Mandriva 2008.1
As always I'm interested in ease of use, out of the box functionality and intuitiveness. Mandriva 2008.1 uses KDE 3.5.9, Kernel 2.6.24 and Xorg 7.3.
New Additions of note
They've made NTFS partitions writable by default by including the NTFS-3G system with the base install, this means that NTFS managed partitions are writable (rather than just being readable as per previous releases). They've also added in updates for graphics card support but rather than list them all here check on their Wiki page.
Installation and LiveCD
Mandriva comes with a LiveCD environment which is good; upon loading the CD you're taken through a brief setup process to configure your location, time, keyboard and network options (to allow you to use the LiveCD properly). This is all pretty straight forward (although I didn't see an option to run Mandriva from memory, but that's not a problem). Opting to "Live Install" fires up a worryingly vacant yet easy to use installer. It's really a case of hitting "Go" and not being asked for any information until you're setting up user accounts. While this is a little uninformative there isn't anyone who could't manage it and that's a good start.
Even when you're selecting bootloaders it's all filled out for you so the uneducated can just hit "next" at every screen and the end result will be a fully working operating system. For this I cannot fault Mandriva.
First time confusion
It's not an unexpected thing to see a "first run" screen that offers you a tutorial or two, tips, pointers etc... The one in Mandriva did confuse me however. Despite having my location set to "London, UK, GMT", my language set to "English" and my keyboard set to "English UK" the welcome screen seemed to offer a combination of English and Spanish instructions.
Clicking next then gave me something that looked like Russian. So I decided to decline everything I was offered as Mandriva gave me a brief lesson in world languages. An inauspicious start then.
Aesthetics
Once you're passed the English/Russian/Spanish/German introduction you're presented with quite a cool looking desktop; nice icons designs, clean layout and quite a charming aquatic style background. It's quite a good looking release if I'm honest, the menus look okay, the fonts are nice and clear.
Networking and Configuration
The obvious first step for me is to check the connectivity. As always I'm working on a desktop machine with a wired connection so I can't comment about the wireless support but understandably it picked up the connection without issue. Loading up the configuration utility (helpfully located in the 'quick start' bar on the bottom left) gives you a nice graphical interface to configuring your system.
My main complaint with this utility is that too much useful stuff is buried away in it. In order to access your local network (Samba shares in this instance). This is something I use an awful lot both professionally and personally so having access to the shares hidden into a config panel (that requires root access) seems unusual.
Installing software
Using the config panel you can select to "Install & Remove Software" which leads you to your package manager. Mandriva is helpful and offers to update your list of sources which is 2-3 minutes of downloading but then you're good to go.
Accessing my Samba shares - ugh
I've taken this for granted over the past 12 months. Linux releases have become excellent at finding your samba shares over the network - which is all the more worrying when Mandriva recognises my network, has full connectivity but can't see any Samba shares at all. To access the shares you have to use the configuration panel (as explained above):
Yet when I've tried to access them I receive a blank screen where I imagine I should be seeing workgroups. There are no options, no filtering and clicking "Search servers" does nothing. I've had a dig around the system and can set up my own Samba server, but it seems inexplicable as to why my Windows-based Samba shares aren't available.
I actually can't remember the last Linux release that didn't allow me to see my Samba shares straight out of the box, let alone leave me scratching my head as to what's wrong. I can't be bothered wasting an hour of my life trying to work out what's going on (a bad habit I'll explain later) so I'll have to apologise that I can't say anything about Mandriva's multimedia support. Without Samba working properly I can't get any videos to watch (as I decomissioned my FTP server yesterday).
Software on offer by default
This is something Mandriva has no problems with; every need is catered for directly post install. You have multiple video players, Amarok for audio (the best audio utility ever), OpenOffice suite... Basically you've got everything. A regular user could be given the selection of applications that Mandriva gives you and not ever need to delve into the package manager. That's good, albeit questionable in this day and age (I'm undecided whether users would rather have 101 apps post-install or an intuitive package manager front-and-centre for them to cherry pick what they need).
Conclusions
Mandriva is okay but I can't recommend it because of it failing to recognise my Samba shares - something that a usable release would have to do. I'm willing to say a high percentage of users use shared folders (I certainly do) and it's not acceptable for releases to fall at this early hurdle. Every other aspect of Mandriva is great (apart from media support which I was unable to test). It looks good, the package manager works fine and the software provided is more than sufficient.
However a couple of things bother me, namely the shamless up-selling of the Mandriva Powerpack - a happy, bright icon that sits on your desktop reminding you of it's presence. Click it and Firefox takes you to a page outlining what lies within; for 70 euros you can purchase the "Power Pack". There's no real advantage to doing so explained on the page; all it seems to do is state everything that the base model of Mandriva does. 69 Euros ($109) is an awful lot for an enhanced Linux release, especially one that has done little more than underwhelm me.
Bad habits Linux has given me, and why I can't be bothered with Mandriva
I've become increasingly aware of Linux-enforced apathy on my part. If a release (such as this) makes something mundane difficult then I just can't be bothered. Sure I could have FTP'd around some media files to test support on this but why bother? Too many other releases do too much too well, Mandriva won't be making it into my top 10 because of this so why fight with it too much? If you fall at an early hurdle you won't win the race, so you better get back home, put on a tracksuit and get training again.
Samba shares can be reached with Konqueror without any problem, my friend. I think you never used Mandriva or Kde at all.
Try before write, please....
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Submitted by Felipe (not verified) on Sun, 04/13/2008 - 21:07.Look at the screenshots, I'm not joking Samba shares were not working.
Never used Mandriva before? No.
Never used KDE at all - you're having a laugh, please read some of the other reviews before you make idiotic comments.
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Submitted by seopher on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 06:29.I just brought Mandriva Powerpack 2008, sure it plays encrypted DVD's and comes with Flash and Java preinstalled.
But it's slow, not all apps work and some have crashed.
This isn't good enough for the money I just spent.
Why does something like Teenpup 2008 Linux do all of the above and more (codecs) and is still a free download.
Sure it doesn't have the nice graphical system managers that make Mandriva look more professional. But I wonder that at the end of the day if both complete the same task, was paying $59 really worth it? Don't think so!
I hope this new edition fixes these problems.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 02:59.Powerpack icon is the first thing that goes in the Trash after I try out Mandriva.
One thing to note on this release most of the sound problems are now fixed. First release in more than two years that the sound works on my machines.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 04:05.On my system samba shares works great!
maybe you haven't installed the samba server or samba repositories...
Good luck...
Take care people!!!!! :)
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 04:38.I installed both the Samba server and the samba repositories and still was left without samba shares being visible.
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Submitted by seopher on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 06:30.Hi,
are you serious ? it didn't recognize your network's samba shares ? I'm asking since I never ever had problems with samba (windows) shares since Mandrake 7. Never tried to map your shares straight off the file browser ? ie smb://user@/ (easier if you bookmark the share or even better if you mount shares @ boot using cifs in /etc/fstab).
I've just upgraded to 2008.1 from 2008.0. it worked like a charm.
Bye
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Submitted by Jack straw (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 05:46.I am deadly serious. I installed the repositories, I tried, I googled, but to no avail.
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Submitted by seopher on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 06:31.Look at the time signatures on the screenshots - nearly an hour passes between me faffing around with the configuration utility and discussing Samba. I spent all that time trying to get it configured.
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Submitted by seopher on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 06:33.I've just had another look through the Mandriva install and Konqueror can't see Samba shares either.
So yes, look at the screenshots and read the review before commenting :)
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Submitted by seopher on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 06:41.I tried Mandriva 2008 spring because it recognises my wacom bamboo fun out oif the box, but...
After a very promising start, some of the applications crashed or just wouldn't start, and as time progressed over a period of a few days, it became slower and slower.
It doesn't get my vote.
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Submitted by James B (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 08:38.Disable the firewall (shorewall), it is surely blocking some ports used by Samba.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 09:51.It seems you've hit some kind of bug causing SMB shares not to be visible. As many other commenters have pointed out, this *does* work by default, and use of the utility in the Control Center is not necessary, accessing them through KDE or GNOME directly works too (the Control Center tool is just quite useful if you want them mounted conventionally, every time you boot). We'd be happy to try and solve the bug if you file it at http://qa.mandriva.com/ . I second the suggestion to check firewall settings and perhaps try disabling any firewall you have set up temporarily, although this *shouldn't* cause the problem. Thanks!
Adam Williamson
Mandriva
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Submitted by Adam Williamson (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 11:59."It seems you've hit some kind of bug causing SMB shares not to be visible. As many other commenters have pointed out, this *does* work by default"
No, it doesn't. If he was unable to see his Samba shares without any form of tinkering on his part whatever, then SMB support is broken in Mandriva. MANY other distro's do not have this issue at all, so why then does Mandriva?
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 17:57.You misunderstand my point. The fact is that it *does* work, without any tinkering, for most people. There is some bug related to his specific situation. Obviously we'd like to fix that, and that's why I asked for his help in reporting it. But it's not the case that for all users, accessing SMB shares does not work by default. For most users, it does.
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Submitted by Adam Williamson (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 09:42.If he can't see them, and most others can, without tinkering, with the same software, then it just might be a bug/problem with that particular setup. Arguing otherwise or that it is Mandriva in general is moronic, when others say it is working out of the box for them.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 22:13.And more proof that it's a bug in his setup. This reviewer had no problem with it.
http://linuxseekers.com/index.php/component/content/article/58-mandriva-...
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 22:31.That's just why this must be some bug to be investigated. For me and about everybody else SMB has worked without a hitch for many releases back (and still in 2008.1). If the reviewer has a problem, then this is something specific to his install. It would be worthwhile to check whether this is reproducible and could hit other users as well and if so remove the cause (fix the bug).
That is the force of Open Source, you can help making things better for yourself and others.
Ciao,
Sitor
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Submitted by Sitor (not verified) on Wed, 04/16/2008 - 08:51.Try with smb4k. I never had problem browsing windows shared folder with smb4k using CIFS or SMBFS.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 13:11.Try to use smb4k with smbfs. it works for me all the time regardless what distribution i am using.
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Submitted by Masuf Nuruddin (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 13:59.To my knowledge, no Windows version has ever been able to access the linux filesystems natively. Therefore, giving Mandriva failing grades because of some Samba bugs is quite severe.
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Submitted by Kevin (not verified) on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 23:06.I too use smb4k..i have tried most of the other distros in Virtual Box but none of them compares to Mandriva in my opinion.......i have been using Mandriva since Mandrake 8.0...Everything is done in a GUI..no command line .......everything just works......i changed drives from one PC to another with different motherboards and everything works......
Most of the time, a poor worker blames his tools.....
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 03:07.Mandriva is equipped with a excellent firewall. This firewall is turned on by default. This is most times the reason you can't see shares. So don't confuse good safety with bad design..
I personally don't use the Command Centre to mount my shares. This is only really usable with a fixed share on a not movable workstation. I use smb4k, and that is a lot more comfortable - especially when you are connecting to different networks using a laptop.
I use Mandriva 2008.1 free edition as I write this reply now, an I can assure you all my shares are perfectly visible and mountable.
I agree the First Time application has some problems (although i did no see any Russian passing by), but you only run this one time in the entire life cycle of the distro, AND you can click it away any time you like and it won't bother you anymore. I can't say that is much of a deal.
So - to sum up. Samba was not working because the distro has turned on the firewall, and that is something EVERY OS should do by default in my opinion! Hardly something to turn the distro down, instead it is something the distro should be praised for. That only leaves the First Time application as the thing that went a bit wrong. The rest is working perfectly.
To resume .. As far as I can see, you say the distro is not recommendable only because a First Time application goes wrong. Sorry - I should say that is a (huge) bit over the top don't you think?
Just my 2 cents...
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Submitted by John (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 07:17.I completely agree with you. smb4k is dynamic. Easier to use if you are accessing more than one LAN. Also i should mention that i have been using mandrake since 7.1 (Helium). Mandrike/Mandriva's Graphical control center was and still is the best for any one specially for the novice in Linux. And since 2007.0 it has offered much better graphics and stability. which is praiseworthy.
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Submitted by Masuf Nuruddin (not verified) on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 22:19.Was the time/clock of the computer in sync with the servers/computers on the network?
I think due to encrypted connections if the difference of time is significant you can't connect or see shares, recently I couldn't join a samba server to an active directory with a 2003 server because of 10 minute difference of the clocks. And when I did sync the clocks between the 2003 server and the samba server, a windows XP PC which had it's clock out of sync couldn't see the shares on the samba server until I corrected it's time also.
You did mention early that the timezone was initial wrong...
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 11:47.Was the time/clock of the computer in sync with the servers/computers on the network?
I think due to encrypted connections if the difference of time is significant you can't connect or see shares, recently I couldn't join a samba server to an active directory with a 2003 server because of 10 minute difference of the clocks. And when I did sync the clocks between the 2003 server and the samba server, a windows XP PC which had it's clock out of sync couldn't see the shares on the samba server until I corrected it's time also.
You did mention early that the timezone was initial wrong...
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 11:48.I tried 2008.1 on an EeePC.
It is simply as close to perfect as I could imagine. Everything (including samba shares) worked just as it should have. WPA2-PSK works with native drivers and a really nice GUI setup tool. If you have an Eee, this is the way to go. Your Xandros CD, with it's lame GUI, limited repositories, strange file system, and MS partnership can safely go to the trash can.
I will say that while shares worked, navigating, while functional, was about as clunky as I've seen. I said "close to perfect".
I paid my $59 for a Powerpack I'll never use just to keep Mandrivia in business.
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Submitted by Frihet (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 12:04.I have installed mandrive-one 2008.1 and it refuses to work with my nfts partitions. It gives a error every time I try to mount them. I'm very disapointed for this. But for the rest, I'm very impressed.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 13:01.Also interesting, mine works just fine, mounts read/write automatically with no errors.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 04/16/2008 - 18:07.It's easy to criticize... More so if you're eager to find something to blame as it's obvious throughout all of your review... Even more if you're not bothered to check out if your own doings (or not doings) are the proper ones, if you never checked if your security's set to high par example...
Open (sourced) mind reviews? I don't think so...
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Submitted by SunRa (not verified) on Tue, 04/15/2008 - 15:25.Post new comment