Are older versions of Mandriva available?
 

I need something that works with National Instruments data acquisition probes. Much of NI's hardware only works with older versions of Mandriva (like 2006-2008). To see what I mean, go to http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/web...4?OpenDocument

That's the trouble with proprietary software. Always out of date.
The oldest Mandriva still supported is 2009.0
Here's a random mirror
2009.0 will reach end of support life in about April or May 2010.

A quick web search for "download mandriva 2008" led me to this:

http://api.mandriva.com/mirrors/list.php

It lists mirrors back to 2007 spring
Good Luck.

.. I made a new install, Mandriva 2008.0 powerpack
a week ago : No problem getting updates, but then
again, they may be old updates.

Conclusion : At least the repo's work.

You can get all versions (seven years old, may be older).
The latest six years are here at LQ Download ..
http://iso.linuxquestions.org/mandriva/
.....

Mandriva releases every 6 months. Every release of Mandriva receives security & bugfix updates for 18 months, after that you're on your own unless you upgrade to the new release. The repos usually stay there forever. But remember that any security issues found after that 18 months support period is no longer being patched.