I've been using Mandrake/Mandiva since its inception. I used to be a Red Hat user (this was before Fedora), and Mandrake at the time was just a modified RH with a friendlier installation GUI and better hardware support. I started using it because Mandrake would install and run on my laptop and RH had all sorts of hardware compatibility issues. And I've pretty much stayed with them since. I was a member of the Mandriva "club" and now have a Powerpack subscription. I agree that the *company* has had some ups and downs. But the bottom line is that the *product* has always been good. I have to take issue with the idea that because the company might be having a bad spot, one should bolt from the distro. That makes it a self-fulfilling prophesy. There's no particular reason to believe that if Mandriva is acquired by someone else its quality will decrease. On the contrary, if it is acquired by someone who is good, it might be of benefit to everybody involved. My basic philosophy is to concentrate on the quality of the distro, not rumors about the company. It's easy to change distros, so there's no reason to be in a hurry to do so. As long as Mandriva puts out a good product, I'll stick with it. I'm also pretty technically savvy, and my attitude is that since I tend to do a clean install every 6 months anyway, if Mandriva ever puts out a product I don't like, I'll switch to another one at *that* time. But until then, I'll stick with a product that I like and that has shown consistently good quality. If I *were* to switch, I'd probably move to specialty distros -- a security distro for my firewall, a multimedia distro for my laptop, server distros for my servers. I've taken on a minimalist attitude towards these things; installing only what is absolutely necessary. I haven't been a fan of Ubuntu so much mostly because it has this religious feel to it among its fans; it seems that folk are more interested in the cachet than the substance. billo On Sun, 30 May 2010, Jeremiah Bess wrote:
Yeah, I agree with you. When I heard they were selling themselves, I started looking for viable options to switch. I've been using Mandriva since Mandrake 9. I know there have been several off-shoots from Mandriva, like PCLinuxOS, but I'm not sure what I will do if they close down. I will NOT be using Ubuntu for two reasons. 1, I really don't like it. It's made for the newcomer to Linux, and has a babied down feel. 2, It's the Windows of Linux, meaning everyone seems to be running it. I like to be a little different than the crowd. I'm technically savvy, so want something at my level, but nothing like BSD or Slackware (unless someone wants to try to convert me to one of those, my experience is limited and gives me nightmares). I still hold out that someone will buy Mandriva, and the conglomeration of distributions it absolved will live on somehow. BTW, there are several charts showing the breakdown of distros in a nice timeline fashion. One of them is here: http://en.citizendium.org/images/a/a1/Linux_distro_timeline.png Jeremiah E. Bess Network Ninja, Penguin Geek, Father of four On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 07:02, Roy <[email protected]> wrote: Agreed. The acquisition of Connectiva seemed to re-vitalise the company but that was a long time ago in terms of computing. This company has always been in trouble and just emerged from bankruptcy protection a couple of years ago. It was once the most popular distribution and it has faded badly over the years. The product is good, but they do not know how to make money and promote their product. That does not bode well for them. Unlike Canonical which is also a commercial company they are not growing and Canonical is looking at other ways to raise money such as cloud computing, commercial partnerships, server support and the Ubuntu One Music Store. Canonical readily admits that the Linux desktop market may NEVER make money and this is Mandriva's sole market. I know they sell servers but it is a niche market for them at best. Mandriva has long been jealous that Ubuntu has a wealthy sugar daddy in Mark Shuttleworth who is willing to lose money to keep it going. However, Canonical is not content with this and is looking at many ways to raise capital. I do not see that happening with Mandriva. They are sitting pat and that would be okay IF they were in a good position to begin with. Ubuntu is a community based distribution and there are enough spinoffs that it would survive even if Shuttleworth pulled the financial backing. Not all of its developers are paid. Mandriva on the other hand is not community based, has few derivatives and its developers are mostly paid. No money then no product. Nothing attracts investors like success and nothing scares them away like failure. If you had the money would you buy Mandriva? I think that many people would not because they do not have a good business plan and never have. So enjoy Mandriva while you can. I write this hoping to be proven wrong. I think that they are in serious trouble. Roy On 29 May 2010 22:07, Jeremiah Bess <[email protected]> wrote: > Mandriva is for sale, but it doesn't mean they are closing down. They have > bought out several companies in the past, and are the product of those > companies combining. > > Jeremiah E. Bess > Network Ninja, Penguin Geek, Father of four > > > On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 17:56, Roy <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> How long is that going to last? Mandriva is up for sale! If they don't >> find buyers then it could be closure. They have always been a >> distribution in search of a business plan. I hope they don't close, >> BTW. Mandrake was my first distribution and I was a member of the >> Mandrake Club (paid service) for a couple of years before I discovered >> Debian and was delivered from RPM hell (which really existed back >> then). :) >> >> Roy >> >> On 29 May 2010 10:14, Jeremiah Bess <[email protected]> wrote: >> > I got a solution to all this bickering: Run Mandriva. >> > >> > Jeremiah E. Bess >> > Network Ninja, Penguin Geek, Father of four >> > >> > >> > On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 06:43, Roy <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> I don't think that I was disrespectful. I was describing the >> >> behaviour and not an individual. I call them as I see them. It is >> >> ridiculous IMO to base one's own behaviour on the experiences of one >> >> person's past experience. You can find one squeaky wheel for just >> >> about anything. If you listen to them then you may be missing out on >> >> much as a result. However, I do apologise if you interpreted it as a >> >> personal attack. That was not my intent. >> >> >> >> Not everything Ubuntu is rosy. I also call that as I see it. Karmic >> >> was a bad release as was Jaunty, IMO. Many people were frustrated with >> >> continuing sound and wireless problems, but these releases also added >> >> the frustration of graphics card problems. I was apprehensive about >> >> Lucid so I tested it with more rigour than previous releases and found >> >> it hard to find fault. I don't care about button placement or the >> >> music store. I do care about performance and things working properly. >> >> Most sound issues and many wireless issues are behind us. I thank >> >> kernel developers for much of that. Canonical should be congratulated >> >> for implementing Plymouth and doing away with HAL with little in the >> >> way of problems. Plymouth introduced many potential problems as any >> >> Nvidia and Fedora user can attest to. The fact that HAL's removal went >> >> under the radar of most people confirms that this was successful. >> >> Plymouth gave some problems for me early on with no compositing but >> >> this was achieved with beta 2. >> >> >> >> There are several good reasons to install 10.04. Performance is much >> >> better. The new kernel gives better hardware detection and more >> >> drivers. Sound problems are far fewer. There are enhancements such as >> >> the music store, MeMenu and many newer applications plus you get three >> >> year support due to it being LTS. What is there not to like? Button >> >> placement is easily fixed BTW. >> >> >> >> I look forward to 10.10 even more in the hopes that Mono will be gone >> >> from the default installation. So far F-Spot is to be replaced with >> >> Shotwell which leaves only Tomboy and Gbrainy as the only two Mono >> >> apps left and Tomboy can be replaced by Gnote. That should save lots >> >> of CD space for other goodies! >> >> >> >> Each person needs to try out 10.04 for him or herself and make up >> >> their own mind. I don't like scare tactics used by some to spread FUD >> >> and people giving into it which is why I responded strongly. >> >> >> >> Roy >> >> >> >> On 28 May 2010 22:29, Kari Matthews <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > Yeah, pretty much. I run two businesses and homeschool two kids and >> >> > chase >> >> > a toddler around while supporting my husband's farming business. >> >> > Schedule's >> >> > pretty full & I don't sleep much. I belong to groups like this to >> >> > save >> >> > me >> >> > time because it's my most precious commodity. I'm pretty smart and >> >> > can >> >> > figure out almost anything, but time limitations make troubleshooting >> >> > an >> >> > as-needed activity. Screwing around w/ Linux for curiosity's sake? >> >> > That >> >> > was so ten years ago for me. >> >> > Note that I used the word *hassle* -- I believe Karmic can be >> >> > installed, >> >> > but >> >> > jumping needless hurdles? Nah. Not right now. >> >> > I'm sure you feel differently, and I'm sure you're more respectful of >> >> > others >> >> > than you came across to be in this post. >> >> > ~kari >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > On Fri, May 28, 2010 at 8:20 PM, Roy <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> Do you roll over for everything this easily? So one person reports >> >> >> and >> >> >> bad experience and you will not upgrade? That is ludicrous. I have >> >> >> used Lucid since Alpha 1 and replaced Karmic with Lucid on both my >> >> >> systems when Beta 2 came out. It is one of the best releases from >> >> >> Ubuntu yet. >> >> >> >> >> >> Roy >> >> >> >> >> >> On 28 May 2010 09:08, Kari Matthews <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> > I'm glad to know this. Thanks for saving me the hassle of the >> >> >> > upgrade. >> >> >> > ~kari >> >> >> > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 8:28 AM, Vyshakh <[email protected]> >> >> >> > wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> I'm back to KARMIC. >> >> >> >> LUCID disappointed me a lot. >> >> >> >> Please check the attached screen shots. Do anyone face problem >> >> >> >> like >> >> >> >> these in Nautilus???? >> >> >> >> These patterns and colors are irritating.... >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> One more thing... >> >> >> >> Even though I've installed lucid several times, I could not see >> >> >> >> the >> >> >> >> new boot screen completely. it was never shown fully. Sometimes >> >> >> >> the >> >> >> >> grub boot loader failed to install also. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux >> >> >> >> Users >> >> >> >> Group. >> >> >> >> To post a message, send email to [email protected] >> >> >> >> To unsubscribe, send email to >> >> >> >> [email protected] >> >> >> >> For more options, visit our group at >> >> >> >> http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup >> >> >> > >> >> >> > -- >> >> >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux >> >> >> > Users >> >> >> > Group. >> >> >> > To post a message, send email to [email protected] >> >> >> > To unsubscribe, send email to >> >> >> > [email protected] >> >> >> > For more options, visit our group at >> >> >> > http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux >> >> >> Users >> >> >> Group. >> >> >> To post a message, send email to [email protected] >> >> >> To unsubscribe, send email to >> >> >> [email protected] >> >> >> For more options, visit our group at >> >> >> http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup >> >> > >> >> > -- >> >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux >> >> > Users >> >> > Group. >> >> > To post a message, send email to [email protected] >> >> > To unsubscribe, send email to >> >> > [email protected] >> >> > For more options, visit our group at >> >> > http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup >> >> >> >> -- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux Users >> >> Group. >> >> To post a message, send email to [email protected] >> >> To unsubscribe, send email to >> >> [email protected] >> >> For more options, visit our group at >> >> http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup >> > >> > -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux Users >> > Group. >> > To post a message, send email to [email protected] >> > To unsubscribe, send email to >> > [email protected] >> > For more options, visit our group at >> > http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux Users >> Group. >> To post a message, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] >> For more options, visit our group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux Users > Group. > To post a message, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit our group at > http://groups.google.com/group/linuxusersgroup -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Linux Users Group. 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