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Mandriva Linux 2008 Now Available
AdamWill writes "Mandriva Linux 2008 is now available for download on the official site and on the network of public mirror servers. In 2008 you will find KDE 3.5.7 and the new GNOME 2.20 already integrated, a solid kernel 2.6.22.9 with fair scheduling support, OpenOffice.org 2.2.1, cutting-edge 3D-accelerated desktop courtesy of Compiz Fusion 0.5.2, Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.6, and everything else you've come to expect. We have integrated a reworked hardware detection sub-system, with support for a lot of new devices (particularly graphics cards, sound cards, and wireless chips). There is a wizard to import Windows documents and settings, a new network configuration center, and a set of improvements to the Mandriva software management tools. Read about the new features in depth in the release tour, or view the release notes. The One installation CD is the recommended download: it comes with a full KDE desktop and application suite, NVIDIA and ATI proprietary video card drivers, Intel wireless firmware, Adobe Flash and Sun Java browser plugins, all included."
Proper link should be: http://www.mandriva.com/en/download.html
liqbase
Ubuntu has basically stolen all the hype mandriva used to have hasn't it?
Mandriva used to be one of the only 'gratuis' distros which had a nice desktop by default
didn't it pioneer the way towards 'point and click', 'just working'?
www.tdobson.net #### Dare to Dream #### blog.tdobson.net
Its still in Drak3d as far as I can tell, you can use that or Compiz Fusion.
Compiz Fusion does have some advantages that aren't just bells and whistles: Expose-style "show me the windows" so you can see what's in different applications and which you really want, negative and ADD modes, fading so that only your most prominent window is catching your attention, a widgets layer so you can have things easily accessible but not on any desktop, screen annotation, window grouping/tabbing,...
:)
Okay, so most people put it in for "I can make my windows do silly transitions", and it would be better if more functionality were added instead, but the eye candy can be the basis for functionality as well
This guy's pissing me off, and I'm going to tell him one thing Mandriva Linux has that is very practical that no other Linux has unless you want to start your own mirror system. Domain based parallel application installation. In particular, using LDAP and Kerberos, you can use Kerberos authentication to mass deploy an entire network of application in one command. It uses LDAP to check it, Kerberos to authenticate it, SSH to copy it, and urpmi to install it. This is something I have not seen with any other Linux.
Linux has Active Directory authentication out of the box, an easy front end to ndiswrapper, an easy method for adding Internet software repositories. I really hate this guy. e all work so hard and he tramples on everything we have done.
Mark my words, I will see you using a Linux Desktop yet!
Metisse is still there. You can choose between Metisse and Compiz Fusion with drak3d. Mandriva has shipped Compiz since the release of 2007. 2007 came with Compiz. 2007 Spring came with Compiz, Beryl and Metisse. 2008 comes with Compiz Fusion and Metisse.
Gosh, ask Steve Jobs. He's made quite a good living selling shiny things with bells and whistles.
It's not the main feature of 2008. We just mention it because we know it's important to many users. The 3D desktop stuff in 2008 just an incremental upgrade over previous releases - we had Compiz, then Compiz and Beryl, now we have Compiz Fusion.
We give you the choice. The One and Powerpack editions include non-free stuff for convenience. For those who value free software principles, the Free edition includes nothing but free software. if that's your preference, use the Free edition.
I can't tell if my inability to find the 64-bit version of One or Free is due to their confusing site design, my incompetence, or because those versions don't actually exist. Several places on their site say that all versions are available from "the official download site": http://www.mandriva.com/archives/ But there's no indication there at all of how to get the 64-bit versions (at least, not at the time I'm writing this). I can't say that I'm impressed by the apparent lack of internal coordination on their website for this release: several links point to the Spring 2007 edition as still being current.
I hate to draw the conclusion that this is (yet) one more sign of Mandriva's decreasing relevance, but I would be very surprised if Ubuntu's upcoming release exhibited any of these kinds of quirks.
Someone tell them that it's not 2008 for another 12 weeks. Is this going to be like cars, where the "2008" models were actually made in early 2007 - and when you sell it, it looks a year newer than it actually is?
Sorry, car analogy.
RC1 was out what... maybe 1 month ago? I tried it and after countless bugs, widgets/controls that didn't work, and other annoying nuisances that I didn't feel like fixing - I dropped it. I was surprised to see a final version released so soon.
Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
That's the true spirit of GNULinux - choice. That's why GNU/Linux is for everybody - you can have it in whatever flavour you like!
"an experienced, industrious, ambitious, and often, quite often, picturesque liar" - Mark Twain
Why wouldn't it come with the latest version of Firefox, 2.0.0.7?
Because the people who compile and package the distro from source need to draw a line somewhere, and test for proper functionality with what they have.
If they kept updating distro packages every time a minor thing changes before release, there would never be time for any real testing, and overall quality would suffer.
I hope by "improvements," they mean returning some of the functionality the software management tools used to have. There was a time when the software manager would give you basic information, like the total number of packages selected and their sizes, overall progress etc. Then, a couple of releases back, all of that info disappeared. There may be a way of getting "verbose" output, but the default is decidedly minimalist.
I don't care why you're posting AC
However, if you're adventurous and would like to build your own Linux box with all bleeding-edge components, you could try the guidelines posted on the "Linux From Scratch" website (not an endorsement, just a place to start):
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
2.0.0.7 included only a security fix that is not relevant to Linux users. Since we were already in version freeze, it would have been silly to break it in order to include a package that has absolutely no benefit.
as I said, that vulnerability does not affect Linux. See the advisory, http://www.mozilla.org/security/announce/2007/mfsa2007-28.html : "On his blog Petko D. Petkov reported that QuickTime Media-Link files contain a qtnext attribute that could be used on Windows systems to launch the default browser with arbitrary command-line options." (my emphasis)
While the feature-list and included packages is very impressive, the default KDE desktop is truly hideous:
http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/uploads/9/9a/2008-kde-desktop.png
I realize this is a matter of personal taste, and that one can easily alter the look of the desktop, but still... I challenge someone to claim that the taskbar and menu-button look nice. Even the easter bunny wouldn't pick that light pastel blue as a default color. First impressions do matter.
Personally, I find it *easier* than Ubuntu.
I installed 2007 Spring as my fist linux distro in 5 years. Mandriva auto detected everythign and set it up. My Wireless and sound worked out of the box. Not something I can say for Ubuntu. Ubuntu was a PITA to get wireless working. And I never got sound working on Ubuntu. That alone was a deal maker for me. I don't want to mess around for hours trying to get stuff to work. I jsut want it to work. I actually like Mandriva better than XP for internet/office stuff.
Keep in mind this is coming from a novice with linux, so if you want someone who's opinion would be comparable to the everyday-joe's opinion, yeah you found it here. I can stick a disk in and follow the on screen instructions, and that's about it. Mandriva worked, Ubuntu didn't.
Before you reply, bear in mind Compiz was around months before Vista.
Brain dead desktop users value familiarity above all else. Linux desktop apps get criticized for their GUI every time they do something different. Look at the GIMP for instance. Or all the bitching about cut+paste.
IMO, the linux GUI has been ahead of windows for a long time. Look at X-forwarding, virtual desktops, window shading, always-on-top. None of these things work in windows.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Compiz and Beryl came way before Vista's release, buster.
Admittedly, many of the composite features are similar to what's been available in MacOSX for a while, but it's hardly a ripoff of Exposé.
Technology tips and tricks.
I used Mandrake 9.0 up until they switched to mandriva, and never had to edit a grub file manually. Especially considering it used (still uses?) lilo instead of grub. I'm with the AC here.
:x
Well, all I can think is that your fear of RPM is still rooted in Redhat 3. Things have come a long way since 1997! I always thought that Synaptic is merely a clone of Mandriva's Software Manager.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
"Is this any better now? Do you still have to hunt for 3 hours on the interwebs to figure out how to install anything that didn't come with the distro?"
No. No, you don't, and you haven't for several years, as I said. Please read:
http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/Docs/Basic_tasks/Installing_and_removing_software
it explains it all rather clearly.
It should be noted that a careful reading of the advisory does not make any mention of the vulnerability being related to the use of Firefox per se, but rather to the use of QuickTime in conjunction with Firefox.
The vulnerability allows an attacker to use a specially crafted QuickTime object to launch the default browser within Windows. This implies that the initial vulnerability resides within QuickTime, and is supported by the following:
-chrome switch to execute scripts that could spoof a browser user interface. For example, portions of the real Firefox interface could be hidden and a counterfeit section rendered, in conjunction with a cloned web page that shows
https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SignIn when in reality the person is really logging into
http://www.my-identity-theft-site.tld The ability to execute scripts from the command line was probably a feature, at least initially, but when the ramifications became clearer MFSA 2007-23 was issued and the capability removed. QuickTime bypasses this fix.
It is very likely that the code to execute said scrips exists in most, if not all, Firefox 2.0.0.6/operating system combinations.
It's the hole in QuickTime that makes the hole in Firefox more easily exploitable. On Linux this point is moot, since Apple has not yet released an official version of QuickTime for Linux.
Actually, sound is becoming troublesome again with recent motherboards. A lot of new motherboards use slightly differing implementations of the HDA audio codec, and each different ones needs minor tweaks to the snd-hda-intel driver to make it work 'out of the box'. I think we're up to dozens or hundreds of these tweaks now. If you went out and bought a random sample of modern laptops, the onboard sound in a lot of them would not work with, say, kernel 2.6.21.
There isn't a perfect distro out there. I install and fiddle with them as a hobby of sorts. Also as a business aside. There are some that are rock solid, but conservative and not appealing. There are other bleeding edge distros that just don't work. I tend towards the pretty distros with lots of features. There are a few that I had to spend a great deal of time finding pieces to make everything work. You know, codecs, plugins, yadda yadda. Ubuntu takes alot of time making me do this stuff. I prefer KDE anyway. So....Mandriva by default supports KDE. They also are pretty close to the edge, but their stuff works. I thought Sabayon had alot of sex appeal, but it locked up alot. One thing though, their inclusion on LinDVD is limited. I use the SPDIF on my machine for digital audio output, and LinDVD doesn't support changing your audio settings. That is kinda lame. 2008 is the best distro I have ever used. I'm going to have to get all those unspeakable codecs for Xine again to play DVD's. But....Mandriva 2008 is a keeper. Rudeman
Oh, yeah! Wise guy, huh? Woob woob woob woob! Nyuk! Nyuk!
Mandrake was the first to auto-magically dual boot for me... I think even on separate hd.
Semi-automatic amateur armchair Australian philosopher; conjecture ready at any moment...
Sheesh, take a pill.
First, as has been explained several times in this thread, there is absolutely zero point in including Firefox 2.0.0.7, as the only change in 2.0.0.7 is a fix which is entirely irrelevant to Linux.
OpenOffice.org 2.3.0 was released on September 18th. That is not 'a while'. We were already in the Release Candidate stage at that point. Would you expect Microsoft to do a major version update of, say, Windows Media Player or Internet Explorer between Vista RC2 and Vista final? Of course not.
"The few pieces of software that have pre-compiled downloadable Linux versions still need at least three different types of packages just to cover "most" of the popular Linux distros"
This is because the idea of having pre-compiled downloadable Linux versions is, frankly, silly. The package management system works best when people understand it, and worst when they try to do end runs around it. This is not surprising. Software writers should write, and packagers (who work for individual distros) should package. That system works great. It's when people start messing with it that you get problems.
"And then we wonder why nobody bothers to develop for "Linux""
We do? Can't say I find myself kept up at night wondering about that. Maybe because lots of people *do* develop for Linux. It's simple - release source code.
"And there is no single clear-cut procedure for installing software completely outside of the native package management system in a way that neither will ever interfere with the other."
Why do you want one? What's wrong with the package management system?
"Good God, when I think of all the man-hours that are being wasted with all this idiotic redundancy, and all the time spent by users complaining in forums that their distro-of-choice doesn't have the latest version of package X yet because the package maintainer is on vacation, it makes my head hurt."
Then go think about something else and quit trolling Linux threads. Good lord, if anyone's wasting their time around here it's you.