I suppose most people are aware of the problems at Mandriva. Most of the developers have been laid off and the future looks pretty grim.

So, of course, the project has a new fork.

http://mageia.org/en/

A number of the developers from Mandriva have signed on to this, so perhaps there is a future for it.

we know

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...645/page2.html

floppy

And I was just about to procure a copy of Mandriva.....if I did, what support would I be able to count on? None, more than likely. Being a newbie that's discouraging but I'll keep looking at other distributions.

It is always discouraging to try a distro when you know that the distro is experiencing problems like that, but at the same time it should not affect the level of support you get online. 90% of the high quality support you get (eg. here on LQ) is not from a distro's developers, but from experienced users.

well no official support perhaps but there are these forums apart from LQ
http://mandrivausers.org/index
http://forum.mandriva.com/index.php
http://www.howtoforge.com/forums/
sooner or later someone will answer your questions
and there are plenty more forums

besides if you have a fast internet connection, get the free version and then add any drivers, flash etc you need

floppy

I agree with floppywhopper. Besides, installing and using a Linux distribution does not involve the level of resource commitment that Windows does. If you give a distribution a try and find that it is not for you, you simply try another one. I personally recommend that you install a Virtual Machine (I use Virtual Box here) then install a distribution that interests you in the VM so you can give it a try without risking your production system. When you find a distribution that you like (and feel that you are ready to make the move), install it on your system. One thing I like about Linux is that the user gets to decide how things get done.

I like Mandriva, and I hope they find their financial footing so I can keep using the distribution, but if that is not what happens, I will give Mageia a try (mostly because it is going to be developed by the core people who developed Mandriva up to now). Unless the new distribution seriously mangles thing up, I will probably stick with Mageia as loyally as I have with Mandriva. I started using Mandrake Linux (now named Mandriva) with version 6.1 (circa 1998). I have tested other distributions over the years, but none have measured up against Mandriva for me.

Now, don't get me wrong. Mandriva is the best distribution for me, and as long as it keeps being the distribution I have known and used loyally, I will prefer to keep using it, but that does not mean that it is the best distribution for everyone. We are all different, and we all have our own individual ideas as to what constitutes a good computer experience, so while Mandriva may be the best distribution for me, it may not be the best one for you (that is why I suggest the use of a VM to install and test drive different Linux distributions before making any sort of commitment to any single one.)

HTH,

You will have as much support as any *free* edition of any Linux based OS. Which is to say, what you get by Reading The Fine Manuals and what LQ and others will provide. There is no support from any Linux distro, or any OS that I know about, for free. If you want support from a company, you pay for it. It can be done directly with a support contract at various levels or indirectly by purchasing the software which includes limited support for limited time. The "free" editions have one support element: download. If the download is broken you can prbly get somebody to fix it.
The only other support is not direct support. Bugzilla is available to report broken software and other general distribution problems. If the report is done properly, is valid and is important, it will get fixed ( but don't count on seeing it until the next release ).

Mandriva is not dead. The fork is as a result of years of frustration by developers and testers. I do not blame any of them even a little bit for doing it. It probably should have been done at the first bankruptcy at the time Gale O. Duvall(GOD) got canned. GOD started Mandrake with some help from friends, none of whom are a part of Mandriva. I think Frederic Crozat was the last one of the original MandrakeSoft employees to leave(in July). Fred is now working for Novell on SUSE MeeGo(for netbook computers). Note that Fred was not a founding member of Mandrake but might as well have been ...
The loss of Frederic, the Gnome DE expert, is one of the worst parts of the downside to the restructuring. There are some other developers who will be sorely missed too.
The upside, as some others have pointed out, is that most of the people who were not, let's say, "user friendly", have left for Mageia. They can have them ... .
Some who are participating with Mageia are still active with Mandriva though it is apparent to me not as much as before. Cooker is the quietest I have ever seen it. There is progress being made towards 2011 'Spring' release tho', honestly, absolutely nobody knows yet what the 2011 release will be.

Mandriva is changing. Among other things, it will be a 'major' Russian distribution and will continue to grow in Brazil. The office, headquarters, in France has been reduced, some would say skewered, and is not going to recover to previous staffing levels. ... There's a little here about the Russian investment in Mandriva: http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2010/09...in-mandri.html

My only 'inside' info I have is that the ''big changes'' will be made public within the next few weeks. ...
I won't speculate but will say there are some background events that are occurring which will most likely control the outcome of Mandriva changes. E.g., Russia is due to decide whether to use windoz or Linux in its school systems and NGI is a player in that game. NGI, apparently, wants to use Mandriva for a Russian operating system.

I only hope the new money and staff will get Mandriva going forward again. It has been and continues to be, so far, one of the best (i386) OS on planet Earth(with nod & thanks to Linus, Alan, Greg, ... et al).

But whatever happens it is not going to stop distribution or (paid) support. ...so do not worry about whether to get it or not. It is not a wife|husband commitment ... if they do not measure up just get another.