As the first post of 2013 I thought this would be quite interesting. OpenMandriva, the project continuing the development of the Mandriva Linux distribution is now fully incorporated as a French NGO (“Association de loi 1901”). What this means is nothing short of remarkable: We are witnessing (and in some cases such as mine, we’re actually working on it) the transformation of a community torn by History and years of legacy towards an independent, assertive and growing community furthering the development and expansion of a Linux distribution with quite a name: Mandriva Linux.

Granted, not so long ago, everybody heard about the Mageia fork: obviously that also happened, leaving the “mother community” in an even more desolate shape. Mageia did well, and to OpenMandriva this should be a clear sign that the road it is taking now is the right one. But after several months of conversation/arguments, of Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter cleaning and hard work from several people, the OpenMandriva community, with the active help of its former steward, is now fully established and is working on the last remaining items of its infrastructure migration. What is remarkable here is the pace of the progress that has been accomplished here. What is also remarkable is the the hope that this is generating and the almost unspoken promise about being really independent: A project that’s run by the community and for the community tends to work better, is healthier, runs faster and is more fun to contribute to.

The OpenMandriva community is now entering the “real game”. Once the infrastructure migration is over, the community will have to make sure its governance is effective and that it is able to release a viable Linux distribution in good time. My personal take on this is that it will take several stable releases before the success and the momentum of the project can be assessed in full, but it is a game that’s worth playing. I for one believe that 2013 will be the year OpenMandriva can rise and shine.