Hmmm, not put up any new posts for a while.

The other weekend, I decided to finally do something with the spare partition on my Linux drive.

Since getting the new drive, the intention had always been to have a main Ubuntu setup, and a couple of other distros to play with. Since I’d been impressed with SuSE, it was the 2nd distro, but until recently the third spot had been free.

After some deliberation, I decided to install PCLinuxOS. According to Linux Format, its flavour of the month, and is fast rivalling Ubuntu’s popularity as an easy-to-use distro.

Sadly, it proved to be too much grief for me. There was something about my hardware it really didn’t like.

On booting up after the install:

Strike 1 - no sound. Well, in fairness Ubuntu has issues in that area as well (although seems fixed in the Hardy Alpha4 liveCD I tried - and in Ubuntu at least, its quickly sorted).

Strike 2 - no NVidia drivers. Well, some distros are funny about carrying them, so maybe I’ve just been spoiled by Ubuntu automatically detecting the card and asking me if I wanted to install them.

Strike 3 - No ethernet. This broke the camel’s back for me. Every other distro and live CD I’ve tried has had no problems detecting my Ethernet. Just two of these problems and I might’ve stuck with it, but no ethernet was really a killer. I didn’t see why I should spend time trying to fix something so vital when I had other distros sitting there.

So, I went back to the Linux Format distro heaven DVD and looked to see what else there was. Then Mandriva caught my eye.

When I was last into Linux. Mandrake was the distro of choice for many users, and that included myself. Having fond memories of it, I thought I’d give this latest incarnation a spin.

What a difference.

Everything just worked from the outset. On rebooting after the install, I was greeted with the NVidia logo with no prompting (although I appreciate that not automatically installing their drivers is a matter of principle with other distros like Ubuntu). My ethernet was up and running no bother, and my sound was clear as a bell (score one over Ubuntu).

While Mandriva may not be the big name it used to be, I must admit, from my first impressions its still an incredibly good desktop distribution. Its been the easiest to install and get up and running from the ones I’ve tried so far, and KDE’s as easy to use as you’d expect (although I’m still a GNOME man).

Definitely worth a try if you’re looking for an easy distro.

I do still find the PCLinuxOS thing a bit strange though. Given its glowing reviews, and the fact that its actually based on Mandriva, I’m really at a loss to explain the problems I had. I’m sure other people have had more luck than me with it, but as I say, first impressions - especially with a system that was for mucking about - didn’t give me much reason to stick with it.