Mandrake disappointment 1756

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 12:31:44 -0700, Snit

That's likely because it's a page comparing paid versions. Download editions are available elsewhere. And, like i said, most of the software is available via urpmi from the rpm repositories. The urpmi manpage is pretty informative.

We weren't taling about them, though, were we? In any case, you don't get stuff like Realplayer with XP, you install it later. And I certainly never got a manual with my install of XP, though of course plenty of books are available. The point is, a boxed set comes with all hte bells and whistles to make it simpler for a newcomer to Linux. But anyone with a little savvy and the willingness to learn - or with a knowledgeable helper on hand - can get along quite well with the download versions.

It's a good way to learn it, and cheaper if you find it's not what you want.

You're wrong there. It can be free, it just might require a little more effort on their part to get the proprietary add-ons, like Flash players, etc. Which, depending on what they want to do, may not even be required. Mandrake provides good documentation even with a download edition, there is a newgroup, and quite a few Linux books can be bought which are geared towards helping a newbie to migrate from another OS.

I found 9.1 pretty straightforward in most ways, and 10.1 is much improved on that release. I don't see this should be a problem to you if you want to evaluate it for yourself.

-- Kier