From: Antti Kurenniemi 

Having just a while ago installed Mandrake 9.0 as a complete nuubie,
perhaps I should comment a few things. Note that these are from a
Linux-rookie, who happens to pretty much like Windows 2000 the way it is
now.

1. The installation was good. Only thing, it was a bit over-decorated, so
the real information seemed to be a bit difficult to find from under all
that cute stuff (a few lines of text at the bottom of the screen, while a
huge part of the screen displayed flashy pictures).

2. After the installation, this thing is a mess. There are three zillion of
everything, and nothing has been named so that it would mean anything. No
documents are easily available, but everything must be dragged out from
under rocks. It's very cool that I have three fax programs and seven text
editors, but what are their differences and *why* do I need so many of
those? Confusing, and definately geared for Linux-enthusiastics.

3. Try changing your network card, and the fun ends. I can't believe this
thing doesn't have anything like plug'n'play, not even a plug'n'pray. It
took a person who is used to fiddling with Linux a good hour to wake it up,
and after the next startup it was gone again (the new network card, that
is).

What Linux (or more specifically, Mandrake 9) needs, IMO, is to be cleaned
of all the extra stuff (six of the seven text editors must go), and the
geeky naming has to be changed (KPager? KRuler? I see that KDVI is a DVI
viewer, but what the hell is DVI and why would I want to view it?) to
something that makes sense to the user.

I think the initial installation time is a moot point, if the rest is a
mess. Also, this thing is a lot slower in normal use than W2k, at least on
this computer.


Antti Kurenniemi
(not completely a happy camper)

Joe Barr wrote:
>
>  The pluses for Mandrake installation are its speed and the absolute ease
>  of obtaining and applying updates. It completely obliterates the Windows
>  contenders in both the update category and the installation of attached
>  devices.
>
> http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2002/1125.barr2.html
> --

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