Mandriva Alpha Tests New Name, Mageia Needs Artwork

The second alpha of upcoming Mandriva 2012, announced on November 6, reflects some progress while other issues remain. Mageia ran a contest for artwork during the version 2 developmental phase, and it was such a success, they're doing it again for 3. So, test Mandriva and draw some pretty pictures for Mageia.

Mandriva/Moondrake

Per Øyvind Karlsen announced "Moondrake GNU/Linux 2012 Alpha 2" on the Mandriva Cooker mailing list explaining that "the name of the distribution used for this release isn't actually the final name chosen, but only one of the likelier candidates under consideration, which we're taking out for a test drive." The community distribution will receive its name by final, remembering that the foundation was recently named OpenMandriva.

This release features KDE 4.9.2, GRUB 2, LibreOffcie 3.5.4, Linux 3.4.1, Firefox 16.0.2, and GIMP 2.8.2. Some of the other listed features include:

* ISO creation tool has been rewritten in python
* Dual arch iso features a complete set of all lxde packages
* New, complete sound theme contributed by Christian Augustin
* Initial work on rewriting installer & libraries in c++ has been started
* Installer stage1 & rescue mode merged

More information can be found in the announcement and download information is on their wiki.

Mageia 3 Artwork

The other day Trish Fraser announced the opening of their latest community artwork for Mageia 3 contest. After a while, the powers that be will select nearly a dozen or so to be included in the final release of Mageia 3.

There are a few rules and guidelines for submissions and most notable is the time limit of November 11, 2012. Not much time even with it being first announced on the forums November 1. So, break out the GIMP or whatever you use and get those wallpapers, splash screens, and screensavers into the work drop at Flickr. You'll actually find more information there too.