Mandrake Releases 8.2 Beta

joestar writes: "As seen at Mandrake's website, Mandrake Linux 8.2 Beta seems to be available for download at different places. The new features include the ability to install a Mandrake as small as 65Mb on the HD, and encrypted file-system support. I guess it's the good time to report all bugs we don't want to see in the final version. Very promising release, worth a look at!"

Comments

Re:Advantages of Mandrake?

[leviramsey]

This of course can be pretty trying at times for more advanced Linux users. Mandrake defaults an install without telnet, ssh, or ftp servers, and a High Security firewall. Mandrake is geared more towards a workstation machine, so if you are looking to run a server you will have some work to do after the install.

It's easy to get ssh up (I had it installed from the start on Mandrake 7.2-8.1). Just do an Expert Mode install (which is the install that any self-respecting advanced Linux user would do). Select the proper class of packages (network computer server for ssh, for instance) and individual package selection. I think telnet has to be explicitly selected, but who in their right mind uses telnet in lieu of ssh?

This is a Good Thing. The average newbie shouldn't be running ftp or telnet because it's a service through which they can easily be h4x0red. If their machine gets h4x0red, they blame it on Linux, especially if it was through a service that was activated by default.

Re:What about LVM?

[Junta]

LVM and Software RAID are beautiful. Unfortunately, the benefit of LVM is completely lost on a great deal of the community. The strategy seems to no longer be to partition nicely, but rather, put all your space in / and don't worry about it. These are the people Mandrake is catering to, and it doesn't seem like it is worth their effort to support a type of configuration that has no benefit to their target users...

Re:Distro versioning

[Junta]

But then you have nightmares in support and distribution. Not everyone has a fast, convenient net connection through which they can run an update nightly. Additionally, of those that do, not all *want* to update. Releases allow for a checkpoint to be available in which the user is assured some amount of testing has gone into that exact configuration. When you have a system where you just update packages at will, you end up with strange configurations that few have tested and will likely break. For a seasoned user, this may be workable, but especially for a new person, this would really be disappointing.

Imagine providing support where the number of revisions in common use is comparable to the days that have passed with updates to the codebase.

Re: "two ways to do it"

[Apostata]

I agree that syncronizing KDE 3.x with Mandy 8.2 would either delay the release of 8.2 or doom Mandy with a timely release but a less-than-perfect KDE. However, Mandrake releases a point-version every year and KDE releases a point-version much more frequently and can be upgraded within the distro easily. If 8.2 comes with a less-than-perfect KDE 3.x, chances are that it would be easier to upgrade KDE shortly afterwards with the 3.x base already installed than hoping KDE 2.2.2 can upgrade seamlessly (which it very well may).
It's a choice between patience or pleasure, and both have their virtues.

As for your way of upgrading...it doesn't make sense. "It's called downloading stuff, compiling it yourself...". If you're going to go to that extent, why bother with Mandrake? Just go to www.linuxfromscratch.com and forget about Mandrake.
Your second option simply doesn't make sense at all: buy a cheap CD...okay, and then...? How does that solve the fact that Mandrake doesn't make it easy to upgrade from point-releases? In fact, how do either of your choices make it easier?