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Mandrake News
DCowern writes "Mandrake yesterday released their FY2001-2002 earnings and I'm glad to say it's looking real good for them. They've cut operating costs by 42% and increased revenues by 31%. They're still not quite in the black yet but they're expecting to break even month-to-month beginning in February. The full report is here. In other news, Mandrake announced two new programs yesterday. The first is Multi Network Firewall, which looks like an extremely nice package for running small to medium-sized networks. The second program, and my favorite, is their "OS refugee" offer."
How much revenue did Mandrake Charity contribute?
IS GREEN!!! Maybe this is appropriate? :)
bankrupts MandrakeSoft after slashdot, a OSDN news site posts a link to MandrakeSoft causing excessive bandwidth usage and financial loss.
Free means no restrictions, ironic the FSF's GPL forces restrictions, isn't it? What's your definition of free?
Mandrake is one of the best Linux distro's for new users and I feel it's a vital part in getting more people turned onto Linux. I was worried for a while that Mandrake might not exist a few years down the road but hopefully this turn toward profitability will continue. And remember, if you use Mandrake, it doesn't hurt to donate some money to them. It is, afterall, the season of giving. :-)
That's impressive. Except...they're still not profitable? Wow. They must've been screwing up big time before.
It's still nice to hear some good news for once I guess.
---
Open Source Shirts
After my brief stint recently with a friend's laptop running Win ME (no memory management just like 98), I think I'd prefer the term "asylum seeker".
What makes a man want to be a mouse? (Python's Flying Circus)
Reading the OS Refugee Offer, I think it's a great idea. Personally, if they had an idea like that when I was shopping around for distros (metaphorically speaking) I would have gone for that offer in a heartbeat. Now only of Red Hat and SuSE (especially SuSE) did this, we might have some competition with Windows for PHBs. (Of course, the undisputed king of distros shall be unnamed at this time to avoid starting a flamewar. It suffices to say that it is free and always will be.)
Who would pay $30 for Linux when you can download Windows XP for free?
Is there a point to these Soviet Russia comments, or is someone performing a denial of good taste attack on Slashdot?
Always going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse.
I often find myself in Discussions wondering why Linux hasn't taken off due its good qualities. I often get referred to complexity of use, difficulty of installation, and Microsoft using its powers of Gigantism. These are all somewhat true. But, I always have felt that part of it was poor management in the major distribution companies. I am glad to see Linux cleaning up their offices and will be happy to see a switch occur. I am also glad to see Mandrake doing well as it is very easy to use and install making it a better choice for average users.
The other thing I would like to see happen with all the Linux companies is to organize a general lobbying group to challenge MS's marketing force. To challenge the public and government perceptions of the system. Alliances with PC Manufactures would come with demand. The final thing needed is solid development efforts by manufacturers to support hardware in Linux. I feel lack of driver support killed Be which had a really solid OS. BSD was hardly moving on the workstation market until OS X hit and many Apple folks switched voluntarily, and the others are being forced to now even though they don't like the change.
Regardless Best of Luck to Mandrake and the Linux market in General.
I like Mandrake, it is nice to finally see a company compete with redhat in the Linux for sale department. Redhat has done a good job, but if you leave them sitting there to long, they might think they are another Microsoft. --
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Wow! Thanks!
gee they're not in the black? let me see, they release a product like MNF, and they put it up for download, and they have it listed for $1990 at mandrakestore.com. well no shit they're not profitable. 2 grand or free, let me see...
i have been a mandrake user since 7.0, as well as 7.2, 8.1, and 9.0 all of whcih i bought, and which i love. it is awesome. anyways, why can't a company create a value added product to gpl software. for instance, the mandrake wizards are awesome, if yo haven't tried them, they blow anything in windows away, like network card setup, video res., and even printers. for instance, at my school, we have a bunch of HP laser jets, and they all run jet direct. just had printerdrake auto find all the TCP printers, found them, auto configured them, yada yada. now, that is awesome shit. and they give it away. and they're still not profitable, no shit.
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
few linux distros in my day and Mandrex is one of the better ones.
Its got some goodies such as urpmi etc..
If I was to spend some cash on Linux for the desktop I would go with Mandrex.
Give me your product for free, since I'm too lazy or stupid to return another company's product that I decided to buy.
You may have chosen to pay for Windows, but that doesn't pay the bills at Mandrake. They're hardly obligated to replace things you buy from other companies. May as well go to Circuit City and say "I don't care to take this broken TV back to where I bought it, so give me a new one for free. After all, I did pay for the other one."
THE OS FORCES YOU TO UPGRADE.
MAndrake is still the OS I use, and this will continue to be so. It is the first distribution that made me convert from Windows. When I saw it, I couldn't believe the EASE of installation and the user-friendliness of the whole package. Regardless of the fact that even distros like Red Hat are getting easier to use, this is still the *only* distro which I can give to my non-convert friends. I have done this for a few people now while advising them which computer to buy, and ALL of them never needed help. Mandrake is just what the doctor ordered to show that Linux CAN be user friendly. It is one of the distros that definetely deserves all the support it can get!
Pulled my Mandrake from my shelf and it started wailing such a shrill scream that I almost passed out. The mature distro surely would have killed me.
</potter>
That one suprised me...
I used to be a big Mandrake fan-boy, but no longer. All I want is system configuration tools that work, and have a decent, consistent user interface. Is that too much to ask for?
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts, which is what I should have done in the first place. Desktop users shouldn't have to deal with that, though.
I tried to add a second IP address to my machine the other day using the GUI admin tools provided in Mandrake 9, and it was a total mess. I ended up just editing the files in
I'm gonna give Xandros a spin next. Seems like a pretty well integrated desktop distro they have.
What I find weird is that the Soviet Russia comments almost inevitably get modded down, while the far, far more overplayed underpants gnomes/numbered buisness plan, beowolf cluster, and the absolute worst of them all, the priceless jokes still get modded up on a regular basis.
It reminds me of one Yakov comment in reply to a troll moderation of another, "In SOVIET RUSSIA, moderators tell YOU what is funny!".
Well, Mandrake doesn't have to pay you back, but you know they're also not giving you anything in their "offer," either. You get to buy a $12 cdr which has software which you could download for free and burn for about $0.10 worth of media (legally). You've "won" a chance to pay someone else money for being such a sucker to Microsoft. Congrats!
Because my g/f enjoys using Mandrake on her laptop, we decided to buy the 9.0 standard edition for the following reasons:
1.) At the time our internet connection was having issues and 3 isos were not easy to quickly get
2.) We wanted to support Mandrake since they've created an excellent desktop distribution.
We got our copy just fine in mid-November, but then about three weeks later we got another copy. I e-mailed them and they said it was a mistake but in the end we cost Mandrake more money than I would've liked. Both packages were sent to a U.S. from Europe - not cheap. One would think they'd have a warehouse here, but maybe it's for tax purposes. They mentioned in their e-mail that they've had some shipping problems, so I'm probably not the only one.
I'm not sure how we'll support Mandrake in the future...for her, I think a small subscription fee for a dedicated update server would work well. She'd be getting value-added software (because it's faster to download), and Mandrake would get money that was a bandwidth + server cost, not shipping + packaging.
At the end of the day, I am a happy Debian user.
"The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
we lock our OS refugees up in camps for years on end. And they're not refugees, they're "illegal immigrants".
:wq
Soon as I saw the story on the front page I knew what awaited inside. Hundreds of posts from zitty geeks trying to be punker-than-thou by coming up with ever-more-obscure namedropping to make up for their lack of real style (or to pretend that they are actually old enough to have been involved). Drop the pretension kiddos. We all know that your Blink 182 CD is older than your copy of Bollocks.
I love how a whole new level of conformity has been created by the average bozo's efforts at individuality. It might almost work if your personal definition of individuality didn't depend so heavily on how you present yourself to others. I mean, what's the sense of being into bullshit like [insert pseudo-non-mainstream hobby here] if you can't talk about it to make yourself superior to your peers?
Kinda sounds like the Linux crowd, huh? "I'm so ALTERNATIVE by patching my kernel every day while you brainwashed Windows sheep meander in unenlightened tedium." Funny to think that if you had back all the time you spent tweaking and patching (for no good reason other than to say you have the latest version), you wouldn't know what to do with the workstation on your desk.
*sigh*
excuse the rant. caffiene has yet to be digested.
In Soviet Russia, Soviet Russia posts get modded up.
I'd have no problem with that attitude, except to do it right you have to REMOVE PLIP FROM THE KERNEL. As long as Linus leaves that plip.c in there, people like me are going to presume that it FUCKING WORKS GODDAMN IT. Leaving it there not working is just a trap to waste people's time, not to mention simply taking up space and bandwidth everytime another idiot downloads it.
I'm not hopeful about 2.4.20 either since I just found a changelog message on groups.google.com (from the kernel mailing list group) from Alan Cox with the cryptic line "plip.c: fixed plip." Thanks Alan. What was broken ? Will it totally not work unless I get your patch ? Should I just give up and go back to DRDOS and laplink ?
...is the same as a lot of linux distros. When linux was first getting usable and instalable (around the time of RH6.2 IMHO) there was a lot of talk about companies giving the OS away and then charging for support. Well there's at least two problems with this:
:).
1. Users have been paying for software and getting free support so long that they can't seem to deal with the idea of paying for support.
2. I think Sun had this problem with staroffice. They couldn't give it away so they started charging for it. People look at RH and Mandrake's personal editions and see a complete OS with tons of usable apps included for $40 bucks and figure there must be something wrong with it. They can't understand the open source movement and the idea that somebody would write a program for no other reason than the joy of writing it, and then happily give it away. To be fair the the average consumer, look at the sort of "free" things they get for their computers. Cuecats, bonzai buddy, gator. Not exactly encouraging. Slashdot readers know that OSS is totaly different than the kind of nonsense companies give away, but do people at large do?
I don't really have a solution for Mandrake (If I did I'd start a company). I think their best bet would be to get cosy with OEMs and charge them for offering the support. At any rate I wish them the best of luck, but alas for me RH's fonts have drawn me away from Mandrake 9.0
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I just recieved Mandrake 9.0 PowerPack by chronopost/fedex on Thursday, which means I paid for it, rather than downloaded it. I figure the money is well spent, especially if it keeps them going.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Ask Enron or anyone else victimized by retarded management how hard it is to make a comeback.
Don't you mean "Ask the shareholders of Enron how victimized they felt when a company they relied on betrayed them"? I'm sorry, I feel bad for the workers and shareholders of Enron, but this is nothing like Enron. First, Enron managment wasn't retarded: they knew full well what they were doing, and did it anyway. Second, Enron had some help at the federal level to get away with some of its corporate misdeeds. Finally, Enron's employees and customers had no idea what was going on.
Contrast that with Mandrake. The managemnt that you call "retarded" had a different direction for the company that didn't work out. They didn't try to steal from the company, screw the shareholders, or cover their own ass. Secondly, Mandrake has always been supported by its users, be it donations or purchases of its boxed set. Finally, the user base of Mandrake saw where it was going and let the company know that wasn't the way they wanted it to go.
Sorry, somehow I don't see how this was ANYTHING like Enron.
Stupid comments shut themselves up.
i am going to film myself shooting you in the face with a shotgun. haha!
now please give me some buttsex.
because i like it.
yours truly,
jesus h. christ
superstar with cheese (no pickles)
There are any number of ways for a company's reported revenues to increase, ranging from a genuine increase in sales to more underhanded methods like (for example) reporting certain types of expected future income as present revenues. Likewise, there are any number of ways to show a decrease in expenses on the balance sheet, ranging from honest-to-goodness cost cuts, to sneaky Enron moves like hiding expenses through the use of stock options as executive pay, or dummy subsidiaries.
Don't get me wrong, I am not accusing MandrakeSoft of any wrongdoing, what I am saying is unless we get to see detailed financials, and I mean income and cash flow statements, a balance sheet, and footnotes, MandrakeSoft's rosy financial report is just another press release.
MandrakeSoft's stock price is still off around $1.25 from its high for the year, if they want to get their price up, it would help to get better information to investors.
Operatin costs cuts YOU
Me: Mandrake sucks, Debian rules!
/.er: Retort about difficulty of installation
/.er: Counter-counter-retort still about difficulty of installation
/.er 2: "One distribution to rule them all" comment
/.er 3: "Beowulf Cluster" comment
/.er 4: "Linux will never be on the desktop" manifesto (at least 100K)
Me: Counter-retort about lack of 'free'ness of $DISTRIBUTION
Troll: "You get what you pay for" comment
{several replies about why Linux WILL TOO be on the desktop, several replies about why Linux isn't ready, and at least 4 people advocating throwing away X}
Yeah, I can now create threads in my head. Who needs to actually *READ* the threads, you can just make them up yourself!
That's great, if you can RTFM and understand what it's trying to tell you. The problem is, some people don't understand how to edit configuration files. I think Mandrake ends up being easier for people who have never been exposed to anything other than a Windows GUI.
In Capitalist America...
forces upgrade YOU to OS!
...on the Mandrake site? My aging eyes can't deal...
We have been so bombarded with multi-cultralism that we have forgotten we are racist. I can think of a few other countries too.
-- An Australian
This might be offtopic , but it is not a troll.
Actually it is on-topic and funny. Still not a troll.
It is also true. Funny and true like the joke about edison and the lightbulb - the one on The Simpsons.Funny and true
I think I'll just boycott mandrake until it works with the modem that it is advertised to work with! The actiontek modem that cost me $70 didnt work so fuck them..it worked fine in RedHat..but now I have reverted to windows until further notice.
"I feel it is my duty to look at the porn that kids download before I delete it, to be sure what it is."--School Admin
This is quite possibly the worst SOVIET RUSSIA joke I've heard in two years.
If you've been reading slashdot recently, you know that that's saying a hell of a lot.
I think, therefore I am an Atheist.
Most of the posts around here are just dumb. Which is pretty much par for the course whenever there's a Mandrake topic:
"I installed something and now I can't find it!"
"I used GUI configuration wizard and now nothing works!"
"Linux gots a long way to go!"
I'm tired of all this bullshit. You guys are just dumb. Linux is not going to be like Windows. Or like MacOS (which has the best desktop). The only reason why you're running Linux is because you have some irrational hatred of Microsoft, or because --in an attempt to be cool-- you got a lot more than you bargained for and now you're lost. Because everything you guys say shows that you are completely in the dark as to what's going on.
So why don't you shut up. Linux is a UNIX platform for research, hobbyism and programming. It will never be easy-to-use because that makes research, hobbyism and programming harder. Get that through your heads, start coding, or wipe your partition and enjoy Windows XP. Or anything, I don't care, whatever keeps you from posting moronic comments on Slashdot.
Pushin' 'n dealin', shovin' 'n stealin'
So this is the most overtly aimed-at-end-users and putting-the-emphasis-on-ease-of-use installation around, and they still can't make money? And this is good news? Is it just me, or are we in the twilight zone?
Surely one of the enormous problems we have with Linux is that no-one seems to be able to make any money out of it. Linux almost bankrupted Corel, and even Redhat distributes the software at a loss. Selling Windows pays, selling Linux manifestly doesn't. As long as that is the case, it is hardly surprising that most distributors don't want to know.
I think one of the things that will have to change if Linux is to get much further in terms of market penetration is the look it didn't cost me a bean mentality. At one point I was going to offer Linux support from my cybercafe. Then I noticed that people with Windows problems expect to pay and ask for a price up front, whereas Linux users expect two hours of my undivided attention and might possibly buy a cup of coffee.
Giving money to Mandrake is nice, but I would suggest that buying a boxed copy from time to time from a non-specialist supplier would do far more to improve the distribution of Linux.
Virtually serving coffee
MandrakeSoft recently released a new Installation ISO for PPC Cooker. PPC Cooker (which is the development branch) is pretty sweet right now -- it's got GNOME2, KDE 3.1 RC5, Mac-on-Linux (which supports Mac OS X and OS 9) and lots of other goodies.
Anyone who's got a Mac is invited to participate by testing PPC Cooker.
Redhat Press idg.net has an article about SuSE Linux
quote:port 17 udp
Rolling and LMFAO... Score 2 Informative! No, the moderators aren't biased at all... no way!
#include <objects/discoball.h>
#include <soul/discomusic.h>
#include <vocalist/isaac_hayes.h>
signal_discometaljazro ckguitarlead();
'couple o' mean guys
With fire in their eyes
Known by the names of
Stallman and Raymond!
Yeah
They'll chew you up and spit you out
beyond their doubt
it pays _not_ to mess with them
Stallman and Raymond!
You got it!
signal_rising2chorus();
Ah yes!
signal_chorus();
Don Hackers, Cracki-nova's, players, cloved-foot
...
Stallman and Raymond!
I understand that the old business method for Linux companies of offering their full products for download, and selling box retail copies for like $29.99 is not the best one... so I understand the need for them to branch out into these more specialist versions of their OS.
But why the hell do they charge so much? The cost of that firewall package was 1,999 Euro. We bought a PIX firewall and it cost like 3,000 Euros. Considering the PIX is actually a hardware appliance as well, I dont think its that bad a deal.
The whole point about Linux distributions (for me at least) was that they undercut the opposition by being either free or ridiculously cheap.. but now they are releasing products that are priced so highly, there is hardly anything in it. Why the huge mark up?
I was looking at the very cool looking SuSE OpenExchange which is designed to compete with Exchange.. and I seriously think after looking at the web demo that it really could.. but it again is priced so damn high, its actually cheaper for us to buy MS Exchange 2000 on our educational license than it is to buy that.
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
If you downloaded Mandrake Linux, then I suggest you join Mandrake Club to support futher development:
Mandrake Club
How are membership fees used?
* Membership fees are primarily used to directly fund the development of the Mandrake Linux distribution. Membership fees also pay the salaries of employees who often contribute directly or indirectly to "external" Free Software projects such as the Linux kernel, KDE, GNOME, Prelude, and others
* Fees may also be used for the development of community websites such as MandrakeLinux.com, MandrakeUser.org, MandrakeForum.com and the development of Internet services specifically for the benefit of Club members
we close down our OS refugees camps, and tell them to go to hell, so they end up sleeping in bus shelters and phone booth, wandering along the Channel. Try to beat that, Oz!
Does "cut operating costs by 42%" mean we can expect the distro to stagnate? ...
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
Additional information about the current increase of capital is available at:
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/company/investors/bsa
It includes several very interesting FAQs about MandrakeSoft & Linux, including a long statement about UnitedLinux.
Funny how Microsoft donated more to charity this year than Mandrake has earned.
That's the crappiest 'In Soviet Russia' joke i've heard.
What the hell is it with all these stupid Soviet Russia, Capitalist America shite comments in the past week or so? Christ, they're worse than the goatse.cx trolls now!
Does anyone in the house maybe know if the're is a packet shaping feature with Multi Network Firewall? So Kazaa can get some downloading limits, and i can game with a reasonable ping. (sorry for my bad english)
Posts like this make me wonder:
:-)
Is someone who posts yet another dumb "they want to live from charity" post:
A) Too stupid to understand that MandrakeClub is a service
B) misinformed
C) desperately looking for something bad to say about Mandrakesoft?
Ah, yes- one more thing: MandrakeClub rulez!
so, if I scan all of my os/2 warp floppies and mail them... uh... 13 ounces of photocopy I can get mandrake 9.0 for $12.50US? Thats only about $3.13US for shipping for me, not including: envelope, photocopy paper, toner, electricity and the gerbils running in the wheel that make the copier squeeeeeek. "9.0 MandrakeLinux Standard Edition" on the mandrake website costs $30US and comes with 3 cds and a book. With my 13 ounces of photocopied os/2 warp disks I can get the mandrake 9.0 one-CD set for only $12.50 - $3.13 shipping ($9.37). A savings of negative $0.63 per cd!
in all seriousness, this is a really cool offer. mandrake is a great distro for people who just want stuff to work ootb so they can see whats up with the whole linux thing. And really, it's way cheaper than a copy of Windows 2000 Professional (not the upgrade, mind you, which requires 98 or 95 - you DID PURCHASE 98 or 95, right?) for just $319 US (wtf?!). Or XP for $199 for the full version. Eww.
http://www.tweakhound.com/mandrake9.htm
Mandrake 1.0 was the first Linux distro I ever installed ... I've staggered up the food chain (or is that "learning curve"?) from there since 1997, but my point is this ... Mandrake, Red Hat, Debian and Slackware (and the other "old school" distros (sorry SuSE, your licensing requirements disqualify you from the "old school" grouping)) seem to pour their work product back into the community, while those who've jumped on the bandwagon in the last 2-3 years all seem to want to lead the Microsofting of Linux.
... give to those who give back!
My feeling is this
utter rubbish
who doesn't really use linux, i have to say this is good news. mandrake was one of the distros i tried and liked, but still wasn't up to being a desktop replacement in my case (and in a lot of other people's case as well, imo).
I think you are missing the point here
One company having 90+% penetration of the personal computer market space GUARANTEES that new hardware will ship with drivers for that OS (they may be pre-alpha quality, but what the heck?)
the beauty that is occurring now is that SOME (re: Nvidia) manufacturers are actively supporting Linux
just my US$0.02
utter rubbish
It fucks with economies of scale.
Look at KDE verses Gnome. No one can use both at hte same time but double the developers are need as would be needed if just one existed.
Plus apps have to make themselves compatible with both, meaning more redundent development.
The best news the airline industry could have is for United's Chapter 11 attempt to fail, the end of united would overnight make America's other airlines much more sustainable.
An example of this is Anset going belling up in Oz, meaning QANTAS now makes raging profits, & prices on average haven't gone up. So it's not a matter of less competition meaning higher profits, it's a matter of greater market share/turnover making the fixed costs less in relation to the gross profits, IE simply economies of scale.
Ignore the naysayers. It made me snicker.
you would probably have read about the fact that Mandrake has been thinking/trying to turn its development segment into a not-for-profit organization.
Not sure what are the obstacles,(plug) but you can get more information if you become a member;)(/plug)
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
They are supporting open source, so what if they are for profit, if you want them to survive you will support them, Open source companies must make money somehow.
Or are you so greedy you wont even give them money so they will keep making your code?
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
I'd donate money to Microsoft if they were going to release the source code to Windows.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
What the hell do you think your money pays for? The service of producing code, the service of being able to download the ISO, the service of being able to access all the code, the service of being able to get all this great software packaged up, the service of Linux Mandrake.
Open Source software is NOT a product, its a service, CLOSED SOURCE SOFTWARE IS A PRODUCT.
Theres a difference
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
look, drakconf (the program you were using) is brand new, so I think your expectations where a bit too high.
.)
For 3 years, I have been using "netconf" to configure nics. It exists in both RH and Mandrake and is stable, gets the job done. It is a GUI programnot as fancy as drakconf), and included by default.
Linux usually has many ways to do the same thing . . . passing judgement by only trying 1 or 2 ways seems inappropriate (not that Xandros, which I have never tried, isn't your dream come true of a distro . .
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
when things aren't the same in a different country? America's FASB does not reach around the globe. Therefore, it is reasonable not to expect American GAAP principles to be applied in France, wouldn't it?
American GAAP are the most stringent in the world and compliance with the SEC can be very costly. Mandrake stock is not traded in the U.S. so they are not under the same rules you are accustomed to . . . get used to it, there are 6billion OTHER people in this world that don't live life like you do. Why should Mandrake incur more cost just because YOU think they should do things differently?
If you really want Mandrake to release F/S that conform to your conditioned expectations, start requesting that their stock is traded in the U.S. Otherwise, get used to people doing things differently . . .
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
I've been quite happy with Mandrake for 4 versions.. Purchased 6.0 and had it running a samba server in college when I was doing tech support work. VERY nice and stable. :) Purchased 6.5 after that and then 8.0 and 9.0 directly from them once I realized the distribution channel thing.
:)
I have no problems paying for something that has been really good to me for stability, ease of use, and letting me have the final say on how I use my computer. Currently I have the download 9.0 edition running on a 1.2 ghz athelon and when the boxed 9.0 set came in it went right on my dell inspiron 8000 laptop.
I'd say for ease of use this is one of the best distros out there. Though Redhat 8.0 is really pretty too. Either way I wouldn't even let my mother install Windows, much less linux. I'd say both are equally confusing to a new user.
Thumbs up to the Mandrake people. I'll be buying from you guys for sure more often.
The best feature I like about Mandrake is that unlike some other proprietary OS. It ASKS me if it can connect to the internet for updates instead of said proprietary OS's current trend moving to an "Auto-Update" w/out my approval.
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
As I read it, during the fiscal year just ended they took in 4.7 million euros and spent 10.8 million. Not even close to profitable! Their spin -- that they've massively reduced losses -- is classic Wall Street-style deception. You /.ers shouldn't give them a break for this, even if their product is a Linux disto.
Well I can see why they have all that money! I bought Mandrake 8.2 about a month ago and couldn't install it on my new system (have XP Pro on it at the moment) and then I saw version 9 and thought "ahh that should work!" ...nope :( So I've spent close to $200(Canadian) for squat. I looked at the other distros and Mandrake looked like the best the start with for a new to Linux user. ...and yeah I'm posting and searching the various forums on Mandrake(which all seem to have gone to hell by the way), ARS(good), and Linuxnewbie.org(lot of bitchy people there lately).
I have zero confidence in Mandrake. After purchasing an Open Brick from them a little over a month ago, I heard nothing from them. My credit card was charged, but I didn't receive so much as a confirmation e-mail.
After two weeks of silence, I sent them an e-mail requesting correspondence. Three days more of silence I sent a letter indicating I was on the brink of turning in the charge as fraudulent to my credit card company. One more week of silence and I sent them one last e-mail informing them that I was calling my bank the next business day to have them pursue the charge.
The very next morning I had an e-mail from them telling me they have been having e-mail problems. For an entire month? What kind of garbage are they running e-mail servers on?
I informed them they had two days to respond to my query before I reported the charge. Finally they said they would ship it as soon as possible. That was almost a week ago.
There exists the greatest possiblity I will NEVER buy from them again. I urge you caution in your purchases.
Mandrake is leeching. They owe $20 million according to their financials. And they'll never pay it back. How's that for leeching?
Is how so-called "upgrades" of Mandrake seem to be total rehashes. I ordered 9 from Mandrake and eventually got it (with appropriate apologies for its tardiness). I backed up my important stuff and decided to do a wipeout install just for fun. Nothing worked quite as well as 8.2 out-of-box. No printer, no sound, odd omissions of access to partitions, etc. After running the rabbits for a while, I gave up and reinstalled 8.2. Bingo, evrything worked. Upgraded packages to 9, and everything still worked. What had Mandrake forgotten about from 8.2 to 9? It is these stuttering steps in development that hamper Linux' growth at times, I think. Anyway, I'm using 9 now and am happy, just weirded out.
Windows XP SP2 told me to install third-party software that prevents viruses and protects stability... I chose Ubuntu
all your slashdottec jokes are doesn't seem too belong to us.
John Carmack fan, browsing at +5 since 1999.
Remember that story about MS's huge profits from Windows and Office. One of the cool points was MS could be profitable by selling the OS for $45. Now obviously Mandrake doesn't have the markets of scale to make this figure right now (support costs can be a real killer, I read once that one support call on a piece of $50 software kills all profit) but how about $90, which is what the powerpack costs ;). From that perspective I think linux distro companies could be quiet profitable.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
--thanks for bringing up documentation! As a semi noob still and a non coder, I get frustrated as heck when I see the instructions for some program tell me to "write a script". OK, I can mangle out some terrible html. How is that gonna help? I got no desire to be forced to become a unix admin. Or if I follow the install readme down to the letter, look 5 times before I hit enter in the console, and it still don't work. I tried linux once years ago, went "no way jose, I'll wait". I'd say it's close now but still needs more functionalty/ease of use, less eye candy emphasis on customizing skins and "themes". It's very good as it stands now at least how I use it, no idea about anyone else I only know one other person in my whole area uses linux and don't talk to him much. I got the internet and that's it for help. I use google, I am on my second full printed out notebook of notes, and starting on the third, and still am not really comfortable changing things to make them work. Although I used windows off and on in the past I never cared for it,same deal with getting in and trying to fix files was just way too bogus for me, hated it, so have been mostly always a mac classic until steve jobs priced me out of computers and OS, which is the opposite experience, I never had anything fail to install or run, it just never happened to me. classic had a few problems, speed and memory management the two biggees, but honestly it never was that bad installing and running programs or having some accessory work. Plug it in, worked. Never had to "edit a file". It's hard for non-coders sometimes in linux and harder to find instructions that are de-acronymed adequately. I'm finding myself NOT trying out programs as much as I'd like as I got a "sort of" working pretty good computer now an am more or less chicken I'm going to screw it up (again) and have to start all over again, and this shouldn't happen, IMO. I also still won't use linux for any online e commerce, there's no way to tell as a noob if you are owned or not, I just go boot the old mac back up if I ever order anything online. I can't take a chance on that yet, casual surfing is one thing, having to be a trained systems engineer in security is another. I like the concepts, I support my distro, but I'm looking for a more professionally finished product, and I don't care if the cd install disks have half as many programs either. The winner will keep getting my cash, not twice a year, but every other year for an upgrade, I see zero need to "upgrade"constantly, as do most people. Great for some folks, but they are in the minority, vast numbers of people I know just don't want to do that.
Yeah, netconf is what I used. That's the only thing I could find under K-> Configuration -> Networking. It just barfed when I tried to apply the changes, and wiped out my primary interface.
I know my way around the text config files quite well, but I would prefer to point & click to configure things. Unlike some *nix users, I actually like GUIs.
Don't use those semi-free distros. They are bad for linux and opensource in general. Mostly free does not equal free and that is exactly what Xandros and Lindows are. It's an alarming trend and I hope all of those distros which are eager to add proprietary bits to the central cores of their distros go out of business. Either one of the distros I mentioned in the subject should do what you ask as both have very good consistent user interfaces and are easy to configure.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
I have always wanted to give linux a shot and Mandrake seems like it is going to be my first try. Recent additions to the Windows OS like DRM are just going to push more people like me away. Also, the one thing I have noticed slowly happening over the last couple of years is I can buy a piece of software, and usually soon after I buy it, I test out a piece of freeware or shareware that was superior to what I just bought. Tell me if I am wrong but this kind of thing seems like it would flourish in the Linux environment. If you feel a need for some other feature in the software, someone has probably already thought of it and is working updating it or making a new version using the same source code as a base. If you feel like adding a feature to it yourself, give it a shot. Who wouldn't like that? *coughcough* MS *coughcough* I mean I have no idea ;)
Fuck You 2001-2002? From Mandrake? Sounds more like a Microsoft customer service plan.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
If you want to appeal to new users, you need to get them to see Linux. Pre-installed. None of that "download this ISO, burn it, and then reboot and ..." nor "repartition, blah, blah, etc.". Computer. With Linux. Pre-installed. Be it Mandrake, or RedHat or what have you. But such that the user doesn't have to install it. So it's immediately there to be used. AND the whole system MUST be cheaper than a comparable WinXP system.
Why a big-name manufacturer doesn't go for it is obvious once they read the "thou shall distribute no OS other than that from MS" clause, but I should expect to start seeing pre-installed Linux distros on new computers, otherwise it's hard to get newbies to start using Linux.
Remember, most non-computer-literate users do NOT install their operating system. They do not upgrade their modem/network/graphics card nor do they apply regular patches to keep their software secure. How then do you expect them to take their working PC, repartition it and install a new and random OS? And there are so many! RedHat, Mandrake, Suse, they all seem different. And indeed, they have their differences.
I'm not advocating UnitedLinux. I'm advocating distributing Linux pre-installed on PCs and laptops. So a new user knows that stuff is compatible. And doesn't have to worry about hunting down drivers. Heck, I'd be willing to buy a laptop if I don't have to pay the WinXP tax on it.
...it probably was, you are correct. I won't identify the app, but it's a pretty common gui front end for a *real* important application that I would guess most linux users use. And there it is right in the docs, for a problem that I bet a lot of people see, it says 'well, if you see this kernel foobar on bootup, shoot it's easy, just write a script to fix it"and THAT'S IT! Well, if it's "that easy" like why wouldn't the developer just type the few lines necessary and include it? it's easy FOR HIM to "write a script" he knows What he's thinking and talking about. Me, I have no idea, no idea what language, what it's supposed to do or say. I ALREADY got a job, I just ain't gonna learn some programming language just to write a few lines of this cryptic "script". Is typing the few sentences that are necessary all that hard? I'd do it if I even knew how, so there's zilch I can do to either fix it or offer any help back. En-screwed again. That's what I am thinking, stop coding a minute, type a few explanatory lines, change the docs so a non programmer might have a clue. Just bugged me when I saw that.
thanks for your reply
All I know about Mandrake is that I ordered the CDROM Mandrake Linux for PPC past August, and after the promised two week shipping period when it hadn't shipped, I cancelled the order by phone and got Yellow Dog Linux, which I'm perfectly happy with. Then a month later, Mandrake's charge showed up on my credit card. I just had my card company cancel the payment. I'm disappointed in experiencing this sort of thing within the Linux community.
OS upgrades YOU!
Asshole Looks like YOU!
This is SO off-topic. Go ahead, I deserve it. I had to do it. Besides, I should at least get +1, Traumatised by goatse.cx. (no I won't link it, dammit I just cleaned my keyboard last week)
Well, just to follow up on my own bitching here.
Plip in 2.4.20 works. In fact, some of the other kernels that I thought didn't have plip working may also actually work.
The main problem was that I was running an ftp server accross my parallel cable, and my ftp client was midnightcommander. Midnightcommander was screwed. It turns out I can't just install mc by doing an ldd on the binary on another system to find out what libraries to copy with the main binary. Mc would then not correctly act as an ftp client, and I had to run strace on a working mc to find out that it explictly loaded all kinds of libnss_* crap once you did an ftp.
The system I was setting things up on had no names, just IPs, so what the fuck name services were needed for just to do an ftp is beyond me. But I got it working so all of you can stop worrying and breath easy.
I do not remember ever having seen a sustained argument by an author which,
starting from philosophical premises likely to meet with general acceptance,
reached the conclusion that a praiseworthy ordering of one's life is to
devote it to research in mathematics.
-- Sir Edmund Whittaker, "Scientific American", Vol. 183
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