Mandrake Linux 9.1 - Another Step Forward

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Final Thoughts

By now it's obvious that I am a fan of Mandrake Linux 9.1 but that doesn't mean I don't have a few gripes with it and Linux in general.

The Rant

Part I

My biggest gripe isn't so much with Mandrake as it is with Linux developers as a whole. First,  can we PLEASE start naming things in a moderately descriptive way? Names like grip, alsa, chbg, gimp, mozilla, k3b. Huh? Great programs all, but do you have any idea what they do by their names? Second, installing apps is still far too complicated. Yes it's much easier with a RPM based distro and in particular with Mandrake 9.1 but...Lets see if we can't load EVERYTHING a program needs to operate into that RPM. I've only been at this 5 months and if I see one more "lib" file I think I may go postal. Just load it for crying out loud. Also, just once I would love to have an app install with every add-on available. If you're worried about bloat then have a "minimum" and "full" install. I'm absolutely convinced that this is the #1 reason for people leaving Linux before they even really get started.

I really wish we could do away with having to find various sites to download updates or additions. I would like to see Mandrake Update act more like Windows Update. I don't care where I download them from, just auto configure that by asking me where I am. Then download the files and skip listing the lib/perl/whatever. Just download it and install it with everything it needs.

Networking in a Windows environment still isn't easy although this go round Mandrake installs everything you need to do it by default. I would suggest some sort of "wizard" to walk someone through the set up. It would go something like: "Do you want to network this computer to Windows machines?", "What is your windows workgroup/domain name?", "Please enter the Windows  user name and password." etc...

Part II

I have become a Linux fan and would dearly love people to switch to it but I'm a little tired of hearing the lies told by some in the Linux community. When someone who knows better hears those lies it tunes them out to the rest of their argument. Some points:

1 - I've built dozens and dozens of computers with custom installations of XP and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen it crash.

2 - I've got an XP box in this room that's been running for several weeks, maybe months without a reboot (it's been so long I've lost track).

3 - I've seen no evidence that desktop Linux distros are more secure than Windows. Check the sites that cover Linux security, bugs, and updates a little more often. Sure, they don't get hit by viruses as much but I believe that's mainly due to the fact that the viruses are written for Windows. When Linux gets a 30% market share and people start writing viruses for them, then we'll talk. I think Linux developers are discovering that the more any OS can do, the larger the chance for security holes.

Windows XP is, at its core, a great OS. It's the garbage that MS has done to it that has turned me against it. Product activations, phoning home, and invasive EULA's have all taken their toll on me. For me, it all comes down to the fact that it's my computer and I'll do what I please with it. What I do with it and what I have in/on it is none of MS's, or anyone else's business. That, along with the fact that Linux is more "tweakable" and has a lower total cost of ownership is the Linux advantage.

***Please see update and rebuttals at the bottom of this page!

Rant Off

My whining aside I really love using Mandrake Linux 9.1. Why else would I load it on 3 of my computers?. Mandrake Linux is easier to use, more powerful, and more compatible than ever. While offering a great computing experience now, it also portends of an exciting future for Linux and Mandrake Linux. I now feel comfortable recommending Mandrake Linux to anyone and everyone willing to put a little effort into learning a new OS.

Mandrake Linux 9.1 earns the TweakHound Editor's Choice Award.

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Questions? Comments? email me!

Please check my Mandrake Linux Page for more links and info!

TweakHound is looking for contributors for the Mandrake Linux section. You don't have to be an expert, just be right! Interested?

***update May 27, 2003

Wow! Lots of responses. Thanks to all. First let me say that the rants are just one noobs opinion/observations. While I've received many emails agreeing with me, I understand that many people do not and that I may have gotten something wrong. For example the security issue.

I am hereby asking for rebuttals to my rant. The best examples will be posted at the end of this article. I ask that you keep the tone civil and that you submit your real name and a contact email for the rebuttal (hotmail etc. is fine). Please keep the article at a level that noobs can understand. You can send the rebuttal or questions HERE.

Replies to common questions/comments:

Urpmi isn't perfect: A few days ago I was installing several apps from many sources, mainly PLF. Upon installation I got a message that "X needs Y to install". The "Y's" included perl-Event, libquicktime0 and another lib which I had to go search for.

Naming examples:

OK, my examples weren't the greatest. Look HERE. Please don't tell me you think that isn't confusing to noobs.

Windows update comparison:

When you click do Windows update it just list the files. You don't have to pre-choose a location to download from.

Also multiple Windows updates are often rolled into one package. I don't recall ever seeing that with MDK.

Yes, I understand the reason for the above but, IMHO for MDK to become more successful having the update LOOK (I didn't say BE) like it's doing things like windows update could help.

Other Linux Distros:

I appreciate the fact that you folks running Debian, Gentoo, RH, Suse, BSD, and others love your OS's but one guy only has so much time!

The way I stumbled on to Mandrake is... I asked around and the final recommendations for a newbie to Linux were MDK, RH, and Suse. I asked all 3 companies for software to review and only Mandrake replied (no I can't download it, well I could but it would be a pain-in-the-ass, HERE is why). If you want to post a review of your distro at TweakHound, contact me.

Kudos:

I continue to be impressed with the civility, generosity, and knowledge of Linux users. Thanks!

------------------------------------Rebuttals-----------------------------------

(Interesting...only 1 submitted for publishing...I guess things are different when you have to put your name to it!)

1. From Buchan Milne (Mechanical Engineer, Network Manager) This is "Ranger", many of you know him, you can contact him at his webpage. 

You state in your article that even you, an avid Windows XP have
concerns about the privacy invasions, single-point-of-failure product
activation and excessive EULAs. How much more don't you think Linux
users (who up to this point are usually more concerned about software
freedom than price) will be willing to accept Windows XP?

As such, note that many Linux users will flat-out refuse to use
WindowsXP (I don't, and on principle will not install Win2ksp3 on my
win2k laptop, even if it allows me to change the default browser now,
due to the provisions in the new EULA).

Thus, most Linux users will compare stability with Windows9x and
WindowsNT, both of which are infamously unstable. Either accept to lose
your rights, and compare with WindowsXP, or compare with what a lot of
people still run, WindowsME/9x.

1)Uptimes greater than 100 days are par for the course for a typical
Linux box, and there are many linux boxes around that have been up since
before Windows2000 was released!

2)I have a DOS machine that's is as stable as a rock, just don't ask it
to do much ... (well, it being a 286, that't not difficult). Stability
under load, and performance under load are what matter ...

3)Security of systems is all up to how easy it is to do updates, and/or
how committed and/or knowledgeable the adminitrators are. I don't know
of any Windows admins who are happy to have updates run automatically
(unless they have an internal SUS server which they have control over),
but this is a typical setup for Linux machines. It is trivial to
accomplish via cron and the system's package management tools (on
Mandrake, a one-line script consisting of something like 'urpmi.update
- -a;urpmi --auto-select --auto' in /etc/cron.daily will do it for you).

Why, when web server compromises are common on both platforms, are we
hit more by Windows Exploits than we are by Linux exploits?

Why do the WindowsUpdate servers get taken out also (being a
single-point-of-failure in the update system for most users)?

If the Linux desktop has (let's assume for this argument) 1% of the
market, why don't we see 1% or more viruses for Linux? I have never
encountered a Linux virus in the wild, but have seen many on Windows. Of
course, some bad Windows habits (run with admin priveleges) are also to
blame for that ...