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Old 02-28-2007, 02:08 AM   #1
nickboarder27
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Opinions! -> Is buying the Mandriva 2007 powerpack from Mandriva worth the $$


I am wondering if there are enough benefits to buying the factory distro to justify the almost $90 price tag.

Does anyone actually buy the OS outright from the manufacturer?

Has anyone seen the manual, is it any good? Are the stickers cool?

Just looking for the general consensus.
 
Old 02-28-2007, 03:11 AM   #2
b0uncer
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I'm sure there are people around to whom a $100 or so doesn't matter, and to them -- if they want to use Mandriva -- it's probably not a bad idea to buy the thing. But if you're short on money or just like to know what you get with your money (i.e. don't throw it over rail), I'm not sure if you get that much out of it. If I was to pay for a Linux, I'd pay for a server package that has a consumer service for the server needs in the price. For a desktop, I would not pay (not that much, that is): the manual contains information that is probably just as easily found on the web, most of the programs on board are on the web etc..

The benefits probably are, if you're having trouble you could ask somebody who's paid for answering and get an answer without needing to wait if somebody here at LQ cared to answer I guess that's the main point (if it's bundled in the price). The manual probably can't be That Good, unless it's bible-like overall answering miracle; however, for a new person to Linux it could be a very good idea to have a physical box of paper and ink to read when things go wrong. Windows costs you money (more than $90 even) and what do you get with the price? An operating system that you could have for free (multiple alternatives), a small light manual (more information is freely available on the web) and a glittering licence to show the FBI when they come to you suspecting you've pirated MS property and that's pretty much it. You can't even go under the hood and change the system to your needs, because the licence says you can't. With Mandriva things are a bit better (lower price, you can actually change the system at least to some extent without anybody going mad, you get more applications than just the OS and basic tools, ...)

Conclusion: if you are unsure about your skills, may "need backup", have $90 money you don't explicitly need and are in a good mood..go ahead and buy it. I don't think it's a bad deal then. But if you think you know the manual stuff without the manual, you don't want to pay another $90 in a year or two when it becomes old and are overall unsure if it's a right thing to do, then don't buy it. And the most important: because there exists a free version of Mandriva too, try it before buying the product to see if you even like it.
 
Old 02-28-2007, 08:03 PM   #3
DarkFoss
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I agree with b0uncer.. I'm a club member because I feel like supporting Mandriva more than any real benefits..There's not much in the way of software that you cannot add for free though the repositories. You get a 90 day membership for Cedega & Flatout, a crossover office trial, online tutorials early downloads for Powerpack and a few other perks. Definitely try before you buy.
 
Old 02-28-2007, 08:45 PM   #4
ernie
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I use the Free version here because I can not afford to buy the powerpak. Even though I live in the good ole USA, I have a limited income (thank you George), and am struggling to keep my home. If I had the price of the powerpak, I would buy it, if for no other reason than that I appreciate the work Mandriva puts in to the distribution.

I just looked at the Mandriva WEB site. You can get:

Mandriva Linux Discovery 2007 (Box version) - $45.00

Mandriva Linux Powerpack 2007 (Box version) - $85.00

Mandriva Linux Powerpack+ 2007 (Box version) - $205.00

Mandriva Linux Powerpack Slim Pack DVD - $69.00

As with any Open Source distribution, what you pay for when you buy the product is the support. You can check out what you get for the price here. In the end, I think you will still be setting up the Internet Software Media Sources the same as those of us who use the Free version in order to get the full range of software packages offered with Mandriva. The thing you really do when you buy a copy of Mandriva is your part to insure it will still be here when you want to upgrade. If you can afford to buy a pack, you should, but that decision has to be yours to make. There is nothing dishonest, dishonorable, or illegal about using the Free version, but those of us who can, should be paying customers
 
Old 02-28-2007, 11:01 PM   #5
Junior Hacker
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I'm not sure about Mandriva, but usually the versions that come with a price tag are usually very stable and virtually trouble free after set up and usually have better hardware support. This is worth the money for a business who is better off putting all focus on the business at hand and not having to take time to deal with little OS problems. Time is money, an OS is cheap compared to time. Business people who work with/on computers all day would rather not have to stay after work to take care of updates and the likes, they would rather just do the 9 to 5 and go home and take care of life, not the massive amount (in most cases) of computers at work. That is usually the big benefits of a price tag over free.

There was a person the other day asking what is the best way to upgrade a bunch of computers at work from FC4 & FC5 to FC6 or something similar, this person was hired to do that job and felt he/she had a large task at hand, I think he/she does. The business owner could have invested in Red Hat Enterprise and got 7 year life cycle of possibly hassle free systems. Or use a free "buggy" version and put the money into local employment instead. There is two sides to the coin. To try and find a reason for paying in a single home desktop situation cannot be compared to a large scale operation, where the benefits can far out-way budget cuts by paying for a boxed version.
 
Old 03-01-2007, 12:14 AM   #6
ernie
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Nicely stated, Junior Hacker! I fully agree. The question posed sounded like a private user rather than a business to me, so i responded to the private user. I wish I had included something similar to your response or at least recognized the possibility of the questioner being a business representative.
 
  


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