Mandriva 2007 RC2 is Out... but is not ready for the Desktop

Tsuroerusu · Post by **Tsuroerusu** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:51 am

hellonorman wrote:Ok thx for the response. That's not quite what I was after. Let me rephrase the question.

hellonorman wrote:Let's say you start with the free version and add all the proprietary, codec and driver packages that you desire.

At that point what are you giving up by not using a paid version?

Well, you're not getting packages for all those things, you to go to Adobe's site and install Flash manually, go to java.com and install Java manually.

hellonorman wrote:Is there a central place to get directions for adding all those things or is the info spread out?

Right here: http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/

hellonorman wrote:What's the difference between ONE and the free version if you were to install them and add all the same things?

ONE is kind of like the Ubuntu approach where you install a LiveCD to the hard drive, "Free" is the traditional 4 CD install-only version, which I prefer, because I have found it to generally work better.

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:35 am

hellonorman wrote:Would anyone care to plainly explain what is given up by using a free version and not sending any money to mandriva?

For me, paying money to Mandriva is more about supporting the people who write these Linux applications and put these services together.

Mandriva employs many developers in the open source community (not just people writing code for Mandriva either - like KDE and K3B to name two off of the top of my head) and helps fund and support projects that people outside of Mandriva corp. run, like Easyrpmi.

Mandriva also employs some of the best support people I've ever had the pleasure of "talking" with and learning from.

So, for me, paying for a club membership or software from Mandriva is more about helping these people make a living from what they're doing. And since I'd be paying many times more for this sort of thing if I were a Microsoft or Mac user, I don't feel bad about in any way. It's a good cause and I get a great product in return.

Using free Mandriva software is a nice way to get the word out about them and the Linux OS and a great solution for those who can't afford to pay for quality sofware, but without some of us to help pay the bills, the good work Mandriva does wouldn't be able to continue for very long.

That's the way I see it.

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:44 am

hellonorman wrote:What's the difference between ONE and the free version if you were to install them and add all the same things?

Nothing. What it really boils down to is the anticipated skill level of the user.

Mandriva One has two basic purposes: 1 - a demonstration OS of the Mandriva system. 2 - a simple starting off point for the novice computer user.

One has a limited number of software applications. This is more by design than by limitations of the CD storage capacity. There's one e-mail client, one office suite, one media player, one instant messenger.... you get the idea. This is to make using Linux easier for the novice user by reducing the confusion that comes with too many choices.

Once you get One installed and you add repositories to the MCC, you can make One just as robust as the PowerPack or Corporate edition. It's all in the repositories and the packages you decide to install afterwards.

hellonorman · Post by **hellonorman** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:50 pm

Tsuroerusu wrote:
hellonorman wrote:Is there a central place to get directions for adding all those things or is the info spread out?
Right here: http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/

So I go to that site and immediately there is a choice between official and community and it appears it just tells you which repos to add. Is there a reason they don't list the versions by name?

hellonorman wrote:What's the difference between ONE and the free version if you were to install them and add all the same things?
ONE is kind of like the Ubuntu approach where you install a LiveCD to the hard drive, "Free" is the traditional 4 CD install-only version, which I prefer, because I have found it to generally work better.

The question is after they are installed what's the difference after you add all the packages you want.

hellonorman · Post by **hellonorman** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:53 pm

Judland wrote: Once you get One installed and you add repositories to the MCC, you can make One just as robust as the PowerPack or Corporate edition. It's all in the repositories and the packages you decide to install afterwards.

Are you saying that you wouldn't be able to tell whether someone started with ONE or powerpack at that point? Does "just as robust" mean identical?

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 9:10 pm

hellonorman wrote:Are you saying that you wouldn't be able to tell whether someone started with ONE or powerpack at that point? Does "just as robust" mean identical?

As far as I can tell, the only difference would be the default theme and wallpaper.

However, I have not spent a great deal of time comparing the two systems to give you a complete breakdown. I can tell you that I do have PowerPack installed on our main PC and One installed on our secondary PC. Except for the default KDE screen and AIGLX running on the main PC (the secondary PC does not have 3D support), both systems are all functioning in the same way.

I'm not sure what other particulars I can tell you about. Are there any particular areas/features you'd like me to compare and confirm for you?

hellonorman · Post by **hellonorman** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:39 am

It's either the same thing or it isn't. Is the powerpack just ONE with certain packages and a theme installed or is it something different?

Are there any particular areas/features you'd like me to compare and confirm for you?

No thanks I've lost any interest in pursuing this distro any further.

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:17 am

hellonorman wrote:It's either the same thing or it isn't. Is the powerpack just ONE with certain packages and a theme installed or is it something different?

Are there any particular areas/features you'd like me to compare and confirm for you?
No thanks I've lost any interest in pursuing this distro any further.

Alrighty, then.

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:49 pm

Here's an interesting commentary on Mandriva 2007 and future forecasts...

Linux Tech Daily

hellonorman · Post by **hellonorman** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:24 pm

That review pretty much sums up what happened in this thread.

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:11 am

At least the author of the article has an open mind. That might not be the same for some people posting in this thread.

Post by **Patrick** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:14 am

Judland wrote:At least the author of the article has an open mind. That might not be the same for some people posting in this thread.

Come on Judland we're not all that bad? In fact I will install Mandriva on my test box and do a review of it.

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:21 am

Patrick wrote:Come on Judland we're not all that bad? In fact I will install Mandriva on my test box and do a review of it.

Who said ALL?

You're confused! Your question is confused! You're putting words in my mouth!

Sorry, flashbacks from last night's show.

Post by **Patrick** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:25 am

Judland wrote:Sorry, flashbacks from last night's show.

I will give make sure to give Mandriva KDE/Firefox/K3B/Thunderbird/Konqueror/VI/OpenOffice/Linux/GCC/Java/GNU a good run down and review.

Judland · Post by **Judland** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:59 am

Patrick wrote:I will give make sure to give Mandriva KDE/Firefox/K3B/Thunderbird/Konqueror/VI/OpenOffice/Linux/GCC/Java/GNU a good run down and review.

I'm sure you will and I'd be interested to read what you have to say when you're done.

In two days, I'll be putting Mandriva 2007 through it's paces, as I've got a half dozen PCs scheduled for installation during the installfest I'm hosting.

I've already installed it on five PCs owned by my co-workers (aside from my two office PCs and two home PCs), and I've only run in to one problem with a brand new 64bit eMachine brand PC. The on-board ethernet, sound, and USB devices were not configuring properly. They were detected and identified, but Mandriva 2007 could not communicate with them. Don't know why.

Other than this one box, Mandriva 2007 has been just great.

Do yourself a favor, though. Be sure to read the Mandriva Errata page. I know, a newbie first using Mandriva 2007 will not be aware of such things, but you could compensate for this in your review.

Anyway, good luck and I'm really looking forward to what you'll have to say.