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Are the paid versions worth it?


Edd
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I am considering purchasing Mandriva Linux PowerPack 10.1 - is it worth buying the paid version or should I stick to the free versions? I mean, what are the advantages of the paid versions? And how easy is it to upgrade my existing 10.1 Official installation?

Thanks :)

 

 

[moved from Installing Mandrake by spinynorman]

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It is not exactly out of date, just older :)

 

Anyway, I am not sure why Mandrake 10.1 is more expensive. You should read what is included carefully and compare it to 2005. Maybe it includes DVD version while 2005 doesn't?

 

Paid version usually gives you more software, some downloadable for free, some doesn't. I know that powerpack editions usually includes non-free drivers and software, such as NVidia & ATI drivers and Sun JRE & JDK. While you can always download them yourself, they usually took a bit of an effort to install. Putting the software in Mandrake RPM format really ease up installation.

 

Also, I think buying the retail edition gives you a couple of month's membership into Mandriva Club. There you can get access to more software and updates for the non-free drivers/software in RPM format.

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Guest Adriano1

Remember also that 2005 LE is a "community" version, and 10.1 is an official release. It's supposed to be more stable. Since there won't be a 2005 stable release (just mandriva 2006, which comes out near september), you might want to add that to the equation.

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Anybody here using the commercial mdk 64-bit? I'm thinking about buying it I'm not sure .... I have some distros right now that I'm going to try such as Ubuntu, Mandrake 10.1 or so, and fedora core. DMage I know you got most of them running how are they? Except Ubuntuy I'm not sure if you have given that a spin.

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I am running FC4 x86_64... but I really really think that I am going to reformat and reinstall Mandriva 2005 LE again in a couple of days. Everything is so gnome centric that KDE becomes unstable. Kicker crashing during loggging out, making the logout sequence hanging until I have to press ctrl-alt-delete to relogin, no 64 bit mplayer, xine hanging after splash screen, etc.

 

I just don't have the time and the bandwidth to fix them all. Maybe FC4 32 bit edition is better, but as of now FC4 x86_64 is not ready for prime time.

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Hi adriano,

I am not sure you are correct in saying that Mandriva2005-LE is a community version.

I seem to remember adamw saying it was NOT and he is connected to Mandriva so he should know.

 

Note to Adamw, am I recalling correctly or am I not ???.

 

John.

Edited by AussieJohn
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Guest Adriano1

What I remember comes from this link or similars. I quote from there:

 

Taking into account this new schedule, product naming will henceforth be based on year names. The next release will be in the fall and will be named "2006".

 

Additionally, Mandrakesoft has decided to release a transitional version of Mandrakelinux in spring 2005. Built on the current Mandrakelinux development branch, this version will provide up-to-date and newly released open source software, including KDE 3.3, GNOME 2.8 and Firefox 1.0.1. This special version will be available as a DVD and a CD set through Mandrakestore and Mandrakeclub and as a download, but not through retail channels.

 

The transitional version will be called "Limited Edition 2005". Later, by fall of this year, the new boxed "2006" release will fully integrate Conectiva technology and Mandrakesoft online services into a new product. It will be released through traditional retail channels as well as by direct sale from Mandrakestore and Mandrakeclub, and will offer all support options and related services.

 

François Bancilhon, CEO of Mandrakesoft, explained: "We needed a transitional version to give us the time to ensure good integration of the Conectiva technology into Mandrakelinux. That's the reason why we chose to release this "Limited Edition 2005". Additionally, we decided to change the way we name the versions, because our users needed to better identify our releases. As a result, we choose a new yearly release scheme."

 

Both the Limited Edition 2005 and the 2006 version will be released in 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

 

2005 Roadmap Sumary:

 

Name: "Limited Edition 2005"

Expected date of release: Spring 2005

Technology: Based on current development branch

Support & Services: No

Release Channels: Mandrakeclub, Mandrakestore (DVD + 6 CD set)

 

Name: "2006"

Expected date of release: Fall 2005

Technology: Integrates Conectiva technology

Support & Services: Full

Release channels: Mandrakeclub, Mandrakestore, retail (DVD, Packs...)

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You are correct about the CEOs quotes but I remember later questions where he was asked if it was a community edition and he said no it wasn´t, it was closer to an official edition but they had decided to close the LE from further additions of newer cutting edge stuff such as kde3.4 etc and to spend the time and energy doing that for 2006 instead.

Despite some of the sad stories aired here, I have found 2005 to be the most stable Mandriva/Mandrake ever but then again I do not try to make it do other than it was set up to do by Mandriva. I have all updates including the latest kernels and source and latest nvidia drivers and have not had any difficulties doing it or with it.

 

I would strongly recommend the original enquirer go with Mandriva2005-LE because he will not be disappointed.

 

Cheers. John.

 

Thanks adriano for a good calm reply. Not like one other I had recently. JB.

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Guest Adriano1

Don't worry, I had nothing to be uncivil about. I do remember some press release where I read specifically that it was a community release, but I can't find it. Maybe it was in the wiki... It doesn't turn up. Nevermind.

 

With all that said, it's been a solid release for me too, with the only thing saying "community" being the massive updates some times.

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No, LE2005 is neither a Community edition nor an Official edition. It's a...

... Limited Edition! :P

 

Community edition is a development release, but the LE2005 tree is in the /official branch of mirrors. It also has security & bug-fix updates, showing that it's a Official (but limited) product of Mandriva.

 

Compared with previous releases:

Before 9.2: cooker snapshot -> beta -> RC -> release

10.0, 10.1: cooker snapshot -> beta -> RC -> Community -> Official

LE2005: cooker snapshot -> beta -> RC -> Limited edition

2006 & later: *

 

*:well, this is interesting. Please read here...

http://qa.mandrakesoft.com/twiki/bin/view/...ndrivaLinux2006

Where did the snapshot, beta, and RC go?

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Guest Adriano1

LE is in the official tree because there's no Community tree anymore for new versions. And the community editions did receive bugfixes and sec updates. At least, I did update. If anything, I had to update _more_ than with an official version.

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