Mandrake 8.0...Distro for a newbie?

[Dissolutus]

I just downloaded Mandrake 8.0. I'm a newbie at Linux, but I'm wondering how good this distro is. I know basic Linux stuff, I just want to know if it's easy to setup, will it help me learn Linux, and what is it like compared to Red Hat 6.0 (my previous distro)

[cyan]

Haven't tried 8 personally, but Mandrake is usually pretty easy to set up. However, some would argue if it will help you "learn" linux. It's kind of a trade off. The more you'll learn, the tougher it might be to set up. For example, you might struggle with a distro like slack, but in the end you'll learn more because there's less gui's to do things for you. I think RedHat is up to 7.1 now, and I've heard it's pretty good. From the distro's I've used, they're a pretty good blend of easy to use, but still letting you do things yourself. Maybe give them a whirl if you're looking for a good mix. Good Luck.

[johnmann]

Drake8 is working super for this newbie,a good distro to learn Linux on,like it as much as SuSE!

[ 06 May 2001: Message edited by: johnmann ]

[bobarian]

Compared to RH 6.0, it rocks.

[ASCI Blue]

I've only had one severe problem with it, it's not saving my network settings. I connect to the internet through a LAN so I need it.

[Dissolutus]

Originally posted by ASCI Blue:
<STRONG>I've only had one severe problem with it, it's not saving my network settings. I connect to the internet through a LAN so I need it.</STRONG>

So do I...but I figure now that since I got mandrake on CD I'm gonna install it, thanks for the input guys.

[mswales]

Mandrake 8 is scary!
Get Debian or something.. apt-get install PROGRAMNAME

fun :D.

Mandrake 8's installer crashes me.

[Coral Sea]

Mandy 8 is the best Linux distro around, period. It's great for newbies and experts alike. Anything the "experts" can do with Slack, Debian, and RKDR (Raw Kernel Distro from Russia), you can do with Mandy 8 with the exception of how packages are added (don't know why the Debian fans think this is such a big deal). There are many things that Mandy 8 offers that the other distros just plain don't have or have in a more primitive form.

You'll find better documentation and support for Mandy 8 (partly because it started life as a RedHat clone) than the other distros.

I've tried all the major brands and for now I'm running Mandy 8 on two PCs (along with wicked Windows) and FreeBSD on the Internet gateway machine.

[Dissolutus]

OK, I've gone along and installed Mandrake8. So far I love it, it's nice. I had problems at first when it was set to autologin and load X at startup (it'd take me to console, then screen black out then a min later id be in KDE). I'm have trouble with Netscape tho, the fonts are real small on some pages, even though my resolution is 800x600 i can barely read that my profile thing at the top there. Anyway can I set this (I never had this prob in Windows so I dont know!).

[ 08 May 2001: Message edited by: Dissolutus ]

[Coral Sea]

And this is where Mandy really shines. Use DraxFont to import Windows True Type fonts and you'll notice a huge difference. Also, after you've done that, you might want to play around with the fonts in preference settings in Netscape.

[jolphil]

Amen to what Coral Sea said about the fonts..They were really crappy on my systen until I loaded my Windows fonts on a zip drive and imported them (thru drakfont"add fonts")..
Now they are great on everything except the toolbars in Netscape..Mozilla and konqureor are fine..My issues with 8.0 was that it did not find my network card or my printer..However with outside help I was able to install both afterwards..My advice for 8.0 overall is to go for it!! Good Luck,
JP :)

[Coral Sea]

Regarding your X11 problem, which version of X did you install. If it was 4.0.3, you might want to see if 3.3.6 fixes the problem.

What kind of hardware are you running?

[Dissolutus]

Im running an Asus motherboard (A7v133 with RAID controller on it and VIA chipset), AMD Duron 800, SBLive!, Voodoo3 2000, Iomega Zip Drive, and a Western Digital HDD 40GB. That sums it up I think.