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Mandriva Linux Users Club


bigbluec
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I am considering joining the Mandriva Linux Users Club because I am sick of Windows and want to completely convert to linux.

Was wondering if it is worth spending $12 a month on that.

I want to buy the Full Mandriva 2007 simply because I want as much software as possible so that I have no need to go back to windows.

you can download most of it through the club if you are a member but that is also way more expensive than just to buy the boxed version, but then on the other hand you do get support which I might need since I dont have much Linux experience.

 

any idea if joining the club is worth it ??

Thanks

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Man, you do NOT need to join their paid community IMHO!!!

This forum is far the BEST one out there! And you will learn MANY things for FREE!!!!!!!!!

 

And as the distro is concerned, you can get free installation DVDs in magazins - check your local retail library for this.. or you can also download - the Gurus here can tell you more about this.

 

Greetz!

Edited by wakish
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Yep, you don't have to join the free versions are easily available, and we can help out with any probs you have.

 

First try it and see if you like it before buying it at least.

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Yep, you don't have to join the free versions are easily available, and we can help out with any probs you have.

 

First try it and see if you like it before buying it at least.

 

Yep and we even help if you decide not to choose Mandriva....

If you have good bandwidth then I'd start off with a few live distro's.... get a feel decide your level...

there is no best distro... not even best distro for a single person sionce it changes as you get more experienced.

 

You can start with Kanotix... its a great install from a liveCD and thingsd are set up pretty well....

Ive given it to complete n00bs and even non computer types who's ideal reference enbds in ..for dummies and they have done fine...

Mandriva live and PC LinuxOS are both excellent starts...

following Novel/Suse and Microsoft jumping in bed I find iot hard to genuinly recomend it...

 

Whatever you choose... its not for life.... it certainly shouldn't be anyway all distro's have good and bad for different people at different ponts in their linux adventure....

 

What matters most is the learning curve... some distro's like slackware/gentoo/arch are known for it being steep... others like mandriva for being easy for beginners... its all a matter of choice....

Personally I find something like kanotix perfect for complete n00bs basically because its a no brain install with everything you need and more (needs 2GB installed minimum since the CD is highly compressed...

 

Mandriva needs a little config but there are wizards to help you... if they work with your hardware then great... so basically the mandriva live is a good way to check....

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You can start with Kanotix...

 

Nah, I don't think so. Kanotix is a last stand, not a first one. You have first to toy with a lot of other distros to understand why Kanotix is a special one- as most nice things about it are under the skin, and it's not really a Mepis-style "hey-I'm-dumb-but-I-can-run-Linux" distro...

PCLInuxOS is indeed a very good start for newbies, for sure- but not Kanotix... factly if Arch Linux didn't exist I'd be using right now either Kanotix or Zenwalk.

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Man, you do NOT need to join their paid community IMHO!!!

This forum is far the BEST one out there! And you will learn MANY things for FREE!!!!!!!!!

 

And as the distro is concerned, you can get free installation DVDs in magazins - check your local retail library for this.. or you can also download - the Gurus here can tell you more about this.

 

Greetz!

 

I'm with Wakish on this one, there's no real benefit in joining the club, unless you want some extra toys and want to make a donation to the Mandriva Board of Directors

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Yep, you can always make the donation later once you're happy with all the work they've done.

 

After all, why donate if it doesn't work for you. I'm not donating to Windows anymore ;)

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If you purchase a copy, you get some extra stuff, and I believe you get a subscription to their club for a year or so with the purchase - but I'm not 100% sure. A lot of people around here can be unfair towards Mandriva, and all too often linux users have the mentality "if i don't have to pay for it, why should i?" - this is actually part of the problem with commercial distro's failing, or at least not doing as well as they could. I have used the Mandriva club, although many years ago, and it had some nice extra's and for me was worth the money if for no other reason than to support Mandriva.

 

And they provide more than just a forum to ask questions on. Here's the list.

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I got nothing against paying. I mean try it for free first, donate later where you see fit. That's my mentality. He's new to Linux, and he has to see how he likes it.

 

With Windows, you got to pay up front, and what if it doesn't work and you don't like it. I suppose you can try and get a refund but difficult when the media is opened and frustrating.

 

I bought Mandriva Powerpack not long ago anyhow, so I do invest :P

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Guest Sherab Palden

Hi,

 

I used Mandriva 2006 Free on my notebook and it serves me well. So when Mandriva 2007 is out, I decided to join the club as standard member and downloaded the Mandriva Powerpack 2007.

 

I agree with the rest, you should take your time and decide later, basically the 'paid' version has a little bit more integrated packages, something you can also do on the free version but with a little effort and posts questions here.

 

Hope my opinion helps.

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Yes. I support the concept of paying people for working. And there is nothing wrong with people expecting to be paid for their work. Buying a Mandriva box (or any commercial distro) is perfectly acceptable, especially if we all want to see Linux continue to improve. If we truly lived in a Utopian world where there was no hunger and no bills, that would be different, wouldn't it? B)

 

However, I expect something for paying. And if I am promised something in exchange for my payment, I expect to receive what is promised. And that is the issue with Mandriva. They do not (at least with me) deliver what they promise. Also, implying that add-on software is only available thru them is a lie. Any add-on can be gotten--- generally for free.

 

So, buy it to support the software development. But do not expect anything else for your money. A while back, Mandriva chose to try to make money on what was already working without money. They are not good at support. Their business model is focused on the wrong aspect of the enterprise. That is being realistic.

 

Before anyone gets too upset, I think that there are several employees at Mandriva that do a fine job. And they have improved as a result. But their model is still going to fail in the long run because they refuse to focus on marketing and distribution.

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However, I expect something for paying. And if I am promised something in exchange for my payment, I expect to receive what is promised. And that is the issue with Mandriva. They do not (at least with me) deliver what they promise. Also, implying that add-on software is only available thru them is a lie. Any add-on can be gotten--- generally for free.
Actually, they have some software that's available to members that is otherwise only available commercially - members either get a significant discount, or - in some cases - get it for free. As an example, I believe Cedega and the LinDVD player come with a membership, from standard on up.

 

Last time I checked, LinDVD player wasn't available commercially even. And while you can play DVD's without it, it does a better job because it uses the legal libraries instead of a hack to read the dvd's.

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Just my two cents - if you use any linux distro on a regular basis and find it useful, you should pay something to the developers to the extent you are financially able and/or contribute in some way back to the project, eg support, bug reports, howto documentation, etc.

 

Re joining the mandriva club, I agree with the many observations stated above. It's completely unnecessary from a utility standpoint as you don't get a lot for your money that isn't available for free elsewhere. However, if, after trying mandriva for a period of time, you like the distro and find it useful, join the club if you are financially able to afford it. It's a way of giving back to the developers and insuring the continued development of mandriva.

 

Completely unrelated to the above, tyme wrote:

Last time I checked, LinDVD player wasn't available commercially even. And while you can play DVD's without it, it does a better job because it uses the legal libraries instead of a hack to read the dvd's.

I haven't checked this out myself, but I'm curious as to why you find LinDVD superior to libdvdcss. Specifically, what extra features do you get with LinDVD that are absent in say totem or kaffeine when used with libdvdcss? I thought one advantage of libdvdcss was you could get around region coding. I assume that is not the case with LinDVD.

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I haven't used LinDVD personally, but my comment about using libdvdcss and libdecss is that (at least in the USA) they are not legal ways to play your media, because they actually hack the encoding algorithms since to actually get them (legally) you have to pay for the proper libraries (licensing fees). LinDVD has these libraries (it's just an emulated WinDVD program) and so you are legally playing them - so it can play dvd's that libdvdcss and libdecss may not be able to hack the encryption on (though admittedly they are quite good at it, and can hack most).

 

Technically, at least in countries with (possibly too strict) IP laws and licensing fees, using a tool to crack these encryption algorithms is a violation of the law (as is playing a DVD that's not encoded for your region). Although I doubt anyone will get charged, some people may like the warm fuzzy feeling they get when they know they are doing it legally.

 

That being said, I personally use libdvdcss and libdecss because they are the only options on my distribution of choice. Which is really a sad thing.

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A lot of people around here can be unfair towards Mandriva,

 

To be fair they bring that on themselves, your "donation" (subs) to the club, is set out and seen as a commercial contract by Mandriva, yet you are expected to see it as a donation, and not as a contract, when really it is a binding commercial contract, a fact that cannot be disputed by corporate spin, not very fair is it? This is bad business, and if Mandriva receives any short-comings due to it, then I have no sympathy as it is their own fault. Mandriva is a business built around linux, it is not "linux" itself (note the quotes). Would you happily pay for a half cooked burger and accept it, are the monies you exchanged for said burger...a donation?

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