M 10 - the opposition

[oldgeezer]

Any objective (rather than prejudicial!) views on Mandrake 10? I hit their scroll mouse issue and a colour resolution issue on initial install attempts, otherwise kernel 2.6 and KDE 3.2 seem fine. The DVD is on the cover of the May issue of Linux Magazine. Still an rpm system, though, although I think Mandrake may retain their - heavily oversubscribed - online update system.
OG.

[oldgeezer]

OK! Now I understand the deafening silence. Another abject failure from Mandrake! I prefer watching paint dry. A global 'find file' was still running after an hour. Pure treacle - waste of space. Don't do it! Will have to await K3.4 along with the other 120,000 or so.
OG.

[RandomGoon]

Now's not the time to find this out . I spent a goodly amount of time yesterday pulling the .iso files down for M10...please tell me I've not wasted my time doing this ; I was going to dual boot for a while now I'm not so sure I want to after hearing OG's disparaging remarks.

[eco2geek]

I was going to dual boot for a while now I'm not so sure I want to after hearing OG's disparaging remarks.

While I can't speak to version 10 (and kernel 2.6), I recently had the opportunity to install version 9 on an old computer. The install went flawlessly. No video issues, no wheelmouse issues, no sound issues, no network issues. It worked perfectly out of the box. In other words, it was absolutely terrible, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Seriously, although v10 is so new the bugs may not have been worked out of it yet, don't let anyone scare you off from trying it yourself. Since you have different hardware, your mileage will vary.

The best thing about Mandrake (and RedHat, for that matter) is that if you're new to Linux, their graphical installers make the entire installation process completely painless.

The Debian package management system is, however, much better in the long run than working with an rpm-based system like Mandrake (and RedHat). But Debian-based systems are a bit more difficult to install.

[RandomGoon]

I figgured that differences in hardware would change things somewhat but I guess I just skipped over the fact v10 is new Oh well, I have the .iso's so what the hey, I'll give it a bash (pun intended )and see what happens. The reason I went to get Mandrake in the first place is it was recommended for noobs such as myself. I am after all trying to wean myself off of Billy's-Bugs...aka Windows

'Goon

[oldgeezer]

eco is kind of right in saying you should try things yourself, Randie. BUT! I used a decent XP2600+ with no issues. M10 was a pig to install; it took six attempts. Do NOT, on this occasion, accept the mouse and graphics card defaults, although attempting to change the latter during install can crash the whole caboodle, even before you reach the selection list. Slow would be an understatement. The rpm system is NOT for neophytes - the dependencies will slay you. I also updated an earlier version, which can be done from the DVD - it took over 4.5hrs. The truncated menu system is a pale parody of Knoppix. M9.0 was OK, before and since is rubbish - lost the plot again. They've had plenty of practice, no excuses about newness! Would like to hear other opinions, experiences. Be sure to try it on a spare machine/HD first, though.
OG.

[RandomGoon]

Got two spare machines, one's just a bit better than a boat anchor (Pentium 133!), the other's not too far off (Pent. II-333). I SERIOUSLY doubt the 133 will handle it; the 333 should do okay. On a side note, I pulled down DamnSmallLinux for the 133 and have been mucking about with it a bit. It seems to work fairly well but I've not delved too deeply into it yet. Eh, I'll just press on with M10 and see what I get. The only reason I went after it was it was recommended for noobs such as I by Michael Gagne' in his book that recently came out.

'Goon

P.S. RANDIE?!?!

[oldgeezer]

If DSL works for you, you'll love Flonix, Goon. A 333 isn't going to help much with M10; infinity would arrive sooner. Marcel Gange seems a nice guy but his recommendation for Mandrake may be a little based on his obvious heritage (I jest)?! No doubt Tom P would tell you to try SuSE and Knoppix!
OG.

[RandomGoon]

Yeah, I took a brief look at Flonix and just sort of glazed over it...guess I didn't look far enough from the French (I can understand some of it) on the main page. Besides, once I get some of those cute little business card CD-R disks I'll be just too cool in my circle of friends

I'll check out Flonix once I've licked the goodie off of DSL

'Goon

[eco2geek]

If those are the CPU speeds you're dealing with, forget Mandrake - it's got too much "eye candy" for slow machines. (So does Knoppix, for that matter.) Debian Woody sounds like it's a better fit (if you can live with KDE 2), especially for the 133.

You can get an idea of what the (text-based) install process looks like here, although it's a bit different for Woody than Sarge. Of course, there's a comprehensive installation manual available.

Again, the biggest thing that Mandrake has going for it is its easy GUI-based installation program. Debian assumes you can figure out how to use cfdisk to partition your hard drive; it assumes you know what hardware you've got, so you can choose which kernel modules to install; it assumes you can use dpkg to select which packages you wish to install. All of this is done via a text-based interface which might be intimidating to first-time Linux users.

So maybe your real best bet is to grab an older version of Mandrake, install it, use it until you get comfortable, then wipe it and start over with Debian.