OpenMandriva Introduces “ROME” 23.01: A New Rolling Release Edition

A new rolling release-based edition OpenMandriva “ROME” 23.01 debuts with KDE Plasma, GNOME desktop flavours and some cool apps.

OpenMandriva is a free, open-source, independent GNU/Linux distribution that was forked from the Mandriva project. It’s simple, easy to use for your day-to-day use cases and fully contributed by the community. It also features popular desktop environments and comes with a simple Calamares installer.

OpenMandriva ROME 23.01 Release: Key Features

It’s a rolling release!

The OpenMandriva Team has released ROME 23.01, a rolling edition of their Linux distribution that provides users with the most up-to-date packages, including recent security and bug-fix upgrades. This release marks the continuation of OpenMandriva’s use of the entire LLVM toolchain.

ROME is designed for individual users who want to keep their systems up to date with the latest features without waiting for a new point release. It is a rolling release that will receive regular updates. It aims to be a good choice for users who need a stable system but also want access to the latest software.

On the other hand, the development branch, known as the cooker, is intended for users who don’t mind the potential for their system to break from time to time in exchange for access to the latest software as it is being developed.

KDE Plasma, GNOME Desktop and Kernel

This release of ROME includes several updates and new features. KDE Frameworks 5.101, Plasma Desktop 5.26.4, and KDE Applications 22.12.0 have all been included, and everything has been rebuilt using the clang 15.06 compiler.

The Plasma Desktop and graphics applications have also been modified to support the new JPEG XL file format. In addition, the kernel has been updated to version 6.1.1 – which is the latest version. The GNOME desktop version is the latest 43.

New Apps

ROME also includes many unique tools developed by the OpenMandriva team.

• OM Welcome: A tool that helps users get started with the operating system.
• OM Control Center: Allows users to manage various system settings.
• Repository Selector: Allows users to choose which software repositories to use.
• Update Configuration: Allow users to customize how updates are installed.
• Desktop Presets: A tool that helps users configure their desktops to resemble something they are already familiar with, such as Windows or macOS.

Key apps installed by default

Other software that is available in the repositories for ROME includes Firefox 108.0, Thunderbird 102.6, Virtualbox 7.0.4, OBS Studio 28.1.2, GIMP 2.10.32, and the Calligra Suite 3.2.1. In addition, users can choose from alternative package managers such as Zypper and dnf5, and a wide variety of games, tools, development tools and educational software are available. The LibreOffice suite is also included in this release, with version 7.5.0.0 beta1 available.

Overall, ROME 23.01 offers a solid and up-to-date Linux experience for users who want the latest features without the wait.

Closing Notes

Frankly, it’s a great release from the OpenMandriva team and for users who wants an independent distribution free from Debian, Fedora, and Arch. Plus an option to enjoy the latest packages with this rolling release implementation. OpenMandriva ROME may become a daily driver for many users with this new flavour with its friendly Calamares installer, new tools and default apps.

This release comes with KDE Plasma and GNOME Flavours. You can download the ISO files using the following links.

Via release announcement

Recent articles from DebugPoint.com