Mandrake Discovery 10.0

Rating:
Summary: Easiest Linux distro
Review: Although I haven't worked with the 10.0 Discovery, the 10.0 Community is by far the most friendly version of Linux I've worked with. If you're looking for your first step out of the DOS world then Mandrake is the place to start.

Rating:
Summary: don't get this version
Review: As a windows 98se user trying to find something more stable, I was horribly disapointed in the Discovery pack. Things were easy enough until I got to the modem...Mandrake is very light on their modem support, I couldn't get drivers out of them for either of 2 modems I had (Intel and Conexant). Tech support was absolutely useless, and even after downloading a Linuxant driver with windows and getting it installed I still can not get a dial tone. The worst thing about this distribution is that you can't compile anything--they left those programs out. The best way to describe the interface is insultingly stupid, but to get anything done you have to be versed in Linux command line jargon, which is incredibly complicated even for an experienced DOS user. My advice, if you want to ditch Windows buy a computer with Linux installed and forget all these hassles.

Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: Being a linux first timer, I ordered Mandrake because of all the recomendations from other people. When it came in the mailbox, I stuck it in and rebooted the computer and i was up and running with the KDE desktop within 10 minutes.

This is a very good distro. If you are looking for something a little more stable than xp, but are intimidated by Linux, i really recomend mandrake. Although it isn't quite as powerful as some of the other distros, it still has the user friendliness that you need as a first timer.

I think it's worthy of mention that once, with mandrake installed, i had my computer running for 2 weeks straight without it freezing up or crashing.

Once you become used to the way Linux works, I reccomend switching over to either Slackware or Red Hat, since these are slightly more powerful and stable than a "newbie" distro like mandrake.

One more thing, if you are using a "Winmodem" (a winmodem is basically a stripped down version of a modem that needs all kinds of windows software to run) mandrake will probably not be compatible with it (although there are some manufacturers who unofficialy provide drivers for them).
The best solution for this is to buy an external modem because:
1) They are very rarely winmodems
2) The setup is VERY easy (just plug it in)
3) They tend to be faster than "internal" modems

If you are not sure if it is a external or internal modem, or if it is compatible with linux or not, usualy all you have to do is ask the salesman or whoever is selling it.

MY RATING: 9 OUT OF 10

Rating:
Summary: Hard to install
Review: I had Suse linux for many years. I deceided to try Mandrake Discovery, because my old Suse linux disk would not work on Windows XP. I wish I had bought a new Suse disk that would work on Windows XP, because Mandrake Discovery will not install on either of my computers.

I recommend Suse instead of Mandrake. I know it is easy to intall and it is very easy to use.

Rating:
Summary: My thoughts...
Review: I'll cover a few comments made by previous reviewers, starting from top to bottom.

Ruth R. Pilkington "rrebeccap":

"Once you become used to the way Linux works, I recommend switching over to either Slackware or Red Hat, since these are slightly more powerful and stable than a "newbie" distro like mandrake. "

I'd disagree. Slackware is a power distro, best for the very experienced Linux user - not something i'd recommend for the newbie or new-intermediate experienced user. I'm not really a fan of .tgz packages either. Redhat, whilst the best known distribution is not reknowned for solid reliability. Redhat in the past has shipped several versions of its venerable distribution in a near broken state - you don't ship a half finished product in my eyes. Most serious users of Linux end up using Debian GNU/Linux, Gentoo or Slackware somewhere down the track. I use and wholly recommend Libranet GNU/Linux (based on Debian). It's relatively easy to install, great support from Libranet, great forums and the best bit is it is totally compatible with Debians software repositories (some 13,000 packages await you!). apt-get (the frontend for the Debian package management system dpkg) knocks rpm, urmpi, yum and tgz out of the field.

Winmodems are the modems from hell, as Rebecca has correctly pointed out, they rely on Windows to run/emulate hardware control. This makes them very difficult to have working on any other operating system (whether it be Linux, BSD, BEOS etc). Like Rebecca, i'd wholly recommend getting rid of your winmodem and getting a Linux compatible modem. Most external modems are generally Linux friendly, but don't presume, research. Google is your friend!

Kimberly Funk:

"Mandrake is very light on their modem support"

Please don't blame Mandrake. Blame the hardware manufacturers who shirk their responsibilities to provide proper driver support. Blame Microsoft for encouraging winmodems. But don't blame the Linux developers.

"versed in Linux command line jargon, which is incredibly complicated even for an experienced DOS user"

Not so. Linux isn't THAT hard to learn the basic Command Line Interface (CLI) commands. Bash is usually the shell that's used, and the basic stuff isn't that hard. The more difficult stuff you'll rarely need in your day to day housekeeping of the system. If you want to play with shell scripting, awk, egrep, sed and regular expressions, then yes, it becomes a bit more difficult. They are not for the "average" user. Just remember that Linux was a implementation of the Unix system that Linus Torvalds wrote whilst at University to run on i386 computers. It was never designed to be a Windows replacement, but it's mutated that way over time.

"buy a computer with Linux installed and forget all these hassles. "

I disagree. You still have to administrate the machine. Patch it. Upgrade various software due to security issues. Make it secure, remove various suid (Set UID) binaries, remove unneccessary services etc. Don't buy the line that Linux is totally safe - it isn't. You need to lock it down just like any other system. If you don't believe me go read the stories over at http://www.honeypot.org/.

Richard L. Phillabaum "rphilla5":

"because my old Suse linux disk would not work on Windows XP"

I'm not sure what you mean there. Linux has nothing to do with Windows XP. I presume that you're trying to install Linux onto a ntfs/fat32 partition, which is NOT recommended. Simply defrag your Windows drive, use something like Partition Magic or GNU Parted (which some bootable "live" Linux disks like Knoppix provide) to resize the partition with enough room for a Linux / (root) partition and a swap partition. Boot off the Linux installation disk, when you get to the partitioning stage grab the / and swap partitions and install to them. Pretty simple. Always back up your data though - resizing drives is usually very safe, but it can (on very rare occasions) cause disk issues and destroy data. Make sure to install a bootloader as the Windows XP ntloadr won't see the Linux operating system - I recommend grub, but lilo is fine.

"I know it is easy to intall and it is very easy to use. "

Both Suse and Mandrake are reknowned for their ease of installation and use. Suse I will NOT recommend due to some very poor support a few years ago (after paying au $160 for Suse 8.1 pro). Mandrake is generally regarded as a 'broken' distribution, very unreliable due to inclusion of packages that have not been thoroughly tested and bug free. Redhat/Fedora is about equivalent to Suse, with better support in my eyes, and more reliable than Mandrake. Slackware is great, but hard to install and use unless you are very experienced. Debian is also great (and my choice of distribution) and isn't as hard as it's made out to be. Don't be fooled by the fact that Debians' installer isn't fully graphical - a graphical installer isn't necessary in most instances - it's the quality not the prettiness that matters.

I wholly recommend Libranet GNU/Linux (sadly not available on Amazon it appears), Libranet 3 is in beta testing as we speak and I can tell you that it is very nice :-) I can say no more.

I recommend doing some basic reading on Linux, O'reillys 'running linux' or 'linux unleashed' are thorough books, a bit technical perhaps but still well rated in my eyes for even the new user. Find a good community, read the man (manual) pages, maybe even join a local LUG (Linux User Group) and most of all have patience. Don't be afraid to ask questions - not all Linux power users say 'rtfm' to new users. There are power users out there that do try to help new users as best as possible.

Feel free to email me ([e-mail]) if you disagree with my comments :-)

Best wishes,

Dave W Pastern