in the begining i hated the dependencies thing, now it's actually quite easy to install packages on mandrake. all you need to do is update your medium for rpmdrake with say the rpm directory on one of the mandrake mirror servers. boom now you wont get the unsatisfied so and so, on install it will get the dependencies itself. as for msn go with kmess, kopete, or gaim IMO

That was a real chore whenI was on dialup. Getting the index file took 1/2 hour. I'd never have been able to get a package installed from Cooker at that rate, as the list would've changed before the package and its dependancies were installed. I must say that I really like Mandrake of all the distros I have tried but Debian still tops for dependancy resolution and sheer clenliness when it came to getting rid of the leftovers from an install. DOn't get me wrong. I've broken them all, but Deb and Mandy are the tops so far (although FreeBSD was super on broadband). If I can get Gentoo up and running, I may have other ideas about it all.

The neat thing is that its all in front of you. If you know how to dig, you can fix everything!!!! No fear of incarceration just because you're looking at the source code.

For messenger, I use KMess.. Is anyone else around here use KMess? cauz I think i't really cool. When you close it, it goes to your system tray thing in KDE and stay there, just like MSN Messenger in Windows. You don't have to keep the window minimized all the time like in aMSN.

btw, GAIM is one of the worst client program I've ever seen.

i use kmess i get graphical errors like text smudging. and it install into its own menu not the default mandrake menu instant messaging area, menu drake doesnt save my changes if i move it
anyways..

Linux is even cooler than cool. It's ice cold.

Dealing with dependencies can be a pain but the alternative, and the one Windows uses, is much more dangerous. All it takes to screw up a Windows box is a single DLL with bad version number. Installing shared components separately is not only safer but keeps the size of application packages to a minimum. A big deal if, like me, you still use a dialup connection to the internet.

If you can't configure the DVD with harddrake, see the DVD HOWTO

Perhaps these Mandrake links will ease the transition some.

# Mandrake links
Mandrake home page
Mandrake Users website
Easy urpmi config for Mandrake
urpmi mini-HOWTO
All You Ever Wanted to Know About Urpmi But Never Dared Asking Before
Easy software management: Red Carpet
Maximum RPM
rpmfind
You didn't install the developmental packages? As root, command:
urpmi gcc
An Introduction to the Midnight Commander. You can install it by commanding:
urpmi mc
Midnight Commander home page

I never get any errors in Kmess.

mayb its just my geforce

How do you configure anything with harddrake?

Sorry I am the lowest of the newbies... just jump to linux

I have been using mandrake for some time now. I had 9.1 installed on my laptop but kept getting a lot of problems that could not be resolved. e.g my browsers would fail due to segmentation fault, my touchpad did not work only the mouse, the system crashed frequently.

9.1 works fine in my desktop pc though.

Anyway, I decided to go retro and tried installing mandrake 8.2 into my laptop - it seems that this distribution works a lot better than the later one!!

The kernel is still a 2.4*. My point is that the latest and greatest of any distribution does not mean that it is the best of the best so far....it seems to me that sometimes commerical considerations can outweigh issues of technical soundness, even for Linux.

I would like to hear of any other users with similar experience to this... I bet there are many stories out there like this... and it is a cause for concern (IMHO)

Did you try 9.2 on your laptop? I'm sorry I have never actually configured anything with harddrake lol, guess i'm one of the lucky ones, but i'm guessing after selecting a device you click the 'run config tool' button or configure module, if someone could give a little more explaination on what each button does it'll help me too