I wasn't too happy to see that this Linux Distribution Chooser (found via del.icio.us) asserts that Mandriva Linux doesn't support "one-click software installation". I wonder what they mean by that.
Oh, and they also claim that our distribution isn't free. So why can you download ISOs ? And all rpms of free software we produce is available on mirrors, even when not found in the distribution ISOs. In short, a web site with pretty graphics and all, but they failed to get their facts right.Pretty soon you'll start receiving comments in the wrong journal entry, as TorgoX has.
I played with that tool too, and was somewhat perplexed by the one-click install question. I know anything based on apt/deb is pretty much just click, and it does the rest. I believe rpm distro can also do this too, but I don't claim to know about that.
It's my long standing belief that the best Linux distro is the one you like.
I'm very glad to see both Mandriva/Mandrake and Slackware recover from their lean times. I hope Mandriva's business model is still viable now that they aren't the only easy install graphical desktop distro. The Linux Distro Chooser (LDC) is a Beta tool, so it's not surprising it has some rough edges. It's a good idea though. So it's good to help make it better. My comments:
You ask rhetorically,
they also claim that our distribution isn't free. So why can you download ISOs?
This may be the inherent equivocation of English in action again. The question is about Freedom, not Free-as-in-beer. The LDC explanation is perfectly applicable to Mandrake/Mandiva --
What's the advantage of paying?
The commercial distributions very often come ready with commercial software, like Flash ™, Java ™, NVidia ™ display drivers, and so on. Free distributions require that you install these yourself.
Mandriva is not pure Free OSS software like Debian, it includes non-free bundles in the main distro, very convenient if this is acceptable to you.
Mandriva also doesn't rate as high on Free-as-in-beer (or even Freedom) as almost of the other Linuxes because of the pay-for-better-support model chosen. How is it less Free? As I understand it from reading DistroWatch and elsewhere, the ISO's are free, but the Membership Club is required for the automagic patching / package mgt to just work out of the box. (The experienced Uber Geek can of course get free patches by taping the source tree or ?) The latest code is embargoed from the free zone, much as RH does, but not for nearly as long. See DistroWatch Freedom stats and the Pros/Cons on the Top 10 Distros. Anyone not in "Free" but in "Free with some restrictions" category will take a down-check. LDC's comment Only a demo version is free may not be precisely accurate, but without paying, you get no Membership Support, so in a sense, yes, you don't get the full benefit of Mandrake without paying. But the question on LDC is about Freedom.
Personally, I think the model of charging the paid-support customers ("club members") smoke test the new releaseses before the free-loaders download it is quite amusing. More power to 'em all if this works for them.
asserts that Mandriva Linux doesn't support "one-click software installation". I wonder what they mean by that.
re Install, I'm not sure why they LDC didn't consider Mandriva's easy-install to be one-click. Maybe they really are counting clicks, and it's two? If you think Mandriva's install is better than they give it credit for, drop 'em a note -- it says BETA, so they're looking for feedback.
- Bill
Re:Mandriva, Freedom, and LDC
rafael on 2005-05-18T07:46:34
The free-as-in-beer Mandriva distribution you can download contains only OSS. Things like Acrobat Reader, Flash et alii must be bought. So, yes, to packs are not OSS-only. But software updates for OSS are (like all OSS packaged for Mandriva) also available free of charge. They're mostly security updates and bug fixes.Re:Mandriva, Freedom, and LDC
n1vux on 2005-05-18T17:00:38
Ahh. LDC is describing the main or commercial version of Mandriva/Mandrake, full "Membership" version, since it lists the commercially licensed extras installed automagically as an advantage (Why would you want non-free? to get these goodies easily, it basically says.)So the downloadable ISO edition (called the free Demo in LDC or DistroWatch) is free in both senses, but also free (3rd sense) of the ease of use of the thou-shalt-no-redistribute items.
Perhaps their rules-base needs two entries, one for Mandriva-Free (FOSS only, $0) and one for Mandriva-Membership ? (Non-Free goodies included, costs $)
