OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 Screenshot
After just over a year and a half of development, the OpenMandriva Association announced, through a blog post, the launch of the new version of OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, version in which much of the system's software stack has been updated, as well as implementation of improvements, corrections and more.
For those who are not familiar with OpenMandriva Lx, they should know that this is a Linux distribution created and oriented for all types of users, this distribution is distributed and developed by the association called OpenMandriva, which is a non-profit association.
This Linux distribution is based on Mandriva Linux which was a French distribution, not so popular among Linux users, but one that some users came to recommend at the time.
Main new features of OpenMandriva Lx 5.0
The new version of OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 comes with a large number of internal improvements implemented and it is that with the incorporation of the Linux 6.6 LTS kernel, We will be able to realize a little of the great improvements that this distribution has received, since for example one of the most notable new features of Linux 6.6 is the EEVDF scheduler, which replaces the CFS scheduler, as well as being added an implementation of the Shadow Stack mechanism, allowing block the operation of many exploits, among other things.
Regarding the software stack (most of which has been updated), this version of OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 stands out for presenting the version of KDE Plasma 5.27.9 LTS, which is accompanied by the packages of KDE Gear 23.08.3 and KDE Frameworks 5.112.
Other updated components highlights of this new version include systemd 254.5, GCC 13.1, glibc 2.38, binutils 2.41 and the installer Squid 3.2.62. Additionally, the graphics and desktop stack has seen notable improvements with the latest versions of .
Regarding development and compilation, the OpenMandriva Association has made the decision to take the course towards exclusive use of the Clang compiler, which has been updated to version LLVM 17.
On the other hand, OpenMandriva Lx 5.0 arrives with file system structure changes, which the / and /usr directories have been reorganized, since all the executable files and libraries in the root directories have been moved to the /usr partition. This change is reflected in the creation of symbolic links for the /bin, /sbin and /lib* directories, thus consolidating the organization of executable files and libraries.
However, it is worth noting that, for the moment, the distribution continues to use the X11 session as the default, although OpenMandriva has considered the transition to Wayland in future versions, especially considering the planned adoption of Wayland by default in KDE Plasma 6.
Of the other changes that stand out from this new version:
- Support for installing on partitions with BTRFS and XFS file systems has been restored.
- All recent vulnerabilities, particularly those affecting crucial components such as glibc and curl, have been quickly fixed
- In addition to dnf4, dnf5 and zypper are offered as alternatives.
- Added support for Flatpak format packages.
- LibreOffice 7.6.3
- GIMP 2.10.36
- Digicam 8.1.0
- SMPlayer 23.6.0
- VLC 3.0.18
- Krita 5.2.1 (Plasma Edition)
- Chrome 119 (Plasma Edition)
- Firefox 120 (GNOME edition)
- Training has begun on simplified compilations with KDE and the LXQt user environment.
- The OM Welcome, OM Control Center, Repository Selector (repo-picker) and Update Configuration (om-update-config) applications developed for OpenMandriva have been updated.
- Work continues on a port for RISC-V, which may be included in version 6.0.
Finally if you are interested in knowing more about it About this new release of OpenMandriva Lx 5.0, you can check the details In the following link.
Get OpenMandriva Lx 5.0
For those who are interested in downloading this new version, can get ready-made system images for different devices, from the official website of the distribution, In it you can find the 2.5 GB Live image (x86_64). The link is this.
Last but not least, it is worth mentioning that the builds contain the desktop preset configurator (om-feeling-like), which offers a set of presets that allow you to give the KDE Plasma desktop the appearance of other environments.