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IM-03: How do I get more software for Mandrake Linux?

::::Adding sources using a GUI::::

It's a relatively easy task to get more free software for your Mandrake Linux box once you know what to do.
Unless you're in the Mandrake Club, there are 3 main rpm-based resources available to you for use:
1) Texstar's RPMs
2) PLF RPMs
3) Contrib RPMs

These three sources should give you the oppurtinity to add things like DVD players, DVD rippers, extra games and artwork to you Mandrake Linux box which for one reason or another could not be added to the official discs.

We will first look at how to add these sources using graphical utilities. The first thing you will need to do is open up the Mandrake Control Center. It will be in your menu under Configuration or on your menu panel.

1. Once open, click on the Software Management icon.
2. Click on the Software Sources Manager should now be open.
You will now have to find add urls to describe the path to you new rpm resources. I usually add http sources because I find them to be faster. You have the option of adding either http or ftp servers. I'll show you how to add both.
3. Click the Add...
We will be adding texstar's source first so for the "Name" you can put
The "URL" will be and the "Relative path to synthesis/hdlist" will be
4. Click Ok and wait for the sources to be added to the urpmi database. If all goes well (check for typos) you will have just finished adding your first unofficial source. Next we will do ftp sources for plf and contrib packages.
5. Click on Add... For ftp servers a login and password can be added if necessary. We won't use any servers which require that here.
Let's do plf first so for the "Name" you can put .
The "URL" will be
and the "Relative path to synthesis/hdlist" will be *Note that there are two dots before the slash this time.*
Again click Ok and wait for the source to be added to the urpmi database.
6. Finally we will add our contrib source, again from ftp. The "Name" will be .
The "URL" will be
and the "Relative path to synthesis/hdlist" will be
Click Ok one last time and wait for the source to be added to the urpmi database.
Congratulations, you are now able to download software from all these sites using Rpmdrake or the urpmi command.

::::Adding sources using the command-line::::

You can do all this using the command line and like most things done on the command-line/console it is usually faster.
The syntax for adding sources a la the console is
as an example let's do the sources added above using the console method.
1. Assuming the Mandrake Control Center and then your root password.
Now that you're logged in as root you can do the add urpmi sources with the commands that follow:
2. For Texstar it would be
3. For a PLF source it would be
4. For a Contrib source it would be
Now logout of root by typing You've just added sources using the console. But wait... there's more


::::Advanced Tricks::::


Here you'll learn a couple of tricks which are best and I think only possible with the command line. First is adding gpg keys.
Rpmdrake has a security feature which asks you if you want to install which does not have a recognized gpg signature.
You can get rid of this warning for Texstar rpms if you trust that what you're downloading is OK.

On the main plf page is a neat little trick to import their gpg key into the root user's keyring. We'll use it for adding plf and texstar gpg keys. It will only work if you have Lynx installed but don't worry, if you don't want to have it installed read on, we'll take care of that
::With Lynx::
1. Open up a console and log in as root.
2. Download Lynx by doing
3. To download and install the plf gpg key, at the console type
4. To download and install the texstar gpg key, at the console type
::Without lynx::
1. For texstar
and then
2. For PLF and then
You may also choose to delete the plf.asc and pubring.gpg files since they will no longer be needed.

Another useful trick is trying to find out which mirrors are close to you so that you can get the best download speeds. The closeness of a mirror isn't the only factor influencing downloads (how many other people are downloading is also a factor) but it's a factor that is easily determined. To do this we will need the traceroute command.
If you don't have it installed:
1. Open up a console and login as root
2.
3. Once installed you use traceroute like so
eg
My rule of thumb is that, "the mirror which takes the least number of hops to get to you is the closest." The "hops" are numbered so it is pretty easy to figure them out.
Oh yeah, before you forget, log out of root
Want to know some mirrors so the you can find out how close they are?
Go to http://plf.zarb.org/~nanardon/ and check out the different mirrors there or go to the Mandrake Linux download page http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3