Well, i'm not going to use the ususal distro-test format for this one, as I fancied a bit of a write up instead of the usual points from 1-5.
I have a spare partition so this time I wanted to go for smething i haven't tried in a long while. I popped over to Distrowatch and saw that Mandriva was out.
Why test Mandriva?Mandrake was one of the first Linux Distros I used and has always had my respect for it's hardware recognition and robustness. Even though back then, rpm distros were notorious for giving you a taste of "dependency hell", one of the reason why I previously went for Debian-based Ubuntu (Hoary to Dapper) and then later Debian itself.
What distros do I run?Currently I run Arch (Fluxbox) and Dreamlinux (Xfce), why?, speed, that's it, they are fast.
Back to Mandriva, I am going to jump in straight away and say that it is slow. I like speed, and I am impatient, one f the reasons why I left Ubuntu behind (+ the instability and 6 month upgrade borkage). Now, I would also like to add that I tweak all my distros, and I know that you can shutdown daemons and stop apps from running at boot etc, which will speed up any distro. I am talking about default settings here. Also, I tested on a basic box with only 512Mb RAM, Mandriva will obviously fly on a box with 1Gb +.
What did I test it on?A Hp pavilion 781 desktop.Processor: Amd Xp 2000 (1.6ghz)
Ram: 512mb
Graphics card: Nvidia Geforce fx 5200 128Mb
Network: Wireless only with a Conceptronic Atheros AR5212 (ath_pci and ath5k compatible)
Hard Drive: 80gb ata. Partitioned with:
|
1gb swap|
ext3 (arch)|
ext3 (Dreamlinux)|
extended with two more Ext3 partitions|
Mandriva iso:Mandriva iso downloaded from
ftp://ftp.free.fr and
Md5sum checked, burned with Graveman on Archlinux at 4X speed. Using a Verbatim 700Mb Cd.
Live session:What can I say, slow. Compared to what I expect and what I am used to it was slow. I went and made a coffee came back, and there was the Mandriva desktop. Very very nice looking.
A bit about Kde:I hate Kde, not just dislike it, I hate it.
Why? and Why did you download the Kde desktop then?I dislike Kde for it's organization (or lack of), the way there are apps all over the place and you can never find anything you need on the obvious menu, then when you do find something related, you realise that there are two more apps which do the same thing. Network config for example.
I downloaded ths version as 1. I wanted to test a non-debian distro, and 2. It's Kde 4, the much touted, much talked about latest offering. I have heard good and bad on various forums.
Mandriva Kde:I like it. Just the same as I liked Pclos's Kde offering. The menu is the first thing I went for. Basic, simple, and to the point. Brilliant!
Configuration - Ease of Use:So how do I configure everything? Aaaah, Mandriva has it's nice little "configure it all from here" Control panel, sweet. How did I know to find it?, because when I moused over the network connection applet to see if I could configure my wireless "A lá Wicd", a little pop-up told me so
Nice touch.
So off I went. Open up the Newtork Card config, which is stupid-easy to configure, input my ip, wep etc, and Bang! I'm up and running. I opened Firefox, went and signed up with Mandriva, just in case I fancy posting something on the forum and then decided that it was install time.
Notes: I won't go in too deep about the agreeing to the lisense agreement, or other little quirks, but one huge thing for me was
"Nvidia Proprietary Driver out-of-the-box" locked and loaded from the get-go. When I chose the Desktop effects settings, I went for no effects as on most distros you need to install your graphics drivers first. What's more, I wanted a quick testing environment which Compiz, Matisse and other effects usually slow down. But it was there and working if I had wanted to enable it.
Install:I fired up the installer, slooooow. Ok, so Hold On!! is it that important if it's fast or slow? I mean, really? What's 20 minutes of installation for a distro that you will probably use for the rest of your days? I am impatient, not a positive part of my being, but that's why I harp on about the speed.
Do distros have to install quick? Is this good or bad?In retrospect, now that I have been using Mandriva for a couple of days, the install time means squat. Really, this distro does not deserve negative points for installing slowly, why? because it does it correctly, the installer is intuitive, you get this feeling of trust come over you, you just know that everything is gonna be ok. Something that should appeal to first time Linux users, who know nothing of Partitioning ready for a Dual-Boot setup.
It installed, rebooted and there ya have it. Grub in all it's glory listing Mandriva, Arch and Dreamlinux. I'd like to add that Mandriva (like other Live Distros) stores your config so that any changes you have made in the live session (network etc) remain on the installed version.
I booted, fired up, and network was already there ready to rumble.
This is when I went through my usual new distro first steps, update and upgrade, ya,
*no terminal "sudo apt-get updated && apt-get upgrade" but anyhow, the gui did it's job. No dependency hell either.
*As there was some confusion created by that comment, i'd like to clarify:
I am a Debian geek. I am accustomed to using dpkg and apt-get. The reference was a bit of fun poked at us Debian and Debian derivative users who get set in our ways and expect every distro to be the same. I am perfectly well aware of the Mandr[ake/iva] package management sytem and Gui apps.Breakage test:What's the first thing you do with a new distro? Exactly. try to break it. And what's the best way nowadays? Yup! Firefox + Flash + Xorg, which have become a pile of crap between them since last year. If you happen to be an Nvidia user as well, well i'll spare you the rant.
Games + Nvidia + XorgSo remember my medium powered box (compared to today's standards), I installed Torcs and Mania Drive. Both of which I managed to crash on Dreamlinux, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch and a host of other distros which I have tested.
Well, I don't know what the deal is with Mandriva, I couldn't get Xorg + Kernel to crash. My little 128Mb card just kept going and going, not a kernel panic in site. This little beauty is sturdy!!
Next test:The infamous Firefox + Youtube multitab clipathon. I am tired as I write this.... yaaaawn, why? Because I was up until 4am in the morning watching non-stop boxing videos last night. All my old favorites, Tyson, Benn, Eubank Naseem Hamed, I did a tour of the 80's through to the present day. Not a blip from Firefox. WTF!? have the Mandriva devs managed to do that Ubuntu and Debian can't?.
So, a quick round up, I know this is a long post, but those things had to be said.
Mandriva isn't the fastest distro around, and I haven't been playing around long enough to verify the stability of Kde4 but.... on newer boxes with 1+ Gb RAM and 2+ Gb processors I bet it flies.
Right from the offset, that first spin of the Compiz cube desktop, I got a sense of robustness and reliability. It felt well made like an old Oak table compared to Ubuntu which resembles a creaky Ikea plywood sideboard just itching to collapse. I even trusted Mandriva while it was downloading and installing updates, even when it was getting Mania Drive (a huge game).
I am now going to look for "How to speed up Mandriva" guides, and start shutting down services/daemons and removing unnecessary packages. Lol! I just got to have that snappiness.
I really rate this offering from Mandriva. It is a very very solid distro, and for newbie-friendliness, IMHO is better than Ubuntu, but there ya go, nowadays marketing is everything.
It won't replace Arch or Dreamlinux for me, those are my choices for me and what I need. They are also what I am used to, and they perform my daily tasks in a way that I am accustomed. But, I would most definitely recommned Mandriva for new users and experienced users alike.
Rich
