[KLUG Members] Mandrake 8.0 update

[Bill]

Yipper Skipper!
	Found / fixed the problem with installing MDK 8.0 over the wire ... the 
files at mirror.wisc.edu are not up to snuff (a couple of libraries and VIM, 
for certain, are toast). I changed the download site to ftp.wtfo.wayne.edu 
and the installation went off like clockwork. I pulled an all-nighter ... 
hitting the sack at about 7 this morning and still rolled out in time to get 
to the Kingdom Hall at 10. Unfortunately, the meeting started at 9:30.

Hmmm ... well, win some, lose some.

Mandrake 8.0 is s-m-o-o-t-h ! When the installed base of WIndows XP has 
gotten large enough for the raw sockets vulnerability to rear its ugly little 
head (http://www.grc.com) I think Linux is going to get a good shot at the 
desktop and I think Mandrake will be leading the charge.

Installation notes / initial observations:
# It appears that all my hardware was detected at install. The days of 
slogging through kppp and isapnpconf yadda yadda seem, finally, to be gone. 
The software to do that is still present; but its use is no longer mandatory 
with a "plain Jane" install. That's good news for newbies.
# Mandrake Update has been moved to Configuration / Packaging
# Menudrake is *almost* intuitive. It's pretty easy to use.
# Support for my Logitech optical wheel mouse, lacking in 7.2, is present. 
# All I had to do to get sound working was click my way through Harddrake to 
choose which of two sound cards (one inserted and one embedded) I wanted to 
use. Fiona Apple never sounded better!
# Getting printing working -- 4 resolutions from 180x180 to 1440x720 -- was 
about 10 minutes work. That includes test prints at all but the highest 
resolution. 
# I no longer have a dial-up modem installed so I can't address the matter of 
using Kppp / minicom etc. But the only "adjustments" I had to make to send 
this email was to key in the name of my mailserver, my user name and password.
# As a consequence of doing the install over the wire, networking was left in 
an installed state. 
# I have a high res monitor / 16meg Rage 128 video card, so I had to tweak my 
video a bit. I need a beefier video card ... the monitor will do 1600x1200 
@70hz ... but the video card isn't up to the task. Still, in about 5 minutes 
I had 1024x768 24 bit color filling my screen.
# Eazel is a gorgeous piece of work. It would be a real shame if the 
open-source community did not pick up the ball and at least keep it 
maintained.
# Most of the eye-candy seems to have been buffed a little. The gradual 
maturity of the software packages is evident. Abbrowser still looks somewhat 
dowdy ... I am still looking for a Linux knock-off of Daytimer '98 ... but, 
on the whole, things are moving along very nicely.
# VMware is broked. I will have to recompile the kernel before VMware will 
compile its modules properly. I still need a copy of WIndows to access my 
Bible / commentaries software.

IMHO _this_ is the distro for users looking to leave Windows(TM).

At this point in time, I have only one reservation. There is some problem 
with the fonts in the browsers. Some pages in each of the browsers I have 
(Opera, Netscape Comm., Mozilla, Konqueror) render with a jumpy, broken 
looking sort of font ... very difficult to read. If anyone knows the cure for 
this, I'd certainly appreciated hearing from them on or off-list.

Bill