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Mandrake 8.1 Beta1 (Raklet) Released

Posted by timothy on from the sitting-around-the-table-with-skewers dept.

keegnotrub writes: "Mandrake just dumped 8.1 Beta on their servers. Along with updated software (KDE 2.2, kernel 2.4.8, etc) they have reworked their control center to include many new features." Word to the wise: there are some reactions to this beta -- as well as a list of known bugs and fixes -- at mandrakeforum.com. What I'd like to know is if a Wacom Intuos USB tablet will work out-of-the-box on 8.1, since I just bought a refurbed one ;)

5 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Big problem: DevFS by bconway · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Why are they using devfs? I'm not sure who was smoking crack on that one, but it's junk. It's never really worked, and it doesn't work with half of the drivers currently out there, so forget about it if you want to use things like ReiserFS or nVidia cards. Furthermore, you can't decide to not use it in the install, and switching back to dev afterwards is a major PITA.

    --
    Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
  2. Re:Mandrake is cool, but surely Debian is better. by Flabdabb+Hubbard · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    Well, the BSD licence forces you to release your code to the likes of microsoft who can take it, and use it for whatever they like, without merging the changes back. Which means that Microsoft could 'co-opt' code written under BSD license without giving anything back to the community. Suppose they took an implementation of protocol that was popular say the bsd tcp/ip stack and added MS extentions. Hey presto they have used your BSD code to screw you over and you have no more control!!!


    Can you see now how the BSD license is restrictive ?

  3. Buy American, not French by The+Ultimate+Badass · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    You seem to be overlooking one important problem with this distro: It's French! I know the buy American ethos is losing it's charm for many. I don't think it is safe for the open source community to encourage this. Right now, USA dominates the open source world, but for how long, with distros like SuSE and Mandrake cutting into Redhat's market share?

    When Redhat goes under, and all open source development moves offshore, you will only have yourselves to blame, just as we Americans have only ourselves to blame for the tragic failure of our auto industry. Do you really want to put the French in a position to declare French the official language of open source development? I certainly don't, but it looks to me that their greatest competitor might soon be German, instead of English, the language which made free software possible.

    I urge all linux users to avoid MAndrake and SuSE distributions. They rob US open source business of vital funds, and will inevitably lead to the collapse of more and more linux businesses.

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    Denial isn't just a river in Italy

  4. Ugh, GCC 2.96, still by Anthony+Boyd · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    They're still using the evil gcc 2.96, and not only that, the users in MandrakeForums want it that way. I am just not their market anymore, I guess. I see gcc 3.0 out with 3.01 coming, and my first thought is: "great, they can break free of Red Hat's crappy decision!" But the Mandrake users appear to want Red Hat compatibility even to the point of following Red Hat's bad ideas. Oh well. I was holding out for 8.1. I guess it's time to find alternatives.

    --
    My Greasemonkey scripts for Digg &
  5. Wacom pads by The_Great_Satan · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If your pad doesn't work out of the box in 8.0, try shutting down X and starting it manually. Hopefully they will have this problem fixed in 8.1.

    What I really want to know though is, has anyone ever gotten the pressure sensitivity to work in GIMP? And if so, how? I'm using a USB Graphire and I am having no luck.