What will I get in the mandriva boxes version?

[Phantom]

I just ordered the Mandriva 10.1 Powerpack with the free Tux :woops:

 

I know there are 6 cd's in there, but what is exactly on those cd's that I can't get from the download edition ?

 

Another thing, would it be better to reinstall my system with those cd's and run an update/upgrade afterwards ?

 

I bought the box mostly to support Mandriva.

[VeeDubb]

There is nothing on the CD's you 'can't' gt from the download version, but some of the things on there include closed source drivers and commercial software like a proper flash player and a slightly outdated version of realplayer, which you would have to go download and isntall yourself. It also has most or all of the contrib packages on the CD's, but once again, you can get those yourself. If you already have 10.1 installed there is no point of any kind in using the CD's to re-isntalled unless you have some need for a re-install.

[Phantom]

Ok thanks, so it might have been better to wait for the 2005 (10.2) powerpack.

 

Anyway, it'll give me a chance to test out the Club and update functions.

[Ixthusdan]

The box will give you a warm fuzzy feeling. Enjoy!!

[Phantom]

So what is the difference then between the boxes that Mandriva shippes compared to those shipped by some cheapo cd vendors?

 

The boxes are more oriented towards people without broadband who can't download the iso's, as everything in there is freely available on any FTP site?

Same goes for the club or the update service, there is nothing extra on there that you can't get from the regular mirrors like ftp.belnet.be?

 

In that case maybe Mandriva should bring out some other product range, or service that people can get to support the company.

Now they produce cd's and manuals that most of us already have downloaded when they buy the box.

 

Ok, there is a support service included but again, the best support can be found on the forums.

 

I thought that I would get some extra's in the boxes, like extra drivers or tools.

 

There are 3 different boxes available, Discovery, Powerpack and Powerpack + with a serious price difference between them, I got the Powerpack version at 80€ but now I have the feeling that I could have gotten the 45€ box and have the same content, or would have been better to get a 1y subscription to the club.

 

Correct me if I got it completely wrong here...hopefully....

[VeeDubb]

You know, it's funny. One of the main reasons for the start of the club, was to provide a way to sell the powerpack, to people who might not be inclined to buy a box and wait for shipping because they had a fast enough connection to download it.

 

Instead, the powerpack is now available from less than totaly scrupulous 'cheap cd vendors'

 

As for what those vendors offer, well, it varries. That is the big drawback to them, you never really know. Sometimes it's the download version, sometimes it's the download + a homebaked copy of the contrib mirrors on CD, sometimes it's the powerpack download from the club, and unfortunately, some of them go so far as to buy the powerpack from the madnriva store and sell pirated copies of that.

 

While the legality of that action may be up for debate because of the whole 'open source thing' it's clearly very wrong.

 

There are drivers and other programs in the box that are not included on the download edition, but this is linux. The sofware and drivers that are not normaly included on the download editions, are all still free and can be downlaoded for free by anyone from the various developers.

 

Example. Nvidia drivers. Virtualy all linux distros include a driver called the nv driver which provides basic functionality for the nvidia line of video cards. But, getting 3d accelleration or any other advanced features you have to installed the commercial driver from nvidia. The powerpack has the driver on the CD and isntalls it for you, but the DL version does not. But, anyone can go to http://www.nvidia.com and download the latest driver, which for obvious reasons, is often more recent than what's on the powerpac anyway.

 

Now, don't get me wrong. I still like to support the linux community with my dollars, and it great when we all do. Just understand that supporting the linux movement, and lazziness are the only two real reasons to order a powerpack.

[Phantom]

I agree with you that the way those "cheapo cd vendors" work is illegal, maybe not for the law but rather from a moral point of view.

 

But when looking at this from a commercial point of view the idea of selling the boxes is wrong, you won't motivate people buy making them buy useless things (for those with broadband).

Supporting the Linux movement with $$$ is ok, but when I know now that I spend $$$ for something that is useless ....

 

Mandrake has to produce the cd's, boxes, shipping, etc... all that costs money, so the benefit they will get from us buying the boxes is minor.

 

They should drop the boxes, and maybe sell some cd's for those who can't download them.

 

And why are there 3 different boxes, looking at the content of them I don't see how to can fill 2 more cd's in 1 box and 4 more + 1 DVD in the others.

 

I would have done it otherwise.

 

And yeah, I like the idea of the lazziness, I would have like to get out of the boxes a version I can install with all the drivers and then have an update service that will update all that to the latest versions, including the drivers without having the hassle of installing ATI drivers with kernel patches etc...

[adamw]

You do get commercial drivers and software in the boxes - the same stuff Club members get. nvidia driver, ati driver, madwifi, Centrino firmware, some winmodem drivers, all that stuff. Acrobat Reader and some other commercial software too. None of that is on the mirrors.