As I've been in MCSE land working on SBS2k3 boxen for the last year or two, I've lost some time in the linux world. Mandrake turned into Mandriva, and the update method looks like it morphed.

Knowing that Mandrake 9.0 is officially unsupported, is there anyone out there still doing package update and mirroring for it or 10.1? Or do I need to get Mandriva in order to get any kind of updates (i like to be able to push a couple of buttons and be up to date - I'm not so swift with source compiling).

And about Mandriva real quick - is it on the leading/bleeding edge of its distros, in the way Fedora was to RHL? I'd like something strong and stable, and I don't mind being a couple of versions behind. Is Mandriva in this category?

Thx -

Hi,

I don't know what you are doing with your linux but version 9 and 10 work very well, so if you are still learning and experimenting with it, I wouldn't say that you will have to upgrade.

Upgrading to 10.1 worked for me from 9.1 but after that the newer versions didn't upgrade properly requiring a new install.

2007 is out now.

Peter

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. Where are you getting software updates from?

Thanks -

All versions of Mandriva / Mandrake earlier than Mandriva 2006 have passed their end of life for update support as listed at the Mandriva Product Lifetime WEB page.

If you want Software Updates or security patches, you will have to manage that your self, or get the current version of Mandriva (2006 expires April 13, 2007).

Mandriva includes current software versions, but I do not think I would characterize it as a cutting edge distribution. For example, when Mandriva 2007.0 was released, it included KDE 3.5.4 which was the current stable KDE version.

I have used Mandrake / Mandriva since version 6.1 (circa 1998), and it has always worked well for me.

If you have a Mandrake 9.x installation, I suggest you back up any original data you do not want to lose, then clear your Linux partitions and do a clean install of Mandriva Linux 2007.0. While there is nothing wrong with Mandrake 9, it is no longer supported for security patches, and the many improvements made since it was released make the change well worth while.

If you choose to do the clean install, after it is done, see this article on my LQ blog for help setting up Internet Software Media Sources. Setting up such sources will enable you to have access to the full range of software packaged for use with Mandriva Linux.

HTH,

That's about it. Depending on your knowledge of linux and what you intend to do, you will be looking at installing updated software individually, e.g. php5, and then hoping that it works.

If what you are using now works for you, then you can keep on using it until you are ready to move.

If you want to upgrade to 10.1, then try this link.

ftp://anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk/Mandriva/official

Peter