MandrakeUser.Org - Your Mandrake-Linux Knowledge Base!


 
 

*DocIndex - Resources

Support

* Official Mandrake Support
* Community Support
* Red Hat Support
* Generic Support

Related Resources:

Mandrakesoft Support
Mandrake Product Registration
MandrakeExpert
Mandrake Bugtracker
Mandrake Mailing Lists

Revision / Modified: Sep. 24, 2001 / Nov. 01, 2001
Author: Tom Berger

 

* Official Mandrake Support

If you've bought the boxed version of Mandrake, you are entitled to get installation support for a specified period of time. Register and you will receive a registration number. State that number in your mails to support@linux-mandrake.com.
Or use the all new MandrakeFirstTime / MandrakeOnline mechanism introduced in 8.1.

The central platform for official as well as community support is MandrakeExpert. Here you can either ask your question for free to one of the community experts, or you pay to get an guaranteed answer from the professional support staff in a specified amount of time. You can also become a community expert and provide help to others.

You can also get some kind of 'indirect' official support by searching for software error reports in M's bug tracker.

Another place to check is the Mandrake Linux Update and Security Advisories collection for all Mandrake Linux products. Here you will find news on security updates as well as the 'Errata' pages covering release errors.

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* Community Support

Linux is free. Software covered by the GNU GPL can be downloaded and distributed by everyone at whatever price he or she sees fit. M doesn't earn a penny from these self-made copies and therefore provides no official support for users of these copies, but only for users of the official, boxed version or for users who pay M for supporting them.
M is a company like others and must make a profit.

There are several platforms for user to user support, though, some provided by Mandrake, others based upon independent community effort.

When you use these platforms, please keep in mind that no one there is obliged to answer your questions. In order to get answers, it is therefore a good strategy to be polite. It is also advisable to ask your question in an easily comprehensible manner.

  • The mailing lists offer a platform for peer support among users of ML. Some people at M have half an eye on these lists and answer questions from time to time. The master of these lists is Denis Havlik. So if you have any trouble concerning the lists, ask him.
    Note that you can subscribe and unsubscribe via the same form. Do not send (un)subscribe messages to the lists.

    Further read-only lists include: 'Development', 'Announcements' and 'Security'.

    Most of the mailing-lists are archived at The Mail Archive:

    You can search these archives. They are quite a valuable resource: chances are your problem isn't unique and has already been addressed in one of these lists.

  • The Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandrake (aolm) is another peer-support forum. You can search archives of messages posted there on Google Groups. To post to this newsgroup you will need a newsreader like Pan (it's on your Mandrake CD) and access to an NNTP server, usually your Internet Service Provider runs one.

  • There are several IRC channels created by Mandrake users, usually called #mandrake on several networks. If you are new to IRC, visit the Mandrake channels on irc.openprojects.net.

  • Valuable information on Mandrake in general and answers to commonly asked or burning questions can also be found on Mandrake Forum, a news and discussion forum.

  • The MandrakeUserNet web ring connects sites made by or for or by and for Mandrake users.

  • Have a look at the Online Documentation, and the Demo and Tutorial Center by my buddy Phil.

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* Red Hat Support

Red Hat and Mandrake have a lot in common. Therefore you should consider using Red Hat's free support resources, too.

  • The Unofficial Red Hat User FAQ is an old but still awe-inspiring archive which has answers to a lot of basic questions. Notice that the link takes you to the last version archived on web.archive.org. In order to browse that site there, you'll need to have JavaScript enabled.

  • The Red Hat Knowledgebase. Its search capabilities are somewhat limited but it covers most of the basic questions and much more in easy English.

  • The Red Hat Linux Installation Support FAQ

  • The (search-able) Red Hat mailing list archives.
    Since digests of most of these lists are also mirrored on Usenet ('lists.redhat.*' hierarchy), a search via Google Groups also yields results from them. I wouldn't consider it good manners to post Mandrake specific questions on Red Hat Linux mailings lists, though.

  • The Red Hat Support Forums are a bit awkward to handle, but you may find one or the answer there.

  • Older Mandrake CDs come with The Official Red Hat Installation Guide ('rhl-install-guide-[version].rpm') as well as The Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide('rhl-getting-started-guide-[version].rpm').
    Online versions are available, too.

  • There are some 20 Red Hat-Linux related Usenet newsgroups in the redhat.* hierarchy. Since alt.os.linux.mandrake seems to become increasingly popular with Red Hat users, I see no reason why you shouldn't post your Mandrake questions there ;-).

  • Last but not least there are several books about Red Hat Linux available, like for instance the entry level 'Red Hat Linux Unleashed', which seems to be quite popular with new Mandrake users.

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* Generic Support

'Do it yourself' is the philosophy behind GNU/Linux. Therefore it features a thriving culture of user support forums:

Most likely your questions aren't Mandrake specific and can be answered by anyone using GNU/Linux. Look at the other pages in this section, especially at the pages on GNU/Linux resources. Keep in mind that in order to get a good answer, you have to ask a good question.

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Legal: All texts on this site are covered by the GNU Free Documentation License. Standard disclaimers of warranty apply. Copyright LSTB (Tom Berger) and Mandrakesoft 1999-2002.