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Mandriva Linux 2006 Beta Underway
linuxbeta writes "Distrowatch is reporting that 'The beta testing process for Mandriva Linux 2006 is now officially underway. All the new features, which are not yet all included in this first beta version, will appear in the next test versions. You will see changes in the network management, especially WiFi, in security, on the desktop with the new versions of KDE, GNOME, new version of the kernel, GCC....'. Screenshots are available."
I'd go with Ubuntu...I've run it on less, with no problems.
You'll probably want to do the actual compiling on another machine, though.
Overall, though, I'd recommend Debian Stable. Fire-and-forget.
I'd say Ubuntu. I find that it runs better, has better hardware support out of the box and is easier to manage than Mandriva. However, I'm sure this is not always the case so your results may vary. Try them both, they're free and you'll learn something in the process.
Be sure to mess around with Nessus, nMap and Metasploit. They'll teach you a great deal about securing your systems.
/. spaztech
hmm, in that case, I'd probably do either Ubuntu or maybe even Knoppix (which you can install on the hard drive). Something user-friendly but Debian-based, just because I like Debian. :-)
Depends on what you want to do, and if you have a preference for Gnome vs. KDE and/or apt-get .deb files vs. urpmi .rpm files.
.rpm files to download and install new programs and update stuff.
.deb files to install/update programs, and is much easier to use than urpmi in my opinion. It's also harder to "screw up" since it offers you some limited ways to mess things up.
I'm going to presume you want a little desktop/fileserver type thing. Mandriva, once all cds are downloaded, supplies you with everything you need (and plenty you probably won't). The setup is pretty simple, hardware detection in my experience has been good, and is pretty stable. They include their own little GUI configuration tools for hardware detection, server setup, etc., and it can help you transition away from windows. It's default setup is for KDE (although you've got plenty of choices on the CDs) and uses urpmi and
Ubuntu is a little different - the download is only one cd, and it only offers you Gnome as default. (The Kubuntu project, also one CD, offers KDE, and is a "apt-get install" away). Because it starts out so simple, you have to be alittle more knowledgable about linux and how to go about setting things up. Ubuntu also uses apt-get and
And on that note, both distros as I recall , offer livecds to test-drive your system with. Try downloading those and checking them out if you have the time/bandwidth. (But if you don't, go with Ubuntu - they'll ship you cds for free!)
"What do you think?" "I think 'What, do you think?!'"
Honestly, drop KDE and Gnome for something lighter.
Xfce is awesome for slower computers. There's tonnes of other desktops and WM's out there that are way more efficient than Gnome and KDE.
IMO they're just as bloated asp XP.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
I'm also in the process of switching my web server (my last machine using Mandrake) to Debian. I have to say IMO that Debian/Ubuntu has a much larger package selection than Mandrake does (Debian's package list vs. Mandrake's package list) and I'm quite happy that I made the switch. I especially like the fact that I can use the most current Debian version (3.1) for my two Sun stations (one single-processor and one dual-processor) vs. using a way outdated (and not really supported) Mandrake 7.2.
Overall, it was experimenting with Ubuntu that turned me on to Debian even though I had been using Knoppix (Debian-based) in the past. What turned me away from Mandrake/Mandriva is the fact that they're turning into a Redhat-type organization. Meaning "For $$ we have the enterprise-level edition, and for free, we have the cut-down, shaved-off, download version". I don't forsee Debian doing that any time in the near future.
Just my 2 pennies.
Content Management System: A pretentious way of saying "text editor."
>they want money before you try
BZZZT! Wrong! Mandrake/Mandriva have ALWAYS had both a free and commercial version. The free version is *EASILY* obtained from COUNTLESS mirror sites. The only difference between the two is that the commercial version includes support and copyrighted (non-GPL) packages.
So you dont want to install *every* package.
That is exactly what Mandriva does. They were one of the first distros (or THE first) to support *ALL* the desktop enviornments seamlessly (Kde, gnome, ice, blackbox, fce, etc) and all the configuration tools work the same in all of them. Icing on the cake is Mandriva's menu manager which automatically creates a standard "start" menu for every desktop environment and keeps them all synchronized when you add or remove software.