Recently, the 2010 edition of Mandriva rolled out the presses and became available to download. For those who know nothing at all about Mandriva or it’s history, I must explain why to me this is a big deal. Before using Mandriva for the first time about seven months ago, I profess: I had an extreme hatred towards Linux systems using Red Hat. Not because of Red Hat itself, which I have never tried. But because of the fact that I could not find an RPM based distro that could sit down and act like Debian in providing a wide selection of choices. Before Mandriva, I had tried Fedora 11 (which I might add might be one of releases I hated, though Fedora 13 has made up for it), as well as VortexBox which were very poor examples of what Red Hat based distros could do. But trying out Mandriva’s last release before “Farman” was extremely promising. I had accidentally downloaded the KDE version and as a KDE hater, was extremely surprised at how responsive it was compared to Kubuntu or Fedora 11 with the KDE environment. So it was my pleasure when Leofelix requested I review Mandriva, since it was already on my list to review. And I must say, to sum this review up in as few words as possible, it’s managed to do an amazing job once more.
Mandriva Linux, which first started as Mandrake Linux, has had a longer history then Mint or Ubuntu, but is not one of the founding systems of today. It has always been based off of Red Hat and boasts a year long update cycle for anyone wishing to use the desktop distros. They are unique in the world of Linux distributions, in that they offer a Plus pack for those whom would like to pay for their codecs, a ‘One’ pack which is what I reviewed, and also provides closed source software within, as well as a ‘Free’, for those wishing to use Open Source products only. For 99% of the users out there, ‘One’ is good enough for you, especially because it offers a lot more then they make it out on their official site.
I must admit, the first boot off the CD of Mandriva was slow, even though I was using the GNOME desktop environment, though this is understandable when you think about how much it can hold. Once it starts to install, it goes at about the standard speed for Ubuntu, a bit on the slow side compared to some distros, but compared to others, still pretty fast. The major thing I found cool and good to see, although it took more time, was the fact that it checked to see what packages it didn’t need and offered to remove them. If selected to remove the packages, it seems to make the computer boot faster as there is less that it has to load up on boot.
Which brings me to my next point: the first boot. Much like OpenSUSE, it followed though and checked out my hardware, before offering to submit it to the Mandriva database. I’m personally one who would say no to something like that, so I declined it. Once into the main system though, it reminded me of the GNOME standard interface… because that’s exactly what it was. I customized it to my liking very easily and without any troubles, and found out a few interesting things while doing so.
Like OpenSUSE, Mandriva’s “Farman” release offers a ‘Configure Your Computer’ option, which would become something like the Windows Control Panel. It offers full configuration in a central location, one of the few things I enjoyed seeing in OpenSUSE. It also offers an extremely easy way of configuring your hardware. You simply use the Browse and Configure Hardware tool, which detects all that you’ve got connected to your computer easily. Much like Device Manager under Windows, it has a lot of use. And what’s even more amazing is the fact that it detected all my cards correctly and when I ran the Configuration tool for my Video Card, and was to select my video card, it offered to download and install the proper drivers when I chose the type of video card I had. Saying yes only took one Logout and Login (not even a reboot!) and it was set up perfectly! Installing packages can be run though this same tool, and hasn’t caused any problems yet. And what’s really cool, at least to someone like me, is the fact it’s preinstalled tools will require very little time needed to use any customization, as most of the common apps used are preinstalled. It does have flash pre-installed as well, but you have a choice like Fedora: you can choose to pay for the “legal” codecs or you can use the gstreamer codecs, which are free of cost, both of which will enable all other media playback you might need.
The only flaws I could find, or pick out in Mandriva seem more to me like attempts to add more features and not having enough time. I say this because there was the GNOME 3 Preview that was installed, which has come out recently for all operating system, though it was flickering every time that I tried to move the mouse or launch something, though that might also be because I’m using an ATI card: many people including myself can swear by NVIDIA working fine 9/10 times with Linux, ATI’s a bit trickier. (Hence why I’m using ATI… that and my NVIDIA card is presently on loan.) The only other complaint I have is a lack of XFCE as an option, though it does offer the extremely lightweight enviroment, LXDE as an option instead. Once in LXDE, I noticed a clear speed increase as I expected, but since Mandriva is light on 1.5 gigs of ram with GNOME or KDE… I don’t think it’s really needed as an option.
Overall, I’d have to give Mandriva’s “Farman” release a solid eight and a half out of ten. I’ve always been a Mandriva fan since the first time I’ve used it, and it remains to this very day one of the best distros I’ve used. RPM based or not, if you’re starting out with Linux and would like a gentle introduction to how Linux can work smoothly, without using Mint or Ubuntu, Mandriva’s certainly my choice for you. And if you’re more experienced with Linux, Mandriva still has a lot to offer you in terms of customization, stability, and the lightness that comes with their experience in the Linux market. Well done, Mandriva, well done. Once again, you prove that Red Hat can be amazing: it just depends on how you use it.
– Mandriva’s Site –
