OpenMandriva Lx
| Company type | Community-led project |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | December 12, 2012 |
| Founder | OpenMandriva Association |
| Headquarters | France |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Linux distribution |
| Owner | OpenMandriva Association |
| Website | www |
OpenMandriva Lx is a versatile Linux distribution supported by the OpenMandriva Association, targeting both x86 (32/64-bit) and ARM hardware. It carries forward the heritage of Mandriva Linux, which was active from 1998 until 2011. The project provides a stable release version alongside a rolling release edition called Rome, introduced in 2023. OpenMandriva utilizes the RPM Package Manager and defaults to the KDE Plasma 5 desktop environment.
The development process is coordinated through an Automated Build Farm (ABF), which oversees source code management, compilation, repository assembly, and ISO image production.
Origins
OpenMandriva Lx is a community-led Linux distribution that emerged in May 2012 when Mandriva S.A. averted bankruptcy by handing over the development of its consumer-focused product to its community.[1][2]
The OpenMandriva Association was founded on December 12, 2012, under French law of 1901, to act as the official representative body for the OpenMandriva Community.[3]
OpenMandriva Lx 2013.0
The inaugural OpenMandriva Lx release, codenamed "Oxygen," debuted on November 22, 2013.[4][5][6][7]
This release originated as a fork from Mandriva Linux 2011.0, itself influenced by both ROSA Linux and Mandriva. Notable components included KDE version 4.11.2, the SimpleWelcome menu interface, ROSA Media Player 1.6, Mozilla Firefox 25.0, LibreOffice 4.1.3, and the Linux kernel version 3.11.6.
OpenMandriva Lx 2014.x
On May 1, 2014, OpenMandriva Lx 2014 "Phosphorus" was launched to favorable feedback, including praise from Gaël Duval, one of the original creators of Mandrake Linux.
Following this, OpenMandriva Lx 2014.2 "The Scion" arrived on June 29, 2015 as a bugfix update to version 2014.1. This release paid homage to Mandrake Linux while continuing to develop the distribution’s foundations.
OpenMandriva 3.x
In 2015, an alpha build of OpenMandriva Lx 2015 was introduced and gradually matured into OpenMandriva Lx 3.0 Beta by 2016. This marked a pivotal transition as it became the first desktop Linux distribution compiled entirely with the Clang compiler rather than GCC.
The stable iteration, OpenMandriva Lx 3.0, was made available in August 2016 and was succeeded by updates: version 3.01 in December 2016, followed by versions 3.02 in June and 3.03 in November of 2017. These updates concentrated on enhancing system stability and improving user experience.
Post version 3.03, developers declared that support for the i586 (32-bit) architecture would cease starting with OpenMandriva Lx 4.0, reflecting broader industry movement towards exclusive 64-bit support.
OpenMandriva Lx 4.x
The creation of OpenMandriva Lx 4.0 took approximately two years after Lx 3.03’s release. The initial alpha appeared on September 6, 2018; this was followed by Major Release Alpha 1 in December 2018, Beta in February 2019, and a Release Candidate in May of the same year.
June 2019 saw the official stable launch of OpenMandriva Lx 4.0, introducing significant changes such as adopting the DNF package manager for software handling instead of URPMI and rpmdrake. This edition also broadened hardware compatibility by adding support for ARM64 (aarch64) and ARM v7 (armv7hnl) platforms. Additionally, there were announced intentions to port the distribution onto open-source CPU architectures after initial deployment on RISC-V hardware.
Released in February 2022, OpenMandriva Lx 4.3 replaced PulseAudio with PipeWire as its default audio server and incorporated Linux kernel version 5.16 alongside enhancements for Wayland to boost performance and cross-platform compatibility.
The final iteration of OpenMandriva Lx 4.3 was officially confirmed on February 7, 2022.
OpenMandriva Lx 5.x
The release of OpenMandriva Lx version 5.0 took place on 25 November 2023.
OpenMandriva Lx 6.x
On 20 April 2025, OpenMandriva Lx version 6.0 was officially launched.
OpenMandriva ROME (rolling release)
In January 2023, the OpenMandriva community unveiled the "ROME" edition, a rolling-release variant aimed at individual users, featuring continuous updates with the newest software versions.
Stable branch
| Version | Code name | Release date | End-of-life date | Kernel version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Version | Oxygen | 2013-11-22 | 2014-05-28 | 3.11.8 |
| Template:Version | Phosphorus | 2014-05-09 | 2017-11-21 | 3.13.11 |
| Template:Version | 2014-10-26 | 3.15.10 | ||
| Template:Version | The Scion | 2015-06-29 | 3.18.12 | |
| Template:Version | Einsteinium | 2016-08-14 | 2019-07-16 | 4.6.5 |
| Template:Version | 2016-12-25 | 4.9.0 | ||
| Template:Version | 2017-06-21 | 4.11.3 | ||
| Template:Version | 2017-11-21 | 4.13.12 | ||
| Template:Version | Nitrogen | 2019-06-16 | 2020-03-01 | 5.1.9 |
| Template:Version | Mercury | 2020-02-01 | 2021-03-12 | 5.5.5 |
| Template:Version | Argon | 2021-02-12 | 2022-03-07 | 5.10.14 |
| Template:Version | Dysprosium | 2022-02-07 | Approximately one month following the release of version 5.0 | 5.16.7 |
| Template:Version | Iodine | 2023-11-25 | Roughly one month after the subsequent version is issued | 6.3.x |
| Template:Version | Vanadium | 2025-04-20 | About one month after the next release date | 6.14.2 |
| Template:Version | ROME | 2023-01-07 | Rolling release (ongoing support) | 6.14.x |
Development versions
| Version | Release date | Kernel version |
|---|---|---|
| 4.1 RC1 | 28 January 2020 | 5.5.0 |
| 4.1 Alpha | 10 November 2019 | 5.3.9 |
| 4.0 RC | 12 May 2019 | 5.1.0 |
| 4.0 Beta | 9 February 2019 | 4.20.4 |
| "4.0 Major Release Alpha 1" | 25 December 2018 | 4.19.8 |
| "4.0 Alpha" | 6 September 2018 | 4.18 |
| "3.0 RC1" | 19 July 2016 | 4.6.4 |
| "3.0 Beta 2" | 27 June 2016 | 4.6.2 |
| "3.0 Beta 1" | 6 April 2016 | Template:N/A |
| "3.0 Alpha" | 24 April 2015 | 3.18.11 |
| "3.0 Pre-Alpha" | 3 February 2015 | Template:N/A |
| "2014.0 RC1" | 18 April 2014 | 3.13.10 |
| "2014.0 Beta" | 24 March 2014 | 3.13.6 |
| "2014.0 Alpha 2" | 28 February 2014 | 3.12.13 |
| "2014 .0 Alpha" | 31 January 2014 | 3 .12 .8 |
External links
References
- ↑ Mandriva Linux will return to the community
- ↑ DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 487
- ↑ About - OpenMandriva
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