit the “official Pidgin website. Let’s get started:

    Telegram

    In the accounts section, tap “Add.” In the next window, choose the “Telegram (tdlib)” protocol. Then, in the “Username” field, enter your phone number with the international code. For example, in my case, from Spain, it would be 34669543111, and tap “Accept” or “Add.” After this, a pop-up window will appear to add the code that Telegram sends to the mobile application. The Telegram account is now set up.


    Whatsapp

    In the accounts section, tap “Add”, and in the next window choose the “Whatsapp” protocol. Next, in the “Username” field, enter your phone number in international code, and now comes the important part followed by “@s.whatsapp.net”, for example, 34669543111@s.whatsapp.net. After this, a window will appear with a QR code to add the session from the mobile app.



    Extra configuration for GTK themes, dark mode in Pidgin

    For desktop environments other than Plasma, if Pidgin doesn’t pick up the default dark theme from the desktop environment preferences, you can try closing Pidgin after configuring the accounts and installing the packages:

      • “gtk-chtheme”. This is an application that will allow you to change the themes of GTK applications.

      • “gtk2-theme-engines”. Installs various GTK themes for GTK applications.

      • Open the GTK themes application and select the “Nodoka-Midnight” theme.

    This seems to be the theme that best integrates dark mode into Pidgin.

      • Go to your home folder and find the file “.gtkrc-2.0” (you will need to show hidden files to find it). Remember to remove the period from the name once copied so that the theme applies correctly to Pidgin, leaving the name as “gtkrc-2.0”.

      • Copy that file to the “.purple” folder, which is where everything related to Pidgin is located.

      • Restart, and then open Pidgin normally. It should now display the dark theme.

      • Some screenshots:

    We previously installed an expanded emoji theme. To activate it, go to Preferences, then to “Themes > Emoji Theme,” and select the theme. It will appear as WhatsApp/iOS Emojis.



    Extra access, shortcuts, and other features.

      • From the main window, you can search for a chat using “Ctrl+f”. If, for example, we have the same name on two different accounts (WhatsApp and Telegram), Pidgin will tell us which account we want the chat from.

        From a chat window, use “Ctrl+F” to search within the current chat.

        From the chats window, use “Ctrl+M” to open a new chat or search for one to open a conversation.

        From the “Conversation > View History” menu, you can view the history of the current chat (remember to enable the “History” plugin in the plugins section first). –>

      • From the main “Friends List” window, press “Ctrl-p” to open preferences.

    Add-ons

      • History: Shows previous chat conversations. Enter the last conversation before starting the new one.

      • Libnotify Popus (not to be confused with Libnotify+): Displays notifications using libnotify

      • Message notification: Allows notification of unread messages.

      • New line: Adds a horizontal line to separate old and new conversations.

      • Window-merge: This plugin allows you to merge the “friends” and “chats” windows.

    You can configure these plugins from the “Configure Plugin” option just below the window.



    We hope you found this tutorial interesting. It shows you how to configure and use an application that, while not very well-known, is a gem for managing messaging from your PC with minimal resources. Best of all, it’s available from the Mageia and BlogDrake!!!.

    repositories.

    Posted in Atelier, Collaboration, community, Mageia, users | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

    The power of 10

    Posted on June 30, 2026 by marja

    Written by Atelier Team, with the help of Packaging Team.

    Mageia 10, our new release, is ready to empower you. Download it here now, or read on for more details.

    • The power of Mageia 10 is found in all you can do with it: use it as desktop or as server, use it for education, development, office work, art, music, gaming, science and much more.
    • The power of Mageia 10 lies in part in the broad range of choices you have between full-blown desktop environments and window managers.
    • The power of Mageia 10 rests, as well, on the best software to carry out a range of
      activities from creative to leisure, personal to professional.
    • The power of Mageia 10 comes from its ability to use the full capabilities of new (with e.g. rocm) and older hardware and its ability to even run on very old, 32-bit hardware. You don’t need to upgrade your computer’s hardware to benefit from it.
    • The power of Mageia 10 rests on its tradition of high packaging standards, based on policies, mentoring and QA testing.
    • The power of Mageia 10 is assured by the monitoring of security threats and their rapid resolution.


    In the end, the power of Mageia 10, the secret to its true power, flows from you, its committed community of users and contributors, from developers to artists, from those donating money to those donating time, either directly or simply through bug reports. It is you, our community, that guides the shape and evolution of Mageia to assure it meets your real needs and ways of working.

    Now it is time to have a peek inside…

    Mageia 10 comes with newer versions of thousands of packages, newer versions that often mean new features on top of the usual bug fixes. You can find some highlights in the Release Notes. You can also find the available packages in the Mageia Applications Database, nicely sorted by group, and toggle between viewing all applications or graphical ones only. Click on an application to get more information and a screenshot.

    To give an idea of the vast number of new features and enhancements in Mageia 10, we present some from the Graphical desktop group below:

    While Mageia 10 still proudly “flies” its traditional colours, you will find visual improvements here and there. For example, the new SDDM login screen on the right below gives a taste of the attention to detail in this release.



    This new release carries on Mageia’s tradition of multiple installation options: the classical DVD, live images (new installation only), and netinstalls. Taking the live images as an example, here are some many enhancements Mageia 10 offers:


    Updates to all the desktop environments that can be installed with Mageia (choose whichever you like, or install them all on the same computer!). Mageia offers a wide variety of popular and lightweight desktops, which you can install at any time via our software centre or via the terminal (if you’re a more advanced user). So, you can choose from Plasma KDE 6.5.5, GNOME 49.0, XFCE 4.21, LXDE, LXQT (now with a Wayland option), Enlightenment, IceWM, MATE, Fluxbox, Cinnamon, Sugar or the newer Wayland compositors like labwc, niri, sway, and hyprland. When installed alongside a DE, the window managers appear as alternative sessions in the login menu of your display manager – over 20 desktop environments and window managers available to install at the click of a button. More information can be found here.


    Updates for the main office suites (LibreOffice 26.2.3.2 e.g.), web browsers (e.g., Firefox 140.11.0esr), multimedia tools, photo and video editing software, development tools (e.g., gcc 15.2.0, rust 1.95.0, python 3.13.13 or perl 5.42.0, git 2.52), server daemons (e.g., postfix 3.9.10, apache 2.4.67, docker 28.5.2, postgresql 18.4) and more all based on our LTS Linux Kernel 6.18.35.


    Updates and optimisations to our Mageia tools. Feel like a real expert with our Mageia Control Centre (MCC), urpmi, graphical updates and dnf support, to manage and configure many parts of the system, as well as support for the desktop environment of your choice! You can easily view all detected hardware in a graphical interface, check drivers, configure driver settings (if you’re an advanced user), install printers and much more!

    Hardware tab in MCC


    You also have access to a vast array of software thanks to our compatibility with DNF, Flatpak and AppImage. More information on the available applications can be found here on our wiki.

    Not to forget the best part of Mageia: It is a community distribution, made by its users. This release would not have been possible without all our volunteers: the packagers, developers, sysadmins, QA testers, translators, artists, legal experts, the web, forums and documentation teams, and everyone else who helped bring this together. Come and participate in our global communities, forums, Matrix groups, Telegram or IRC toimprove your lovely distribution. You are part of us, take part.

    If you need more information about installing Mageia or about Mageia’s Control Center (MCC), check our official documentation. You will also find instructions for upgrading from Mageia 9 in the Release Notes. There is, of course, even more documentation in our wiki. And in our Bugzilla where we track issues.

    Explore the power of Mageia 10. Download it. Enjoy!

    Mageia 9 will be supported until September 30, 2026.

    Posted in Mageia, release | Tagged , | 11 Comments