Mandrake Linux

Mandriva Linux (formerly known as Mandrake Linux) was created in 1998 with the goal of making Linux easier to use for everyone.

At the beginning they started with a RedHatLinux as its base, but in the meantime they developed quite some peculiarities, such as graphical installation and configuration tools.

Recent Users' Experiences

I have Mandrake 10.1 installed and it's by far the best Operating System I've used so far. Mandrake 10.1 combined with URPMI can't be stopped, URPMI lets you install RPM's just by knowing the package name, you type in "urpmi xmms" and it will not only search the net for xmms, but it will also automatically install any dependencies that xmms needs. Mandrake was also the simplest and easiest linux install I've experienced. It detected everything no problem on all my machines. Definitely recommend it!

- Al (Alberta Canada)

I currently use Mandrake 9.2 on both my laptop (Intel P4 2.0GHz, ATi Radeon M7) and my gaming-station (AMD Duron 950MHz, GeForce Ti 5200) since December 2003, and I haven't had a single negative experience. Both previously just had WindowsTwoThousand, but now I can easily dual-boot between the two operating systems. The installation was quick and easy, and it even took care of the multi-booting for me. After the installation, adding or removing software is easily done through the graphical tools provided. Comes with oodles of software and oodles more can be downloaded from the web. My experiences with Mandrake have all been positive. I love GIMP (can't wait to try GIMP 2.0), KDE 3.1 (but I am curious to try FluxBox? and the new GNOME release), CVS, and Apache - just to name a select few - and it is a great platform from which to develop. When I have the time, I want to try Mandrake 10.0 Community, as well as other Linux distributions. Now I use Windows solely for .Net and games that don't run on Linux yet. As soon as I get the hang of using WINE (a Win32 API emulator) and move over all of my games, I'm sending Windows back to the abyss. -- CarlosNsRodrigues

I'm also using Mandrake 9.2 on a laptop (Sony Vaio FX250, P3 850 Mhz) and also haven't had a negative experience. It was easier to install than WinXP - 45 minutes and I was up and running. Recognized all my hardware - including CD burner and digital camera - out of the box. It's now a single-OS machine - I've found enough Linux software that I haven't had the need to install Windows, and it's user-friendly enough for daily work (I'm still very much a PointAndClick? kinda guy). -- JonathanTang

Previous Users' Experiences:

MandrakeLinux has numerous advantages over RedHatLinux and other distributions with its incredible and better graphical installer, leading-edge software, best hardware detection, latest kernels, lots of software and much more. -- AnonymousDonor

The Home, End & Delete keys work in 'bash' out of the box. What more need one say? -- PhlIp

I think it started (with a RedHatLinux base) with the goals to provide an easy to use environment for beginners and to contain a fully incorporated KDE (http://slashdot.org/articles/980725/117228.shtml). -- MarkoSchulz

I have been using RedHatLinux Version 6.2 for 4 months, and have never had any problems. I have personally installed it on a PIII 667, a PII 233, and PentiumPro? 200, and a 486 66. Just for grins, I installed Mandrake a couple of weeks ago, and came away with the impression that the GUI was nicer in Mandrake, but that some of the functionality was broken. The Mandrake installation was huge. (2.5 GB for Mandrake versus 700 MB for RedHatLinux.) YMMV. -- RichardBash

The install for MandrakeLinux can be as small as 600 MB and have a fully working system.

A couple of problems I saw:

When installed in the same extended partition as Windows, it changed the type of partition that Windows was installed in making Windows unbootable until I changed it back.
When choosing to selectively install components, I had trouble with certain programs for that partial installation (dependency installation faulty?)
When trying to update to the latest kernel, it said I needed another component installed first. When trying to install the requested component, it requested the kernel I was trying to install.
The link to the Menu Editor (KDE) is broken.

None of which says anything about Mandrake necessarily. One of the powerful things about Linux is its multitude of distributions. As always, YMMV. -- RichardBash

My experience is: I bought RedHat and tried to install it.

It didn't come with the latest kernel for i810 chipset (which is common IMHO), so I needed to download that.
Fatal Error: I couldn't install it, without seriously rearranging my disk partitions (due to that fact it has too many cylinders and Win98 takes up the lower part of the disk).

Before spending extra money on Partition Magic, I tried to install Mandrake from a free CD on the cover of a magazine. It worked first time, and didn't experience either of the problems above. -- PeterForeman

I use Mandrake 7.2 on my dualboot Linux/Windows desktop. It's nice, except sometimes the user-friendly configuration tools weren't built for what you have in mind, and they mess it up, though with good intentions. (Insert aphorism here.) In that respect, it's somewhat user un-friendly. -- JonathanRosebaugh

I'm running Mandrake 8.1 (Beta 3 or one of the release candidates, I don't remember). I keep a Windows partition up for the wife so she can do MicrosoftOffice and email for school. Otherwise, I could wipe Windows from the disk, as the only reason I had for keeping a Windows partition was for games. But now there are some excellent games out for Linux, including a real-time strategy offering called Kohan Immortal Sovereigns - I have both the Windows and Linux versions and the Linux version runs much better. Of course, I prefer Emacs over Word.

Notes about my immersion into the Linux world:

First, all *Nix XP was through CommandLineInterface on servers that hosted my various web sites.
When MandrakeLinux 7.0 came out, I installed it and ran KDE for about a year.
Now, I run GnomeDesktopEnvironment (sounds like a spinoff of GnipGnop? ... anyone remember that game ...) and when I get some free time, going to try out some of the other window managers (using SawFish currently). KDE really looks crisp, but it's always seemed kind of buggy - it runs well at first, then when I start messing with configuration settings, it seems to melt my fonts, or other strange behaviours are emitted. The GnomeGtk? (or should it be GtkGnome?) may appear simple, but it's a lot more tweak-able (at least from my XP).
Still trying to master TheGimp - it's nowhere as simple as PaintshopPro? and I seem encumbered with a learning curve - I spend more time creating the goofy simplistic graphics in comparison to code rate I'm able to crank out ...

-- NaumTrifanoff

I'm currently using Mandrake 8.2 (as of sept. 13 2002) on a dual-boot (Win98) PII 300. I didn't boot under Win98 for the last two months now. I kept it there for the games but now I'm not even interested in games. Wasting my time building a Wiki, coding, tweaking, etc. Sure there are some small user-friendliness problems, but all in all it's exactly what I want. Nothing more, nothing less. Didn't reboot for three weeks now. I never would have been able to do that with Win**. Since I only have 64mb of RAM, I've stopped using KDE (angered me for being to slow and too... windows-like? :) and now using only BlackBoxWindowManager. That WM rocks! No icons, no silly taskbar, no eye candy, no memory hog. I might give IceWM a try as I heard it's also pretty fast.

Anyway, I'm not a hacker nor a Unix guru, but I can say that I've found everything I needed in Linux, especially in Mandrake. And then, I just love MDK because it's Made in France and has full French support. Allez les bleus! :)

-- ManuelLanctot