akshunj Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 I am considering becoming a club member, but the value to me is access to the extra software packages. Does anyone know how often extra software is released? Is there a request process? --Akshun J [moved from Installing Mandrake by spinynorman] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 I am not a member, but many here are members. Yes, members get to request packages, and I believe they have input as to what packages are included in the distro. Club members have been enjoying the Official Edition for some time now. Theoretically, they have access to servers that have less traffic and therefore better thru-put, but that's as long as it's a small club, isn't it? B) (sarcasm) Club distributions have software in them that must be obtained by hand, like nvidia drivers. The Club also gives Mandrake money for their operation. One can only pray that they use it to offer customer service at some point in time! (sarcasm!) All in all, the Club is a good way to support Mandrake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 For silver members and above, you will generally get the first 4 or 5 disks of PowerPack download edition made available to you and it is available earlier than to the general public. There is supposed to be special urpmi mirrors available to club members also, but they never work. Also, club members are able to access the same crappy customer service that the general public has access to. Summary: If you join to help support Mandrake monetarily and to have access to the releases a little early, I say go for it. If you join expecting to get better customer service, forget it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidzoo Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 I am not a club member, but I have often thought of joining in order to support Mandrake. It is a great way to support a distro and make sure that all of your money is going to the company instead of some of it going to a 3rd party (like if you bought the distro in the store) For me, though; If I were to give money to Mandrake, it would be in the form of buying a distro from the MandrakeStore. But that also includes a Club membership I think. I could be wrong, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 I am not a club member, but I have often thought of joining in order to support Mandrake. It is a great way to support a distro and make sure that all of your money is going to the company instead of some of it going to a 3rd party (like if you bought the distro in the store) For me, though; If I were to give money to Mandrake, it would be in the form of buying a distro from the MandrakeStore. But that also includes a Club membership I think. I could be wrong, though. Nope LZ, thats far too logical for MDK marketing. First you buy, then if/when it gets delivered it tells you for support pay extra for mandrake expert andmandrake club. You used to get 3 months or something included, which is how I found this place :D I gave up trying to get answers from the official places and followed someone over here! However it was still worth paying to support them! since technically yhey are great! Mandrake IMHO are worth supporting but you should realise that is all you get for the money. That way you cant be disappointed :D Like Steve says the special mirrors often dont work, the extra packages you might or might not get depending upon whims ad your membership level. Then if you have a question they refer you to pay more at mandrake expert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feralertx Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 Hi there! Im a club member and i can tell you that the extra-benefits you get are IMHO no worth the money. The only reason im still a member is to support MDK and a distro that i really like, you get to pay 60 $/€ a year is nothing, 5 $ or € a month !! (for a standard membership) You cant really expect much for that money so i just dont. Im happy to pay for nothing and whatever i get in return i consider it as an extra. If you join with high expectations on better support or customer care you will end up disanppointed. Some of the benefits: - For example you get to download the latest versions of mdk earlier than everyone else but only via bittorrent use (no ftp option). - You can vote for applications but they have no staff there to build the packages for the most voted apps. Instead the packages are build by 'volunteers', people just like you who decide to help. And the volunteers decide which app they want to make a package for, no matter how many votes its got. So an app with a thounsand votes may be requested and undone for ever. - You get full access to the forums in mandrakeclub.com but the forums system (ie. no search function) and the feel of them are really nasty, I hardly visit them and since there is mandrakeusers.org, who needs them anyway?. In fact the whole mandrakeclub.com page looks and feels horrible. Dont remember what others 'benefits' you get, but IMHO very few of them are worth a penny. I like to encourage people to join, but dont like fooling no one. For 5$ a month you can try it for a year and stop contributing if you dont like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Ephemeron Posted May 29, 2004 Report Share Posted May 29, 2004 Here are the MDK Club forums you can browse for free. http://www.mandrakeclub.com/modules.php?na...me=Splatt_Forum You can actually create an account at MDK Expert and click on the "Give Support" tab and get in and browse problems and answers for free. http://www.mandrakeexpert.com/index1.php?t...paid&act=create I am not sure if there are paid experts or the "community experts" in that batch... but it might give you an idea if it is worth it. Enjoy :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aRTee Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 I agree with all that say: clubmembership is good to support Mandrake. You should, at that point, already be well served in terms of software. Sure, at Silver level you get more cd images, and at any level, you get access to the commercial packages (nvidia drivers etc), but it is easy to live without that. Silver level, 120US$ a year, sorry, that's a bit steep imho....... Basically, getting a membership is like tipping after being served - you don't unless you were well served, until that time you chew and digest Linux to make it work for you. Me, I already made a mental note to renew my clubmembership next year March when my current membership expires. Reason? Less than 2 hrs email turnaround time from the one person that could help me, and who actually did. Mandrake 10.0 OE is fine, I even used the upgrade function with success. (Not on my own machine.... :) ). Basically, you have to say: is what I got today on my computer worth 60US$? If so, buy a pack or become a member. If not, why not? Post here in the relevant forums to improve your setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 Well I don't know much MandrakeClub. At least it's convenient and a little more than that. I don't know if it worth $60, but if you use the product, it's obvious that it worth $60. Concerning the service: If MandrakeSoft have money, they can provide good service, then more people are going to subscribe to the club, then they are going to have more money, then they can provide even better service, then ........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwiftDeath Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 Is their a way to support all the distro's in the same payment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 not really...not unless you support the Linux kernel directly...since different distributions are headed by different companies (or people, as it maybe) you can't really support them all... you could try to find a specific project you want to support, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwiftDeath Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 I'll maybe support WineX, when I start to use it and see if its any good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 Well, like I said, I'm a Silver member and have received the same crappy service I got before I was a club member., so keep dreaming. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 I've never needed any support/service from them. I get all the support I need here, and as long as the servers are up...who needs any service? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 (edited) Read my member title. <======= Edited June 2, 2004 by Steve Scrimpshire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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