Mandriva Version Confusion

[banjo]

I have an old Mandy 9.1 which is now 2 1/2 years old. It works great, but it is

difficult to upgrade the apps for bug fixes and new features.

Therefore, I have been considering updating the system.

 

So I went out to the mandrivastore and now I am confused about what all

these different versions are. Here is what I found:

 

At Mandriva:

2005 Limited Edition - 1 DVD - about $65

10.1 Power Pack - 6 CD's - about $85

 

Then, on Edmunds-enterprises I have found:

2005 Limited Edition - 4 CD's - about $11

2005 Limited Edition with KDE 3.4 - 6 CD's - about $13.50

 

Now, 2005LE is marketed as the upgrade to 10.2 from 10.1 but it costs less

than the 10.1 power pack. Also, 2005LE has no support included according

to the site, whereas 10.1 Power Pack does get some limited support. There

is no 2005 Power Pack listed anywhere. But I have heard that 10.1 is buggy.

 

The versions on edmunds-enterprises are obviously the download versions.

 

So, what it the difference between the edmunds download, and the official

2005LE? If there is none, then the price differential is fairly large

considering that the official 2005LE gets no support just lke the download

version. Are the contents different between the download version and the

boxed version of the same thing?

 

What is in the Power Pack that is not in the official version? Is a Power

Pack for 2005 going to be released?

 

And then there is the future 2006. What is in that? Will that be a Power Pack?

 

If I get a download version from edmunds for 11 bucks, will that have

everything I need to run, or will it be short a bunch of apps and drivers making

me spend hours in Dependency Hell downloading patches and apps?

 

Is there a package list somewhere for these diferent distros?

Mandrake used to have a page which listed all of the packages in the distro.

 

This is all very confusing, and I do not have a clue which direction to go.

 

My Mandy 9.1 is a Power Pack, and it had in it everything that I needed to

get up and running right from the CD's. If I bought a new Mandy and then I

got stuck doing hours of downloads to get it working, I would not be happy.

Do I really need to look for a Power Pack, or is the standard release fine?

 

Also, I went out to distrowatch.org and looked at their listing and they show

that 2005 and the future 2006 have a bunch of apps in beta. Is that right?

Are these releases stable with a bunch of beta apps in them? What gives with that?

 

I am sooo confused by all of this....

 

Any Mandy experts out there who know what is in these things?

 

Which one sould I get? I am not in a hurry, so I can wait for 2006 if that is the right answer.

 

Thanks in Advance

Banjo

(_)=='=~

 

[moved from Installing Mandriva by spinynorman]

[Aomighty]

I'd get LE 2005 , it's quite stable and moreso than 10.1 IMHO. If you don't mind doing some config, I'd just get the free download edition, but your choice, the power pack is quite nice, especially with a slow connection. So my recommendation = LE 2005 with KDE3.4 - $13.50.

[daniewicz]

Aomighty:

LE 2005 = KDE 3.3

[Ixthusdan]

He was referencing the "special " at Edmunds, which includes 3.4, to which I agree. 2005LE with 3.4. If you wait a month or so, 2006 is out, and is best of all!

[banjo]

Thanks for the info. If 2006 will be better I can definitely wait. My old Mandy

9.1 is working fine, so an upgrade is an optional thing for me to get some of the

newer stuff all at once.

 

I will keep an eye on it and see what happens.

 

Thanks,

Banjo

(_)=='=~