Reviews of Mandriva Linux

1. 
   radelahunt

   Reviewing 2011 (Aug 30, 2011)

   I am a long term Mandriva user, using everything from Mandrake 9 through Mandriva's 2010.1. I tried installing the new 2011 as soon as the .iso files hit the mirrors. I was not pleased at all.
   
   The interface was very nice, I will admit. It almost looked like a Meego / Android type of KDE interface, and it was tight and worked. I think it would do better on touchscreen type computers, but the interface was beautiful and worked, so I can't say anything bad here.
   
   However, during install, I had major issues that made me very unhappy with the new version.
   
   First, I tried switching to a virtual terminal (ctrl+alt+F1 through F5 etc). On my Asus EEE PC 900A with an intel GPU, this worked good. On my laptop with an ATI GPU, this caused the whole thing to halt with no virtual terminal displayed. This is a major failure that is unacceptable, as even Slackware Linux can VT-switch without breaking. Trying to get back to the installer (F6, F7, F8, etc) did not work, so I would say this point is a failure.
   
   Second, when creating the encrypted volume for my /home and swap, it was successfully created, but cryptsetup failed to mount it or allow me to click "Use" and gain access. This point is a major failure, one that should not have been allowed to get to release. However, I can handle creating these manually so I rebooted the install process, created only a root partition, and tried to install once again.
   
   Third, once installed, I could not get on wifi with the x86_64 bit on my Acer laptop (with an Atheros card, ath9k module). I tried manually going to the internet to download the x86_64 rpm for rfkill. This fixed the problem for the most part (had to manually use rpm to install it and its dependencies). After this, I could manually unblock my wifi, and using shell tools, get on the internet. However, the GUI tools for this were all broken. This is a major failure, as even Slackware Linux can handle this using wicd, and (fwiw) with much less difficulty.
   
   Fourth, I tried to install Xfce (my desktop environment of choice). Install seemed to work properly, and I installed GDM. However, KDM, the default, did not let me choose which DE/WM I wanted to log into, another major failure, as KDM on Mandriva 2010.1/2 and even Slackware Linux gave me login choices.
   
   Finally, upon update, the system would no longer boot, saying the kernel file was missing. This basically means that the kernel was updated by Mandrake's GUI tool but either it did not update GRUB properly or it had a major filesystem error. My 10GB root partition is not encrypted, so this is a major failure on the part of Mandriva's update/GRUB GUI tools.
   
   Overall, I was very unhappy. I am a long time Slackware Linux user and know my way around the shell very well (to the point where I can manually partition and encrypt my systems on my own when needed). Not even OpenSUSE 11.4 or Fedora 15 have these issues. Even if I had installed Slackware Linux 13.37 I would've already had a working system upon first boot, to include wicd and wireless, and an encrypted partition layout (/home and swap on LUKS+LVM), and would've already been using Skype to talk to people, using less time than I spent trying to get Mandriva 2011 to work.
   
   I'd have to say that this is entirely unacceptable. I would rate this as an utter failure. I would recommend to those who want to use Mandriva to install 2010.2. For those using 2010.1/2, you might as well stay on this version, as 2011 is broken.
2. 
   revparadigm

   Reviewing 2010.2 (Dec 29, 2010)

   Graphical server is wacked. Refuses to install correctly with my GTX 460. 2010.1 worked perfectly, so it is not my hardware issue. My Asus Xonar DX soundcard works for a split second and crashes immediately after bootup. Absolutely ridiculous. I'll pass on this build...blah.
3. 
   DudeBoyz

   Reviewing 2010.2 (Dec 28, 2010)

   Continues to be a good distribution. It handles initial video setup much better than most - including OpenSUSE - and getting the resolution I wanted was pretty easy to do. Works fine with Virtual Box 3.x and 4.x and the installation is smooth and easy.
   
   It does not have the very latest versions of some key apps like Gimp and Open Office, for example, and that is somewhat annoying, but for the most part it is right at the top of the heap and should be considered by just about anyone interested in a good linux platform.
4. 
   thartist

   Reviewing 2010.2 (Dec 27, 2010)

   It looks like in the screenshot? OMG 6 stars!!
5. 
   Darkk

   Reviewing 2010.2 (Dec 27, 2010)

   2010.2 is the nest Mandriva release yet. Fast and slick. The PowerPack has all of the multimedia stuff working out of the box, and the installer is the best of any Linux distro I have seen. Mandriva's Drake GUI tools for system management are top notch. The DVD version had lots of drivers, and I had no issues installing on hardware that was problematical for other distros, wireless cards included.

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