Mandrake 9.0

[KillJoy]

Mandrake 9.0 (Dolphin) has been released.

Some new features...

Linux Kernel 2.4.19
KDE 3.0.3
GNOME 2.0
OpenOffice 1.0.1
Mozilla 1.1
GCC 3.2
CUPS 1.1

The Mandrake Linux desktops are dynamic. This means, for instance, that when a new software package is installed or removed, the corresponding icon will appear or disappear instantaneously in the application menu. This same "dynamic" feature also applies to hardware devices: Plug in a USB scanner or WebCam and a corresponding icon appears automatically on the desktop.

Another unique feature in Mandrake Linux 9.0 is "supermount" which lets users access removable media (CD-ROM, floppy, Zip, etc.) instantaneously and transparently without using the traditional "mount/umount" commands.

Additionally, MandrakeSoft is proud to release one of the most advanced Linux systems in regards to hardware recognition. Most of the "latest & greatest" PC devices and protocols -- such as USB 2.0 -- are recognized and configured automatically in Mandrake Linux 9.0. Mandrake 9.0 is the first Linux distribution to natively support NTFS partitions and the WebDAV protocol (for editing and managing files on remote web servers).

[Mephisto_kur]

Natively supports NTFS?  That kicks ass!

[KillJoy]

The mirrors are, as always, getting HAMMERED.  I'm getting it from one of the Czech Republic mirrors (same as I did for 8.2).  3 ISOs, estimated download time, 8 hours 1 minute.  Not terrible.

ftp://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/linux/mandrake/iso/

The first mirror I got connected to was in Austria, grabbed all three ISOs, estimated DL time was 10 days, 17 hours...  All the other mirrors are at their connection limits.

[Mephisto_kur]

I'm willing to wait the extra couple days.
Do you know if its NTFS support covers striped and spanned volumes?
If so, I may get my backup server off of Win2k.  Its a 450MHz with PC100 RAM and *hates* it.

[KillJoy]

Hmm...  Dunno.  Doubt it.
If it's a backup server, dump the data elsewhere, then screw NTFS, use ext3...

[Mephisto_kur]

Uh-huh.  Where exactly can I dump 160GB of data?
Its my backup server for BAAL, which has 120GB on it.

[twstdpear]

FTP was full on IBiblio, so I did my usual:

 rsync -vaP  rsync://distro.ibiblio.org/mandrake/Mandrake/iso/ .

It's working full speed (144K IDSL) for me.  This essentially mirrors the entire ISO directory (and all subdirectories, if any) on my box.

Apparently not too many people use the rsync side of their server.  Rsync is really cool too.  You're virtually guaranteed not to get a corrupted file due to the way it works, and add the -P flag, and you can resume previous sessions (yes, HTTP and FTP do this, but this also has a good chunk of error correction built in).

[Mephisto_kur]

Now if only there were a Windows command that is equivalent.

[Mephisto_kur]

Actually...

Look here.  RSYNC for Windows NT...

[Jimmy]

another cool feature I noticed on the new mandrake version is the urpmi package management.

If your familiar with Debian Linux then you know the beauty of apt-get. Mandrakes implemented a similar package management system which is great.

For more info on how to make use of this feature check out

http://www.linuxmonster.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=7

[Mephisto_kur]

How does APT-GET compare to the RPM setup of RH and Mandrake?

[Jimmy]

Apt-get and Mandrakes urpmi are very similiar in function.

You maintain a list/database of available packages for the distrobution and configure Apt-get or urpmi source lists. Either via CD-ROM, FTP, HTTP or whatever.

You can then search for packages by name and or install them.

Example urpmi xchat  
That will install xchat automatically by either retrieving the package online or from a local mirror or cdrom. It will also take care of any dependancy issues associated with the package. One of the main reasons I didn't use Redhat or Mandrake for a while was because the RPM system was too much of a hassle when dealing with certain packages and deps. Urpmi now makes Mandrake a good alternative to me from Debian.
Dunno if I will switch from Debian from Mandrake but it's more practical for me now and 9.0 looks neat

[Mephisto_kur]

Yeah, last time I really sat down with Linux and banged on it for an extended period of time was RH 5.1...  The RPM system had serious potential, but was ridiculous for most things....

Sound like a much more streamlined system, now.  I may have to load it up again.  I know a lot of people are happy with Debian, but I don't want to have to reformat my partitions to FAT, so for my main machine, I will have to run with Mandrake.  (I need to dual boot for games).

[KillJoy]

I was putting together my first impressions of Mandrake 9.0 to post here for all interested geeky Briquettes, but ran across this insightful and fair review by Eugenia Loli-Queru at OSNews.  She found a few bugs I didn't encounter (that were confirmed as open cases by Mandrake), made some high-level observations about the lack of UI integration across the distro as a whole, and pointed out the newbie-dangers of the partitioning tool's obtuse interface during install.  She posted feedback from the Mandrake folk themselves on Mandrake's direction and focus, their target market(s) and how they're aiming at them.

All in all, she more than covered what I would have (or could have) said, including taking the very words out of my mouth about the nifty arcade game Frozen Bubbles I've been wasting my time with.

Her review is here:  OSNews

She links to her previous comments on the disastrous possibilities of the partitioning tool here.  Don't skip that one.

[Mephisto_kur]

And OEone?