I don't normally throw in my 2�, but I thought I would this time. Mandrake 8.2 is set to be the best release of Mandrake that I have used. I have also tried other distributions, but for one reason I am always coming back to Mandrake. That reason is that Mandrake isn't afraid to lose a little bit of stability to give users what they want: cutting edge technology. I don't use Mandrake for the menus, or the control center (those are just nice options). I use Mandrake because I know that I can get the newest and coolest software.
Currently I am running Cooker and KDE3-B2. Yes I have seen problems, but not as many as some people seem to be seeing. I have also seen KDE start up at for me an amazing 5 seconds, previously it was about 30 seconds waiting for it all to come up. I have seen web pages with Konqueror that I couldn't see in the previous version. I have seen more stability and less crashes with this "buggy" and "unstable" beta release of KDE than I did with KDE 2.2.2. It is faster and, for me, more stable. Mandrake releases are based on stable software some people will say. Software is never really stable, there will always be some bugs or critical errors. That doesn't stop people from installing Linux, where almost all software is still in alpha or beta releases (of course those being generally stabler than Windows). I for one would like the option to choose my own poison. For me this is clear and simple: I will download what I need because I have DSL on a flat-rate. This however is not true for everyone. Some people out there have slower connections (56K) or a limited bandwidth. Downloading the full KDE3 and development packages for them would be basically unheard of. You will be driving away people who, like me, look at the box on the shelf and say, "KDE 2.2.2 - outdated. Mozilla 0.9.9 - outdated," and will then pick up the next distribution until they find one that has the software that they are looking for. So to come to some sort of a point here... I agree with everyone that says that KDE3 should be included. How though is up to you guys. Maybe a CD strictly pre-release software available via download or purchase or included with the Profi pack? Or even better (and maybe this is there already): You can subscribe to an option called Mandrake Update, every so often between releases a CD is shipped to the customers that have signed up. This CD will include Updates and possiibly new software that is not currently at full version. Or there could be two such subscriptions: Mandrake Update and Project Betablast... or something stupid like that. This is for those people that can't afford to download all the time, or have too slow of a connection for that. This is for people who want to keep up when their friends ask, "Hey, have you seen the latest version of <insert software name here>? It is so cool..." This would be something for people who are willing to support Mandrake to continue to receive software between releases. Anyway... I have wasted enough lines, but maybe some of my ramblings made sense. Of course a mind direct out of sleep always wanders. Thanks for the good Distro... Justin T
