I have to admit, the only thing keeping me from burning all the Linux CDs I have is the promise of a fast, powerful and controllable operating system. What the f*** ! if I am allowed to say it... I am this close to surrendering to Microsoft for good...

Knoppix, the distro with the supposedly best hardware detecting tools failed to detect my sound and video card.

Unbuntu, a socalled "Linux for human beings" should be dubbed "Linux for deaf human beings" as it has no mp3 or video support and also no working compiler.

Fedora, a great, powerful, stable, easy to install thing, failed to install (through no apparent fault of my own).


The point is:
I need a distro that works, detects my system and has the basic utilities your average user today would need (working compiler, hardware detection, mp3 and mpeg support). So I thought I would give Mandriva a try.


My question is: Where do I get Mandriva iso images?

I'm sorry if this seems like a silly question, but the mirrors I've checked so far did not contain those 600-700 mb images, rather some 7 mb boot things.

I don't want to pay for it and I don't want to build it from source. I also have a decent enough connection.

dude, take it easy... this linux-bashing you have going on here isn't gonna help you in any way... no matter what distro you choose, it's normal for a newbie to have newbie issues (like not being able to get the sound working, etc.)... you say you need "a distro that works", well from my experience that means any of the major distros (including the ones you've already tried) - but it's a relative thing depending on the amount of experience the person doing the installation has... instead of jumping from distro to distro trying to find one that magically solves all your issues you should sit down with ONE and figure things out - patiently - or you can always go back to windows, there's no reason to get all worked-up over this...

Just skip the bashing part (I'm venting some frustration, nothing serious), and tell me where I can get some Mandriva images.

http://www1.mandrivalinux.com/en/ftp.php3


here's a direct link to one of the ISO mirrors you'll find there:

ftp://carroll.cac.psu.edu/pub/linux/...iso/10.1/i586/

just slightly rude.
.
check out suse. Suse 9.3 is excellent, and there is probably a live-cd out there, and instructions in many other threads about how to do a web install (if you don't want to pay for dvds/cds).

for the record, Fedora/Redhat DOES NOT give you mp3 support either............they don't believe in people having a choice of what music format to use.......
on the other hand......A full install of Slackware gives you mp3 support, right out of the box, no 3rd party programs are needed..........

What's that FUD?
Act against software patents, instead of writing such things.

Aphex_Twin2: win32sux gave some good links. Just remember that the latest version (2005 Limited Edition) is not yet available on the public mirrors. Go with 10.1 Official Edition, or wait a few days for 2005LE.

One important question: does Mandriva(ake) 10 support mp3 and mpeg?


@Padma
Never thought to find you here

ummm, yeah... all distros do... it's just that some distros choose to not include mp3 support out-of-the-box because of issues with the mp3 license...

I mean out-of-the-box. I will not be able to connect to the internet (not for the next few weeks) on the linux machine. I need practically everything out of the box.

Mandriva supports mp3 out of the box. At least, it did in my last 10.1 install.

And Aphex-Twin: Where else would I be? Just read my posts in the Computer Tech forum at CFC.

Edit: I am not positive about the out-of-box staement when I think about it. I install a lot of stuff over the net immediately after the box-install. I am *pretty sure* it is out-of box, though.

It is not.

I can understand the frustration expressed by this poster. It is NOT funny at the beginning.
People at ease with Linux should "try" to remember how complicated it was when they started. Unless they had a degree in Software Enginneering or whatever in the first place, something not everybody here possess.

for me it was complicated, but i don't think it was frustrating... maybe cuz i never really expected linux to be anything like windows in the first place, which is something A LOT of newcomers do... i always understood from the start that linux was something completely different and like anything new in life it was gonna take some time and effort to learn how to work with it...

in retrospect, maybe i was indeed frustrated at times, but the difference for me was that i was completely aware that my frustration was NORMAL and had nothing to do with the quality of redhat linux or whatever i started with... i took all the issues i ran into as challenges and i asked questions and stayed up late at night figuring things out - what i didn't do was go into linux forums and talk out of my ass... i'm not saying that's what's happening on this thread, but anyone here with more than 300 posts under their belt knows how annoying some of these "frustrated newcomers" can be sometimes... the reality is that some people will NEVER be able to think outside the microsoft box - no matter what...

i am NOT on a mission to convert people to linux... it's NOT my problem... i couldn't care less wether "joe" prefers to stick with windows xp on his desktop... that's his god given right... i won't loose any sleep at night over it, believe me... i am simply here to answer any linux questions i can - period... i'm not a linux expert, in fact i am still a newbie myself, but i try my best to help people out using the few skills i have aquired along the path of my personal linux journey...

i enjoy helping out anyone i can with their issues, but my time is better spent helping out PEOPLE THAT WANT TO LEARN - not the short-fused newcomers that switch distros and/or consider going back to windows everytime they hit a snag with alsa or x.org or whatever...

Unlike win32sux, I clearly remember frustration in the beginning. I didn’t know enough to even ask an UNINTELLIGENT question.

But I kept the venting to myself. Well, actually, the guy in the next office probably knew something was wrong. I just don’t use that many hyphenated words in normal conversation.