[Cumbria] Mandrake 9.1

[Adam Pigg]

Hello again

Been using mdk9.1 for a few weeks now and think its great. (but i just dont 
'get' gnome :o)

I decided to learn html/php and quanta really is a great app (took a while 
to suss it out but now i get it)

setting up apache2/php/postgresql was a breeze (dont believe in mysql - 
sure to start a flame :o)

qtvision should be included instead, yeah i know its not finished, but the 
cvs version is really good, and i hate xawtv

kopete craches occasionally on exit if its trying to connect to msn (yes, i 
do have an msn account and use windows messenger) but it always did and i 
guess its not mandrakes fault.

overall i think 9.1 is the best distro ive ever used, it even detected by 
usb pocket drive automatically and it was added to the 'devices' list in 
konqueror (which is a great feature, makes accessing cd/floppy/other drives 
a breeze)

anyway, thats my 2 euros worth

PiggZ
oh. scanner still doesnt work though :o(

At 10:44 11/04/2003 +0100, you wrote:
>Well, I've been using Mandrake 9.1 in anger for a couple of days now, so I
>thought I'd post my opinions...
>
>Install: Very straightforward. Detected and configured all relevant
>hardware without any prompting from me (including USB MS Explorer mouse,
>nVidia Ti4600 graphics card and correct make and model of monitor). Very
>impressive. The only problem I've found is that although it found my
>soundcard (SB Live Value), it tried to use the Audigy driver. This is
>switchable in Mandrakes configuration tools, and doesn't require a reboot
>- in fact, I haven't rebooted since I installed... I was also particularly
>impressed that NTFS support is included, and both my NTFS and FAT32
>partitions are mounted at boot - I know LUG members have had problems with
>this in the past (Yes, I mean you Mat).
>
>Related to the hardware, I downloaded and installed the latest nVidia
>drivers - wow they are easy now. I've never really used the RPM's as I had
>problems with them, prefering to use the source tarballs but the new
>'all-in-one' drivers area dream to install. once completed, it's a one
>line change to your XF86Config. I couldn't find a way to change the driver
>by hand in the graphical tools (RHL 8.0 let me), but I maybe didn't look
>hard enough...
>
>Look'n'feel: Although Mandrake have gone down the 'unified desktop' route
>ala Bluecurve with Mandrake Galaxy, I not overly keen on the theme. I'm
>using Gnome 2.2 as my desktop (I still can't 'get' KDE...), and I've
>changed quite a few things (layout, fonts, theme etc) to make it
>'comfortable'. I never felt the need to change the RHL Gnome settings
>apart from layout. DrakFont will also pull fonts from your Windows
>installation (if you have one).
>
>Software: Mandrake is one of the 'everything-to-everyone' distro's that I
>have commented on in the past - it installs far too many packages, and
>makes no attempt to make choices easier for users. If you didn't know
>which programs to use, there are too many choices for beginners... The
>Mandrake configuration tools are very impressive, but also a bit
>'dumbed-down'. I need more control (yes, I know I'm not a 'normal' user).
>
>Performance: Performance is very good. I've installed Quake III Arena and
>Neverwinter Nights (I never thought I'd see the day when it was as easy to
>install a gmae on Linux as it is on Windows), and both outperform their
>Windows cousins. NWN in particular was impressive, running windowed whilst
>still browsing the web/IMing etc...
>
>Oddities: Both Nautilus and Konquerer had problems browsing an SMB share.
>Mozilla (1.3 is included) works fine, but Mozilla Mail crashes. I'm sure
>I'll find others...
>
>Overall: Very impressive distro. Once I got over the "it's not Red Hat"
>thing, I've grown to like it more and more. It's very much a desktop
>distro though, so I'm not planning on unleashing it on my servers... I'm
>planning on trying RHL 9 as soon as I get my disks (ahem, Mat...), and
>I'll post my opinions on that, and my final choice as and when... I will
>be recommending this distro to people though (esp. newbies).
>--
>Schwuk
>
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---
Adam Pigg

www.piggz.fsnet.co.uk
piggz.vg-network.com
adam@piggz.fsnet.co.uk