Duely noted and downloaded
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tracyanne Mar 02, 2008 11:03 PM EDT |
I'll burn it to CD tonight - Mandriva One, and test as soon as I get the time. |
| helios Mar 03, 2008 5:28 PM EDT |
my admiration and like for this distro increases with each passing day...and yes, I, helios-the-cheap, sprung for the powerpack edition. sweet. Ken |
| tracyanne Mar 03, 2008 9:05 PM EDT |
Now if only they would add a WUBI style installer to Mandriva One. |
| Egon_Spengler Mar 04, 2008 7:14 AM EDT |
Just remember to urpmi kernel-desktop-latest instead of kernel-desktop586-latest, since there is an issue with the 586 kernel seeing memory. I have 1 gig of ram, and when I shifted from the 586 to desktop-latest, I went from 902 meg seen to 1024 meg seen. Known issue for a while now, since the #mandriva channel folks mention it at least once or twice per day. |
| tuxtom Mar 04, 2008 3:53 PM EDT |
@tracyanne: Based on this thread and discussions we had in another you piqued my interest and I downloaded and ran Mandriva One last night. I must admit it is pretty dang sweet and it brought me right back to my good ole' Mandrake days. The menu and default applications are exceptionally well organized and it is very fresh and polished while still being "Mandrake". I've been using a Vista laptop as an informal benchmark of how different distros do with hardware...a $449 Compaq F730US which has an Athlon 64 dual-core, nvidia chipset/video and Broadcom wlan. Here are my results: Kubuntu 7.10: Live and HD install. Needed 'noapic' kernel option to use X. xorg.conf needed manual tweaking to get 1200x800. Manually installed nvidia restricted driver. Broadcomm wlan NOT WORKING, even with ndiswrapper. Known bug in Gutsy kernel for DHCP with this chipset. I'm not a happy camper. Mandriva One: Live only. Needed 'noapic' kernel option to use X. X config perfect first run. lsmod indicates that restricted driver is already in use. Broadcomm wlan NOT WORKING: Would need to do HD install and try ndiswrapper. MEPIS 7 (64-bit): Live and HD install. X config and Broadcom wlan perfect first run (Xorg driver). Used MEPIS config tool to install restricted nvidia driver, after which kernel option 'noapic' was necessary to run X. Warren switched back to Etch as his base for this release (he had switched to Ubuntu for a while). I am very impressed and plan to keep this on the laptop. Say what you will about Warren, but he puts together a VERY nice distro. Windows XP: HD Install. A wild goose chase finding drivers. Laptop is officially unsupported, but other HP models have drivers that will work...though they're not all found in the same place. Finally got everything working thanks to google. Then had to jump thorough more hoops to get it dual booting with Vista. Royal PITA. I've been using Kubuntu for my desktop for the past year and a half, or so. I used MEPIS prior to that and several years ago was usually found using a Mandrake desktop (starting back in the version 5 days up to 10 or 10.1). I don't know if I would switch back to Mandriva, though there is certainly no reason not to except for my disdain for RPM (I know RPM "dependency hell" has been mitigated much in recent years, but the bad taste it left is still in my mouth). I really do appreciate .deb package management and the excellent Debian and Ubuntu respositories. All in all I will stick with MEPIS on this laptop for hardware compatibility and keep re-evaluating my main workstation (currently Kubuntu 7.10). I still need to try PCLOS, which is based on Mandriva, is it not? |
| tracyanne Mar 04, 2008 4:14 PM EDT |
Thanks for that TT, a very interesting comparison, do you mind if I quote you on the Mandriva Forums |
| tuxtom Mar 04, 2008 4:21 PM EDT |
Please do, tracyanne. I'm glad you found it useful. P.S. - I only try KDE distros as that is my preferred environment. |
| tracyanne Mar 04, 2008 5:27 PM EDT |
{quote]KDE distros as that is my preferred environment.{/quote] Mine too, I don't like GNOME, and I do try it from time to time, usually when I'm testing Ubuntu. |
| rijelkentaurus Mar 04, 2008 5:47 PM EDT |
The only time I feel comfortable using GNOME is when I am using Red Hat/CentOS. And if that's something that I am personally using, I install KDE on it. |
| tracyanne Mar 05, 2008 12:00 PM EDT |
@TuxTom - From Mandriva Forums at http://forum.mandriva.com/viewtopic.php?t=81800Quoting:It's not possible to have Broadcom working entirely out of the box, legally. If it does in Mepis then they are shipping copyrighted files that they should not ship. |
| tracyanne Mar 05, 2008 12:12 PM EDT |
It could be possible that Mepis have permission from Broadcom, I suppose. |
| tuxtom Mar 05, 2008 3:23 PM EDT |
YGIAGAM. I could really care less about the legalities as I am not packaging or redistributing anything. Mandriva does employ the restricted "nvidia" video driver by default while other distros, including MEPIS, require a separate download/installation procedure. Not sure about the legalities there, either. I'll let the suits worry about that stuff. My only concern...and it is the same concern of nearly any person installing a distro...is that everything works. In the absence of perfection there, well-written tools to get you to the restricted stuff are essential and preferably automated. The path of least resistance will ultimately be the most popular. I did find this perspective during some research (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=2431609&postcount=22): Quoting:Illegal? I doubt that any company that offers the driver for use with it's hardware is going to claim it's illegal to use it! And you can download broadcom proprietary drivers elsewhere, not just from a broadcom website. And straight from Warren's keyboard (http://www.mepis.org/node/13201#comment-50229): Quoting:The latest MEPIS updates include the latest win Broadcom driver in ndiswrapper. As far as the legal stuff goes, a lot of it comes down to a matter of huevos. It's all posturing at the end of the day. Some like to be very conservative to avoid any hypothetical scrutiny whatsoever while others push the absolute limits until Cease and Desist letters turn into subpoenas. I'm somewhere in the middle. |
| tracyanne Mar 05, 2008 5:14 PM EDT |
Good points. And yes I couldn't care less about the alleged legalities.; |
| azerthoth Mar 05, 2008 5:46 PM EDT |
Due to tracyanne's constant glowing comments, I just spun up mandriva 2008. It was pretty and glitzy and I was completely underwhelmed. Adding in all the sources, fine, then activating them after I just told it I wanted to use them, each individually and having to do 1 update per mouse click. Thats painfull. It does overall "feel" easier than Ubuntu for new users. The install and set up were the best part of the whole experiance. I think everyone could learn a thing or two from it. This may be the new user linux distro I hand out now, after I kick it around the block a few times and see what hidden weak points it may have. Would I switch to it for personal use? Not if I had a choice in the matter. Sorry tracyanne. |
| tracyanne Mar 05, 2008 6:38 PM EDT |
Quoting:Would I switch to it for personal use? Not if I had a choice in the matter. That's fine with me. The point is, I try lots of differnt distros, and while some of them are on par with mandriva in certain aspects, and others probably better in others, there's nothing about any of them that says change, I don't get anything elsewhere that I don't already have, so I'm not surprised you don't want to change from what you have. I like Mandriva a lot, in part, because it just works on all of my hardware, and has done so since I started using Mandrake, and no other distro has done that consistantly for me. |
| tracyanne Mar 05, 2008 11:51 PM EDT |
the nVidia license gives permission for anyone to distribute the Linux Binaries.Quoting:2.1.2 Linux/FreeBSD Exception. Notwithstanding the foregoing terms of Section 2.1.1, SOFTWARE designed exclusively for use on the Linux or FreeBSD operating systems, or other operating systems derived from the source code to these operating systems, may be copied and redistributed, provided that the binary files thereof are not modified in any way (except for unzipping of compressed files). |
| tuxtom Mar 06, 2008 1:08 PM EDT |
@tracyanne: Found this in a thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=622311) posted by a Mandriva guy:
Quoting:The only distros who can include the bcm43xx firmware and have it all working transparently are small community-based distros who choose not to care about the license for the firmware on the basis it's likely not worth Broadcom's time to chase them about it. I suppose different organizations have different levels of risk tolerance. Mandriva S.A. has a lot more to lose than MEPIS, LLC. I don't know how aggressive Broadcom is in enforcing their licenses, but it may be that they speak loudly in writing (scaring the attorneys) yet look the other way in actual practice. |
| tracyanne Mar 06, 2008 1:40 PM EDT |
TT that makes a lot of sense. At least if worse comes to worst I can get a copy of Mepis and use the .debof the Broadcom driver and convert it to rpm using alien. |
| tuxtom Mar 07, 2008 2:35 PM EDT |
It would be easier to just download the driver yourself and do the ndiswrapper bit. From what's been written Mandriva looks like it will easily accommodate this procedure. Some people here find it utterly tasteless to do it this way...using the Windows driver. Like I said, I don't really care, I just want it to work. If the corporations won't get the licensing sorted out then reverse engineering and workarounds is what we're stuck with for now. I'd rather have this $449 laptop running ndiswrapper than an $849 laptop running a native driver. To each their own. |
| tracyanne Mar 07, 2008 2:52 PM EDT |
No I'm not particularly purist. I want things to work, and If I can't find hardware that plays nice with Linux, at a price I can afford, then I'll go this route quite happily. |
| tuxchick Mar 07, 2008 3:20 PM EDT |
You don't have to spend $400 to get a wireless interface with nice native open-source linux drivers; just get an Atheros-based Cardbus WIC for around $30. Ralink, Realtek, and Intel also make decent wireless chipsets that have native Linux support. Of course finding out the chipset is a horrid PITA, but at least a Cardbus, PCMCIA or USB adapter goes with you no matter what laptop you have. I have a batch of Zyxel G-102 cards that have performed splendidly on a number of Linux machines. Some sites that name brand names: http://linux-wless.passys.nl/ http://linuxwireless.org/ http://www.seattlewireless.net/HardwareComparison |
| techiem2 Mar 07, 2008 3:26 PM EDT |
Quoting:but at least a Cardbus, PCMCIA or USB adapter goes with you no matter what laptop you have. Unless you have a new laptop that only has an ExpressCard slot instead of Cardbus/PCMCIA.... *looks at his work laptop and new personal laptop* But with USB, yeah. I keep my USB Zyxel scanner/adapter in the case with my work laptop (it's quite a bit stronger than the integrated bcm card in the machine...). Do they make decent ExpressCard nics/wnics yet? |
| tuxtom Mar 09, 2008 12:36 PM EDT |
@tuxchick: I hear ya, but I am not bent on having 100% native open source drivers nor do I wish to purchase external devices to accomplish that. Even though I am a zealous open source advocate at times, I am not necessarily a purist. I'll take what I can get to get the job done most of the time. In all honesty, I usually use XP on this laptop for client-side testing. However, it is nice to have my Linux desktop available while travelling. I did not set out to buy a "dream linux laptop", it was an impulse buy based on price and an imminent business trip. If I were going to purchase a high-end machine I would certainly research the included chipsets and drivers with more scrutiny. Anyone have experience with the latest lines of Lenovo ThinkPads? x61 in particular? |
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