I will like to skip stories of how Madrakelinux took over Lycoris and others and became mandivalinux. However, i think that that takeover is a good thing for Mandivalinux. i will tell my experience with the latest edition of mandivalinux 2006 FREE, which is also Mandrivalinux effort to counter Redhat linux gains or popularity with it's free version -Fedora core. i have in the past fell love with Mandr{ake}ivalinux, even bought two of it'sversion. however, i hated almost everything that comes out from developement lab after one of it's many {8.3} versions were stripped of anything that could play mp3/dvd medias. every other things have comes to pass since then and i thought it might be time to forgive them and try it's free version. happily, it did not hurt afterall.

*my use of Mandrivalinux here only refers to Mandrivalinux 2006 FREE unless stated.*

Mandrivalinux has one of the best graphic installer, comparing it however, with Suse and Linspire 5.0. This latest version has almost a ''foolproof'' installer, it is in essence so simple that everything appear too garanteed to go right. there is however, no new visible tech included, i mean in the eyes of everyday users. but it has been optimised, easier with less options, which means going straight the {installation} point. Diskdrake, looked optimised too, not that it moved far enough from original partitioning program that made installing Mandrakelinux one of the easiest right from the beginning. i have always used partition magic in windows xp to partition and manage my drive and partitions before installing any linux distro. this is due to the fact that i have messed things up many times. so i went on to pick drive and partition design for madrivalinux, and since i was installing into 8 GB decided to install programs good for a desktop use. i skipped other programs like server and games, i did also install every graphic windows manager included in the dvd media. After installing i got only 3 GB left of the 8 GB drive.

Network and internet connections were simple and easy, i configured my cable modem by just adding ''computername'' and choose manage by DHCP. after seconds my connection was tested and asked if i would want to register and get update if avaliable. i went on and register an account, but to my dismay, i was asked for a CD KEY. that made me to rethink about the definetion of FREE, anyway, i skipped that part and after completion a window {from mandrivalinux clubsite} came that suggested that i am not ENTITLED to any update this time. i almost thought i mistakenly installed Linspire or somehow dealing with CNR. everything went smooth though, more than expected and my system is ready to rock.

This is one complete FREE linux of these days, mandrivalinux is ready to take on other desktop distros around that claim to be the easiest, but have root or other resctrictions. well, with mandrivalinux you get yourself a complete ''OUT OF BOX'' linux operating system. i have always hold that view that there is no ''OUT OF BOX'' linux distribution, but mandrivalinux has turned that view around. with this version of mandrivalinux, everything is made to work even much more than in windows xp. Media capabilities were enabled mp3/dvd played without having to add anything. i usually have to copy WIN32 CODEC to /usr/lib and install LIBDVDCSS before playing anything in most distros of to day. LIBDVDCSS is not included, but you can do without it. however, if you need it there is RPM package around which installed without dependency problem.

Mandrivalinux is truely a desktop OS for anybody who cannot have MS product for whatever reasons. anybody can install this version, and just as i have repeated myself here the dvd version has everything that will satisfy any windows users. Mandrivalinux recognised every windows drive and partitions and put them properly in their places and make them usable. all FAT32 partition were managable without permission restriction. NTFS has only write issue which is not Mandrivalinux. and for those who cannot do without command line, server and or network programs they are all included in the dvd media.

Finally, i made sure i broke it before putting up this review, i do that always, i cannot just leave a perfect working system alone for hours without installing or uninstalling worthless softwares i never have to use. this time installed mplayer-mozilla plugins which kills firefox, konqueror if i try to play stream media. waiting to reinstall any spare minute i have, since it only take 10-20 to install and configure it to my test

i thought i should give it a big 9 points, but i am not sure why mandriva community decide to allow only {from silver} members to be able download {free} flashplayer and few others from it's site. at the same time mandrivalinux has every tool and simplicity to compete with MS windows or other desktop linux distribution of today.

please post your reviews only this post and every others that is not considered as a review will be re-moved

Gentoo Linux is a meta-distribution of Linux. Customization is the main goal of the Gentoo project. The install media provides a build environment for the OS. All software installation is done through portage. Portage is the heart of Gentoo, it is very feature rich, and it is almost impossible to get dependency hell. After using mostly Red Hat based distros where I searched all over for the correct rpms, which took hours most of the time, waiting for the new code to download and compile took far less and upgrades can be automated with cron and scripts. The install takes a while, but after it's done you shouldnt ever have to do it again. There are not really any major releases of Gentoo, just the install media. For instance, lets say I install Gentoo on a computer and leave it sit for a year and a half. All I have to do (in theory, sometimes it gets a bit hairy) is emerge -u world. after a few weeks on Gentoo you might not want to ever go back, you have only what you want on your computer except for a few packages required for portage. It makes everything so much simpler that way. Gentoo is making it's way into the server market too.

Been busy lately, more to come!

PCLinuxOS is currently a beta/preview at version 0.92, but I haven't noticed any stability issues that would suggest it is a beta. It has a (most likely) unique characteristic in that the Live CD can be used to install the system. It has a link on the desktop that runs a script allowing the current Live CD configuration to be copied to your hard drive, a nice bonus that keeps you from having to go through the whole configuration process again after you've got the Live CD running to your satisfaction.

PCLOS is targetted at computer newbies in general, and the partitioning software reflects this, it's not as detailed as some partitioners I have used, but it created the ReiserFS system the way I wanted it, and the install went without a hitch. I initially had some problems with the num lock being on by default and since I have a laptop that replaces a nice chunk of my keyboard with numbers.

PCLOS uses a custom theme for KDE 3, based on the Crystal theme and looks a lot like MS's Energy Blue theme, I really like the look of it, the only other KDE theme I'm fond of is Plastik. The custom theme also replaces the K with the cogwheel icon with PCLOS's icon, which looks a lot better.

This is the first distribution I've tried where all the basic things I wanted running worked on the first run, I have tried Ubuntu 5.04 (Live and HD), OpenSuSE 10.1, Fedora Core 4, Mandriva Linux 2006, Slax KBE, Knoppix (3.3, 3.4, 3.7). Most of them had a collection of problems that ammounted to not being able to connect to the internet both through WiFi and Ethernet or not being able to play my music (in Ubuntu's case it was because they're dogmatic about being 100% OSS, with the other distros it seems to be because once one program uses sound no other program can, they didn't appear to release the sound card, PCLOS has occasionally given me similar problems, but they could be fixed with a reboot, whereas the other distros I tried couldn't be solved easily). PCLOS also has everything that's necessary for basic usage (equivalent to Windows XP) on one CD, Ubuntu and the Live CD distros also did this, but SuSE, FC and Mandriva required a DVD. Since with other distros I couldn't get WiFi and Music running at the same time, I didn't bother going any further with them.

PCLOS has its own package management system, and although it started out as a Mandrake fork, Mandrake packages aren't always compatible, so installation options are from the PCLOS repository using Synaptic (it also has KPackage installed but I've never used it) or compiling a tarball (I've done the tarball method and it works fine, although I haven't figured out how to add such a program to the start menu). The repository seems to be handled by one guy, but if a program isn't in the repository you can request it on the forums and it'll probably be added within a few days.

It's the first Linux distro I've tried that gets all the basics right, still needs some work, like any Linux distro, but I'm actually able to use it mostly how I want to without having to do any serious configuration (5 minutes to figure out how to switch the keyboard layout to Dvorak and tweaking the LILO settings was the most I had to do).

HAPPY HAMMER'S REVIEW OF UBUNTU LINUX DISTRO 5.10

If you would like to give Linux, the versatile and useful Operating System, a try but are a newcomer to all things penguin then the general consensus is that Ubuntu Linux could well be the best distro to give you a gentle introduction. Ubuntu Linux is an easy to use version of the Linux O/S based around the Debian core. Now, it has been said that Debian can be somewhat difficult to get into but Ubuntu, supposedly, takes all the good things about Debian and wraps them in a nice, easy to use shell.

Armed with this information, a copy of the latest version, 5.10: The Breezy Badger was sourced from the Ubuntu Website. You have the choice of either downloading an ISO image of the CD or placing an order and having the CD delivered directly to your door, completely free of charge. We opted to go for the latter, purely to investigate what the quality of the pre-produced CDs was like. Some distros we've ordered before have been amateurishly produced and shipped on cheap CDs with a simple paper label stuck on them. With Ubuntu being completely free, we were interested in how the finished product would look.

http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=66812

Mandriva linux part 11


one last thing that kept mandriva linux in the shadow has let them go, or may i say they finally let it go. even though mandriva linux operate with the pricinple of open free software as other linux distribution they appear not to understand that the only chance linux desktop operating system has with ms windows is staying free at all angle. with recent test {2} version of their mandriva one linux 2006, i am guessing here that ''one'' represent a single cd version. for so many years mandriva or mandrake linux, if you like, has maintained a large media solution, where they claimed to have every software included. while they maintained ''free'' access to these softwares they made sure you never get the usefull ones free. no wonder they never become most used linux distro in home environment.

mandriva one 2006 .0.3 came with lots of changes. everything that was not possible with mandriva linux is now a thing of past, starting with the fact that you can test it without installing. mandriva one 2006 is a livecd, that includes most of the usefull stuffs their dvd or many cds version did not include. yes, you can play dvd and mp3 audio while running this livecd. they have always claimed that those mediaplayers and or codecs could not be freely distributed due to copyright hence none of their recent downloaded versions of their operating system was able to play those files.

i was amazed after running the livecd, they incredibly added graphic installer for easy of use in case one wants some more after running the livecd. i will not try mention every changes i noticed in this latest beta version, since i am not sure how many of them will remain at it's completion. one thing is to be said though, they have crossed every hurdle to compete with other linux distros. they must have learnt a lot from redhat with their introduction of fedora core.

mandriva one 2006.0.3 stands as the easiest linux distro around, many years of hard work and research comes into light with this one cd distribution. this should really be a starting point for every newbie, and those who affraid of screwing their system, if you ask me. this is a linux out of box experience and should be applauded for such a nice work.

Xandros Review (rewritten on May 1, 2006)

For this review I tested the Xandros Open Circulation Edition. It is available for download from their website. You must have BitTorrent or be willing to pay $10 to download via HTTP.

Installation:

The Installation was very easy for Xandros. It was completed in half of the time it took me to install Windows XP. The installation software detected that I had XP installed and resized my partition by itself (NOTE: It prompts you for a size of the drive. The default size was way to large for my tastes.). It asks you towards the end of the process if you would like to install LILO or GRUB. I have had trouble with GRUB before, so I tested LILO.

First Run:

LILO looks nice. In the boot menu it lists Xandros as first and then Windows XP (can be reconfigured in Xandros). Xandros uses a custom version of KDE so if you have used other Linux Distros with KDE you maybe a little surprised at first. My wireless card is not detected (Linksys), however all of my other hardware works perfect. I can access my Windows files but there is not write access to NTFS (expected). All bundled programs work fine.

Second Run:

Download ndiswrapper in Windows and grabbed it from my Windows Drive in Xandros. After following instructions to compile I realize Xandros can not compile programs without the Kernel Headers being configured. The Kernel Headers must be downloaded from with in Xandros (this requires internet access which I do not have). After posting my question both on this forum and the Xandros Support Forum and receiving no answer, I abandoned my attempts at making it work.

Conclusion:

I feel Xandros would have been more successful if I would have been connected to the Internet. I think the Kernel Headers should have been configured by default instead of have them be downloaded from with Xandros only. However I must give it credit… its programs all ran fine with the exception of OpenOffice. OpenOffice took forever to start up.

Rating

Internet access is more important to me than the actual OS is:

7 out of 10

Kubuntu Review

For this review I tested Kubuntu (5.10). Free, available to download from the Kubuntu Website.

Installation:

The Installation reminded me of Windows XP in feel, however it was much different. It took me much longer than Windows XP to set up. I had some trouble partitioning and the default install option is to overwrite Windows! For someone not paying attention this may have been a big problem. I had trouble setting up a swap partition. The boot loader it uses is GRUB.

First Run:

The system attempted to configure the system clock and that failed. During the first run system packages were installed. This took a very long time. During the package install Kubuntu displayed an USB error message. This however seemed minor and didn’t affect the installation.

After the system packages were installed I go to look at what I can only describe as the most beautiful Linux interface I have seen yet. Kubuntu did not automatically find my Windows Drives. My wireless card was not recognized so I booted back into Windows and downloaded ndiswrapper.

Second Run:

Tried to access Windows drives with mounting instructions however you apparently must be logged on as root to do this. What… I thought I was root. After an hour or two of searching I couldn’t find the Root Password.

I also tested most of the programs that came with Kubuntu. The system seemed very fast to me (about the same as my XP installation). Everything pretty much seemed to work fine.

Conclusion:

I couldn’t access my Windows Drives or connect to the internet, both of which are very important to me. I also couldn't log on as root. However everything else seemed to work out of the box and I have no doubt this would be a fine system if I didn’t have a wireless card (I guess wireless cards aren’t well supported in Linux systems). I look forward to testing the next edition of this OS (due out soon) even though I encountered some problems during the install of this edition (and gave it low rating ).

Rating:

5 out of 10.

*edit*

after my test was completed i learned from imnuts that commands that require root access may be performed with the sudo command. not a Linux pro, i did not know this.