Whoa! Mandrake 8.1 is User Friendly

[toolman]

I couldn't believe my eyes. I actually got it installed with only 2 tries with this version.

8.1 is definitely a quantum leap over the previous distros. It's almost to the point of Windows level installability. Who knows...a couple more distros it may be competition for Windows?

[littleman]

The folks at The Register [theregister.co.uk] Think it is easier to use than windows. This article is even tempting NFFC!

Btw Tool, what desktop/window manager do you like to use?

[toolman]

My limited knowledge consists of about 3 hrs running time now...KDE. The doggone thing walked right thru networking and mail setup...really easy to do compared to "other" distros I've tried before.

I also bought the O'Reilly cd collection "The Linux Web Server Collection" that I run on the winders box whilst I flounder thru the manuvering on the Linux box. I AM GOING TO LEARN SERVER ADMIN IF IT KILLS ME.

[Air]

>8.1 is definitely a quantum leap over the previous distros

That's why LM and I both recommended 8.1 even if it is a little less stable than 7.2, although I haven't had any trouble with 8.1 since an earlier post (save for a few segment faults on a few apps, but this is partly related to my penchant for running beta code). With all the free code there's always something new and unstable to install *LOL*

I started out liking KDE in the early releases but have since switched to GNOME, now prefer it to KDE.

[toolman]

>>>GNOME

You can switch back and forth too can't you?

[littleman]

Yeah, it is very easy to switch. You may also want to try Window Maker, and Black Box (my favorite). You will probably have to install the Black Box rpms. Some how I just see you as a Gnome user.

Icewm is very stable, looks a bit like win95, but could be customized to look halfway decent with a utility called Icepref. Two things that Ice has going for it is that it is very light weight, and you could do everything *without* a mouse if you choose.

[Air]

Yup, as long as you installed both you can log in at will between the two, even keeps your settings for apps that run on both (eg. mail, browsers, etc.) BTW wait 'till you try the Mandrake package manager/updater on 8.1, very slick.

[webwonder]

hello
i am new to mandrake and to linux for that matter. i wanted to use a product called plesk and can be downloaded at plesk.com. it is a server administration program but it is only for rathat can someone tell me of a product like this for mandrake...Web

[littleman]

Webwonder, you should probably contact them. Mandrake shares a lot of compatibility with Redhat, so they may have a tweak to make it work for you.

[4eyes]

I am getting dangerously close to installing a *nix system

I have redhat on my server, but don't mess around with it too much (I have Plesk installed, gets me through most things OK)

I want to get up to speed on *nix, but want to make my learning applicable to my web server as well.

Q. If I install Madrake 8.1 on my home box will my learning cover me for Redhat as well, or am I going to get in a muddle?

[Duckula]

A. The absolutly basic knowledge will get you through any unix-like system; there's not any major difference using standard commands between distros.

However, there are some subtle differences on how is the system administrated, better know as "Redhatisms"; as for the last time I used Mandrake (7.1) it was close enough to redhat as for not making a difference.

That differences are on very few things on the admin side, like starting services. As a user you should not notice any difference even using OpenBSD.

[4eyes]

Thanks Duckula

Whoopee [heads off to Mandrake site]

[littleman]

Let us know how it turns out Duckula!

[Duckula]

You better ask 4eyes. I have been running happily Debian since the testing branch went public.

[littleman]

Oops, sorry. Speaking of Debian, I have been kicking it's tiers a bit. I have to say it is frustratingly complicated, and amazingly simple at the same time. I'll be posting about my experience soon.

[scotty]

That differences are on very few things on the admin side, like starting services. As a user you should not notice any difference even using OpenBSD.

Surely there is a difference because OpenBSD (and all other BSD's) does not have server start/stop scripts in /etc/init.d ... :)

And Debian puts them in /etc/init.d, whereas Redhat and Mandrake puts them in /etc/rc.d/init.d (and then symlink to /etc/init.d). And Slashware follows the BSD system of having a big /etc/rc.local. All these confusion...

[heini]

Sidenote: Installed Redhat 7.2 - didn't find it any more complicated than mandrake 8.1. Similar graphic install routine.

[Duckula]

it is frustratingly complicated, and amazingly simple at the same time

Someone is going to have to write the "Debian Daode Jing".

[theperlyking]

Mandrake 8.2 beta installed flawlessly and i'm running it now (not on this pc :)). I was extremely impressed though I'm still not happy with a RPM based distro. I wish I'd installed debian now but I was short of time. Something for those interested to check out is www.gentoo.org - a newish distro where it compiles itself as it installs. Gives you the opportunity to optimise the compilation to suit your pc and so is supposed to be a very good performer.