Mandriva sees the light

We have never failed to appreciate the quality of the French Linux distributor’s products, and Mandriva 2008, their latest release, is no exception. But this time there is a big and pleasant surprise coming in the delivery. Seeing the light is barely an overstatement.

Gone are the days when the PowerPacks were sold just as Windows boxes, without even a remote mention of the free software values or licenses. Gone also is the opacity around the “Mandriva Free” edition, which was buried deep into the website and in which free was merely suggesting cheap.

The Mandriva website has been cleaned-up, and its front page now presents things in a clear and unequivocal way. A short glance would suggest this is a mere au goût du jour sweep-up, but there is much more to it:

• The product range is obvious and sensible: one costless version, one larger version purchased with support, and a bootable USB key to purchase;
• The PowerPack page now emphasizes three points: proprietary codecs, Cedea gaming platform, and commercial support from Mandriva (While we cannot approve of including proprietary Cedega, the proprietary codec players are arguably a necessary evil in many countries).
• the Mandriva One version includes proprietary components, which is not new; but this time the issue is clearly stated and the download page suggests trying its truly free software counterpart, Mandriva Free, with a prominent link to “why you should care about free software“.

This is, from our point of view, a major improvement. It looks as if, perhaps upon the influence of its Ubuntu counterpart, the Mandriva community has brought the freedom of its software on the scene. There is a little more way to go until the proprietary bits are dumped, but the progress is notable. Congratulations Mandriva!