Closer Look at Mageia 1
The other night I decided that it would be much easier to pick out one of the other distributions I have on my machine than to try and build an older version of KDEPIM myself for Sabayon. So, with that in mind, I booted up Mageia 1 that night.
I began the process of moving into another distro: copying configuration files, setting up directories in /etc/fstab, importing news feeds, setting up hardware that needs extra attention, and in Magiea, installing Flash. It's awful when you can't remember how to do something. For example, I need for KRadio4 to use my FM radio chip as a V4L 1 instead of 2. I know I've found the right incantation before, a couple of times. I'll figure it out again I'm sure...
The most annoying thing about Mageia is the fonts. They aren't very pretty. I messed with them quite a bit and have some looking a little better. My perception is already adapting as well, but the fonts just aren't as pretty as in Sabayon.
Here's a funny one: Kdict isn't really usable is it? It's shrunken down to about 2 inches with the text area less than an inch. And it appears it doesn't matter which theme I use. So, you'll have to forgive any misspellings or using the wrong homonym. (They say memory is the first to go, but nope, it's spelling.)
But Kmail 1 is working wonderfully. My emails are readable again. No Conflict Resolution boxes freezing up the works. Akregator is a bit unstable just as I remember, but not too bad. It's usable.
Urpmi is real nice. I like just typing in a quick command and package to install software, or a quick search to see what's installed.
I also like how Mageai let me create a user named "s" with any password I chose, and let me set the root password however short I wish. Some distros insist upon at least a three letter username and a six letter password.
So, after three or four days of full time use, I don't really have too many complaints. Mageia, like Mandriva, is a wonderful distro; but it's not home. I miss Sabayon.
On a related note: here's Fabio Erculiani's, Sabayon founder and lead developer, take on KDE 4, GNOME 3, GRUB 2, and the direction of open source software in general lately.