Mandriva Shortens Consumer Linux Release Schedule

Published: January 23, 2007

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Commercial Linux distributor Mandriva announced last Friday that it was rejiggering the way it rolls out releases of its eponymous Linux editions for desktops. Specifically, Mandriva will shorten the release cycle of its consumer Mandriva Linux product--that is the company's desktop software editions, which nonetheless sometimes end up on corporate desktops--to a six-month release cycle. Mandriva Linux had previously been on a one-year release cycle.

While Mandriva Linux will be updated twice a year, the core Mandriva code base will only be updated once a year, which provides a stable code base for independent software vendors and hardware suppliers that want to support Mandriva's Linux variants with their wares. And the Mandriva Linux line aimed at corporations--Mandriva Corporate Server and Mandriva Corporate Desktop--will continue to be on an 18- to 24-month update schedule, more appropriate for IT shops that have to do constant upgrades.

"With this updated release schedule, we will keep on introducing the latest technologies from the community to provide a really fresh and up-to-date distribution to all the Linux and free software enthusiasts," explained David Barth, Mandriva's chief technology officer, in making the announcement. "And by preserving our yearly base system release cycle, we will continue to provide a solid and stable operating system for Linux newcomers and for partners such as ISVs or hardware vendors."

In a separate announcement, Mandriva said that it would be making a concerted effort with partners to expand its operations in Mexico. According to unknown sources cited in that announcement, Mandriva says that 16,000 small and medium businesses in Mexico have adopted Linux as a key platform for running their businesses. And the company wants to boost that number, so it is working with its local partner, Datacomms-Genesys, to create a subsidiary company called Mandriva Mexico to bring more Linux products and services closer to Mexican businesses.

Mandriva, of course, has a substantial foothold in Brazil, where the formerly independent Conectiva was located. Back in February 2005, MandrakeSoft bought Conectiva, which distributed Portuguese, Spanish, and English Linux in a number of South American countries, and eventually changed its name to Mandriva.

In the wake of that merger, Mandriva moved all of its Linuxes to an annual release schedule, and the change to a shorter bi-annual release cycle for Mandriva Linux seems to be the result of feedback from customers and partners. The next update of the consumer Linux from Mandriva will be called Mandriva Linux Spring, which will be built on the current Mandriva Linux development release. Mandriva Spring will be available as source and binaries on the Internet--this is the so-called Linux Free edition. The Spring One edition is a LiveCD implementation, while Spring Discovery will be a LiveDVD edition for beginners, Spring PowerPack will be for power users, and Spring PowerPack+ will be for small office/home office users and include some server software.

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