19 replies to this topic

[m.oreilly]

after trying several free linux distros lately, and the shear "labor" involved in installing drivers, apps, etc, i looked at a few full, pay-for options:
mandriva
http://store.mandriva.com/product_info.php...927fe213e33dcf0
(set to go, with beryl style 3d effects)
suse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16832103001

[brewin]

I'd try the free version before investing.
http://www.mandriva....n/download/free

Several reviews of Mandriva 2007:
http://distrowatch.c...bution=mandriva

[brewin]

scaramonga, on Jan 11 2007, 02:44 PM, said:

I'd check you PM too MO........

[m.oreilly]

well, i'm writing this from mandriva '07 powerpack...this will take some getting used to, a bit
different than other distros. at the moment i am unable to use their "cube" gui effect (don't know why they tout it as a cool thing if it doesn't run...), so i might see if beryl will install. just set up mail in thunderbird, and using firefox (though rather primitive version). skype is here by default, so i'll be on in a few (making enchiladas tonight )

[m.oreilly]

well, no default skype, but installing rpms in mandriva is just a click or two. music sounds fantastic on my m-audio (had the drivers by default). and the "cube" is working, as in rotating desktops, wiggle windows, transparent window headers and the like. have yet to try movies with the "lindvd" from intervideo, though it does look promising...

[m.oreilly]

scaramonga, on Jan 13 2007, 05:40 AM, said:

I like Mandriva.......a little more 'bloated' than most Disto's........but you will be used to that MO

Any pics buddy?

hehe...

 snapshot1.png   1.62MB   44 downloads

[Sphere]

start with Flash! If you get it to work within 5 minutes, I'll buy you a beer

[Sphere]

Ok, let's make that bet...

You can't install Flash within 5 minutes on a 64bit system, not counting download time

I'll buy you a beer if you can, without cheating! (Cheating is using some sort of software that just hacks the system e.g.)

[m.oreilly]

i didn't get any prompts to install missing plugins, so i dunno if mandrevia had it as a default item or not...
i did the updates while installing, so...

[Sphere]

Firefox output of "about:plugins" won't say flash is installed though.... if it does, I'm stunned and switching to Mandriva

[m.oreilly]

well, back to windows: i was starting to feel comfortable in this distro, despite the occasional bug or two (prompts at boot asking for a root pass, and then restarting the gpu driver setup, only to loop several times until finally allowing me to get to the desktop, and the like). but not being able to open files on cds and dvds (my music and pic backups) didn't sit well (error "mounting" optical drive... ), so off linux came. i'm finding the more linux distros i try, the more i appreciate MS windows