Try Mageia 3 alpha 1!

Here we go again!

Mageia 3 is on the way, and here is the first alpha release. Alpha 1 is now available for download. We are now waiting for your tests.

You will find, as usual, DVD and dual isos. However, Alpha 1 release will not provide Live CDs. They are relying on a specific file system, UnionFS. UnionFS is not included in the upstream kernel, and has to be rebuilt for every new kernel version. It seems for now it does not work properly on 3.5 series kernels. We are investigating, but as UnionFS seems to be quite unmaintained upstream at the moment, we need to either fix it  and maintain it ourselves or we switch to another file system like AuFS or OverlayFS.

More information about Mageia 3 alpha 1:

Enjoy!

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27 Responses to Try Mageia 3 alpha 1!

  1. Pingback: Попробуй Mageia 3 Альфа 1! | Mageia Blog (Русский)

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  6. toujours says:

    how come ubuntu 12.10 is able to give you a live cd and they use kernel 3.5???

    • obgr_seneca says:

      Perhaps they don’t use Unionfs but one of the others?
      Or they fixed Unionfs?

      This is a first alpha and we are working on it.

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  8. Toujours says:

    I’m not entirely sure but I think they do have unionfs, since it’s open source maybe you can use the one they are using?
    I think a live cd is important because very few people would install a alpha system but they would at least test out a live cd (speaking for me aswell)…

    Also please consider switching early to kernel 3.6 as it’s on rc5 and it’s almost final, and it will give you a upper hand since ubuntu comes with 3.5 and 3.6 is more stable and better

    • ennael says:

      The problem is not using or not Ubuntu one, the problem is to use one that is supported upstream and stop loosing time when kernel update is coming. We will have live CDs but cauldron is a good opportunity to switch to better solution. We will take as much time as needed.

  9. Toujours says:

    indeed, take all the time needed, mageia is getting noticed and it’s already #2 on DW. If Mageia3 is sucessful it will definately shift things. I just hope you don’t start locking things in early alphas, I would definately like to see kernel 3.6 and gnome 3.6 make it into the beta, then you could call it mageia 3.6 😉

  10. tmb says:

    ubuntu, rosa and fedora all use overlayfs (not unionfs) wich is why I’m considering to switch to it now that unionfs development has stalled… but it means our livecd build & boot process need to be adapted and tested wich takes time…
    as for kernel version we will probably have something like 3.7 – 3.9 at mga3 release time…

  11. Pingback: Mageia 3 Alpha 1 disponibile per il download | oneOpenSource

  12. bla says:

    unionfs has had weak development for much longer than 6 months, which is what gave boost to aufs.

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  16. edeltromb_ruby says:

    The community in this distro is unbelievable. They pushed a whole revamped KDE stack, updated a gazillion libraries and now a drakxtools update in about 2 weeks time! Now I look into the website, and they just pushed an Alpha 1! Amazing work, guys!

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  20. Ezim says:

    tmb!

    Does that also means that we with Mageia 3 are leaving “hybridiso” with introduce of overlayfs?

  21. I tjink aufs will be a nice change, you are building a great distribution here, and I dont know if mageia team start working with UnionFS will took a lot time from you guys. Please take your time and continue doing the best distro ever! Love, Paola

  22. io1 says:

    I hope I am not left field with all this, but I was interested in your project and very impressed with the community organizing model. I loved that you asked people what they wanted, and people felt like their suggestions mattered.

    I must say however, I am not at all on the Stallman bandwagon. I want to abolish software patents as much as anyone, and in fact have a MORE radical perspective against all intellectual property compared to FSF….However, I do not think that end-users must sacrifice a functional system to use Linux, any more than a cancer partient should be expected to refuse proprietary drugs on principle. No doubt our financial crisis would be lessened if we could produce open source drugs for cost without giving so much to the drug and insurance corporations….and intellectual property is responsible for us spending thousands on a drug that costs pennies to produce. We would all be better off without software patents, but is depriving our users of codecs and drivers the way forward to attaining that? I think not.

    The last time I tried Mageia 1, my wifi did not work. Installing the better video card driver was not an easy process. I could not view youtube videos as I was accustomed to in Linux Mint. I could not view several movies that I downloaded from TPB….movies I had every right to download and watch.

    No ‘free software’ distro is going to attain mainstream status until it supports 98% of most users hardware out of the box. That was one of the major strengths of Mandrake/Mandriva, that things ‘just worked’…..though I do not support charging $50 for a proprietary ‘package’, but I will donate to a project that shares it for free.

    Allowing non-free codecs to exist in a hidden repo, like vanilla Debian Linux, is not good enough if you need those drivers to access lan or wifi in the first place…or to clear up video driver issues. The automatic hardware configuration of Kanotix/Knoppix, Chakra, Manjaro, Sabayon and others is what makes them really user friendly distros. Installing a proprietary video codec in Federoa is a royal pain, which is why I will never use their distro….one reason anyway. I would use FusionOS because it already has that stuff out of the way.

    I also think distros need to decide if they are building desktops or servers….or at least keep the services minimal so that the user can decide, like Arch does. You do not need to be ‘lite’ as far as resources or space. Nobody expects a distro to fit on a CD anymore, if they have a modern computer. However, you do not need your desktop to have remote access enabled, rsync running 24/7, or anything else like that if you are not needing to use them. Unsecured services on open ports is how systems get hacked and how domestic spying happens, and also how somebody steals your credit card info. Linux is immune to viruses, but not to remote viewing or ssh-cracking.

    It would be nice if we could choose to allow these remote access and server oriented services at startup, or choose to ommit them for just a basic desktop workstation. Manually blocking them in the firewall is a sub-satisfactory solution. KISS does not have to mean minimalist, but it is good to avoid redundancy and to avoid uneeded services….ESPECIALLY as you make the transition to systemd.

    I am tempted to give Mageia another try, but only if I am confident that a LIVE DVD will run on 98% of the laptops I encounter without the catch-22 of needing to install them from the non-free repo….I like how Chakra allows you to install them from the DVD at boot time, or ommit them if you prefer libre and do not need it.

    I also must say that I do not really care about multi-boot images. I have little need for x32 ISOs. This isnt 1999 or even 2006 anymore. In 2012 we have x64 bit computers. In 2012, the “old” computers that are 10-12 years old are probably x64bit as well. A non-netbook still running 1386 is probably unsuitable for any modern desktop like KDE or Gnome-shell, so why even bother making the ISO for it? Gnome-Shell/Cinnamon/KDE4.9 is not going to run well enough on a Pentium 2/3 to worry about it. E17, Blackbox, perhaps LXDE, and maaaybe XFCE could run on some of those old 1686 machines….I would not let backwards compatibility take priority over a working live-medium, at least for KDE-Gnome/Cinnamon/XFCE. Maybe its worth it for Enlightenment and Openbox or Fluxbox.

    If you are supporting non-free drivers/codecs and bumbleebee and Nvidia/ATI drivers, then I will definitely give your distro a spin as soon as you get some live media working.

  23. oOo says:

    Mageia E17 please?