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Mandriva Linux 2007.1 review


spinynorman
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After making a lot of progress with Mandriva Linux 2007, I thought perhaps Mandriva had turned over a new leaf, and was using that release as a starting point for an overall better quality operating environment. I was totally wrong. Both the PowerPack Edition and Discovery/LX have slid so far back with version 2007.1 that I have serious doubts as to the future of Mandriva's viability as a commercial desktop operating system. Though some small but noticeable bugs were fixed and all of the usual packages have been upgraded in this new release, so much important functionality has been removed from it -- and new, more serious bugs introduced -- that Mandriva Linux 2007.1 has no hope of competing with other recently-released desktop operating systems.

Full review at www.softwareinreview.com

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Not exactly what you would call a flattering review is it?

 

My impressions from using 2007.1 are the opposite to the impression I would get from reading that review. Sure it's not perfect, and he makes some valid points, but if I hadn't tried it out previously, after reading that review I would be hesitant to try it, and perhaps look elsewhere. Shows the power of the 'press', or perhaps the value of trying things out for yourself, the only way to really know for sure.

 

but for now 2007.1 is buggy and less stable than Kubuntu 6.10 that i've tried before.

 

I agree from my use of kubuntu 6.10 that it is stable, and very good indeed, but I don't find 2007.1 to be what I would call buggy, or unstable, maybe I'm just not pushing the right buttons (or would that be the wrong buttons). But I do see comments in different places, from people, whom I have great respect for there knowledge in all things Linux, which point in the same direction as the reviewer here.

 

I'd be real interested in hearing what some of the linux veterans from around these parts really think of Mandriva 2007.1, maybe they are already saying what they think, in the loudest way possible, in the fact that they don't actually use Mandriva any longer?

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I didn't try Mandriva 2007, but for now 2007.1 is buggy and less stable than Kubuntu 6.10 that i've tried before.

 

It is? On my system it's the direct opposite situation. From my expirience Mandriva 2007.1 is more stable than any Ubuntu/Kubuntu distro I've used.

 

My expirience with 2007.1 is also the direct opposite of the review. I think if you look through this forum and the club forum you will find a lot of positive feedback on Spring. Also from very experienced Linux users.

 

Honestly, reading that review does not fit the feeling I get when seeing a lot of users being very satisfied with Spring. IMHO 2007 was nice but 2007.1 is a big step forward.

 

Also when we discuss stability issues we must take into consideration if we are using 3D desktops e.g. Beryl, or not. Beryl is not a 100% stable product yet.

Edited by opvask
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Yep, there sure are plenty of know it all ar***oles who think their opinions are the most important of all. This one is definately one of them.

I wonder what his excuse will be when 2008 and 2008midterm come out and Mandriva is still doing pretty strong.

There are not too many things I really hate in this world but this ****head has to be one of them. The fact that there might be a couple of little legitimate points doesn't carry the article at all. His review, which is simply his personal opinion, has no more status than anyone elses but by calling himself a reviewer he trys to make out that his opinion is superior than anyone else. Puke.

 

Sorry folk but this text manure just got the better of me.

 

Yes I know we discuss lots of things about Mandrivas problems, but we are conducting it here,in our own community. We do it to help improve Mandriva and help its users and not to disparage it in the outside world.

 

Pigs will fly long before there is ever an OS of any type that doesn't have bugs. But what sets OSs apart is how few there are and how quickly they are resolved. And that has to go for Kubuntu as well. Too often people are self blinkered and sell themselves the idea that their fashionable choice is problem free and that if they experience a problem then it must be because they themselves did something wrong.

 

Jagwah and Opvask say it very well.

Once again sorry for the rant. John.

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The only problem I had with 2007.1 was all the bad package signatures on the updates. My main complaint with 2006 and 2007 was that I couldn't have a reliable wireless network with my unsupported Broadcom card using ndiswrapper. I have Debian installed on that computer now and I'm not going to install Mandriva over that to see if wireless works now. That is really my only reason for drifting away from Mandriva on the laptop.

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The only problem I had with 2007.1 was all the bad package signatures on the updates.

Do you still have problems? Have you read the thread about this (very common) issue in the Club forum? It solved my problems with signatures for "Main official".

 

His review, which is simply his personal opinion, has no more status than anyone elses but by calling himself a reviewer he trys to make out that his opinion is superior than anyone else. Puke

 

I totally agree. This is only his personal experience. Like mentioned it does not fit the feeling I get from people that know better - The daily users. The ones active in the community.

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I'd be real interested in hearing what some of the linux veterans from around these parts really think of Mandriva 2007.1, maybe they are already saying what they think, in the loudest way possible, in the fact that they don't actually use Mandriva any longer?

 

I haven't installed it yet, but still have Mandriva and use it, even though some systems are on other distros. Perhaps I should install this, and as a Mandrake/Mandriva veteran (if I can call myself that), I'd let you know my honest opinion. Although, I'm probably biased, because Mandrake/Mandriva was my first distro, and will always have a soft spot for it.

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I haven't installed it yet

 

Get going Ianw - Upgrade. Your wasting valuable spring moments here. :lol2: (and we'd like to hear your opinion).

 

His review is, crap, but does still, his conclusion does touch on some good points, and I agree with each of those bold points to an extent.

 

I agree. Some of the bold points are relevant. Especially the one about the mirrors. But some of these points are relevant for most likely any Linux distro I've tried (e.g the 3D point).

 

BTW: The talk about Cedega and LinDVD makes me wonder. The way I have understood this, they are not removed from the powerpacks. They aren't ready yet but they will be there, eventually. Right?

Edited by opvask
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Do you still have problems? Have you read the thread about this (very common) issue in the Club forum? It solved my problems with signatures for "Main official".

 

Honestly I haven't tried anymore upgrading so I don't know.

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The bugs that i had/have that really annoy me:

 

- bad package signatures FIXED

- FireFox crushes spontaneously - no idea why, gone without me doing a thing about it

- sometimes I can't shut down the system - it freezes after i click Log Out-->Turn off computer

- segmentation fault errors during update

 

Except these ^ - all perfect.

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I was...well...to use a politician word, saddened by the review. I like Jem and he's always seemed very fair in the past so I just don't know where this came from. What I disliked the most was that there was absolutely no attempt at even-handedness; it's pure negatives from the first paragraph, there's no attempt at all to look for any positives, which is how you're supposed to write reviews (as opposed to editorials), by weighing positives and negatives.

 

It was also factually inaccurate in some cases, but Jem's fixed most of these after I talked to him.

 

It's really galling, for instance, that he takes the comprehensiveness of the Errata as a negative point. I'm not happy that the fact that we use it to provide useful information and workarounds about several upstream issues that affect *all* distros is used in this review as a stick with which to beat us. I posted a detailed rundown of each item on the Errata to the OS News thread - http://www.osnews.com/comment.php?news_id=17774 . Basically, I could take out all the upstream issues and I could probably take out half the genuine issues because 99% of people who don't have that _particular_ sound card (for e.g.) would never notice them. Then the Errata would be shorter, and Jem would (presumably) be happier and never know the difference. But this would obviously not be the right or good thing to do.

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Hmmm, Interesting.

 

Now for my piece, Mandriva is a good distro in my eyes so good that i have installed it on 2 comps @ home, I would have it on my new tower but it refuses to play ball so rather than pull my hair out and slag it off i chose another distro to put on it (you know the one they signed a pact with the Devil).

Dont get me wrong i will never say its flawless nor perfect but it works for me and if not i either post my problem on a forum or do a google search.

 

I have tried many distro's and after Mandriva, Kubuntu was my preferred distro (though like many sudo apt get was a bit long winded)

there are some i thought O my god but i left it at that and never criticized them out lout nor on the web or in publications (not that i would want to).

I can not get Beryl to run on 2007 I'm not bothered the GUI without it works fine for me its one of those things, I have a £70 new web cam that wont work on XP on my new tower (works a treat on my old one), even though i am not a big lover of XP i would not call it a bad OS nor criticize it because there are a few bugs that annoy, me thats life.

 

Linux Distros to me are like vegetables, there are some you like for this reason, and some you hate for that reason, what ever the reason is keep it to your self and try not to deter others from trying it we all have different tastes, if anything i try and get people to try Linux not Mandriva nor Kubuntu but find one they like and stick with it, I have only been using Linux for little over a year i am no pro/guru but i would like to say is that i enjoy it, it has the things i need and some things i could realy do with like a dreamweaver Linux version (that will never happen?).

 

Like ianw1974 Mandriva was one of my first distros and thats probably why i like it so much.

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