Docs/Getting Started

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Getting Started With Mandriva Linux

This page should explain the "recommended" steps to take when starting out, and the most common issues. Nothing too detailed (that's what the rest of the Wiki is for).


Contents

[edit] Mailing Lists

Most users find the mailing lists very helpful; for new users there is the newbie mailing list and for more advanced users there is the expert mailing list (as well as similar lists in other languages.

Take a minute to read Mandriva Mailing List Etiquette and then see Mailing lists for subscription and archive info.


[edit] User-Friendly Links

  • Newbie Friendly: Sites for issues that new users face in the early days, but not necessarily entirely new-user material. This page also contains other links of interest to other end-users.


[edit] Choosing the Mandriva Linux version that's best for you

Mandriva Linux is available in multiple free and pay for versions;

Note: all of the above versions are available to club members at certain levels, see: Mandriva Club.

[edit] Adding Software with the Mandriva Linux Control Center

  • To add sources (websites/mirrors) for software downloads, see http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/
  • Earlier versions : MandrivaControlCenter->Software Management->RpmDrake with green plus or
  • Later versions : MandrivaControlCenter->Software Management-> Install (later versions)


[edit] Cooker Packages

Many people try to install packages from Cooker on their stable Mandriva system thinking that they are upgrading to the latest and greatest software and then wonder why the system gets hosed or they need to upgrade the entire system to do so. This is a variation of dependency hell. I responded to this very question in an alt.os.linux.mandrake post back in early 2003 in an effort to explain this in an easy to understand way. I thought this would be a good topic for inclusion in the Wiki so that people that post to the mailing lists with questions about installing Cooker packages could simply be referred here.

The question asked by a poster named Joseph was:

> I am beginning to understand why we shouldn't use cooker RPM's, but
> perhaps it would be good if someone explained to everyone (especially
> newbies) exactly why...
> 
> My recent experience (putting it nicely) trying to install Pan drove
> this home to me.
>

My answer, with the typos cleaned up:

You have to start out with an understanding of one of the basic
differences between Windows and Linux software.  All (most) programs are
compiled against what is known as a library, which is a collection of
functions that a program uses over and over again.  Instead of rewriting
the function in every program, it is incorprated into a library and then
the application program is linked to it.

Windows programs are shipped with runtime versions of all the libraries
(MS calls them DLL's) that a program is compiled against, which is why
many Windows binaries are so large.  Linux on the other hand has its
programs compiled for a particular distribution, because known libraries
are contained in that distro.  This is why you can not install a binary rpm
from RedHat on a Mandrake box either, they have different libraries.  
Linux distros are shipped as they are because the entire distribution is 
compiled against the included libraries.  If you have ever heard of DLL 
hell on a Windows box, that is the exact same thing as what people refer 
to as dependency hell on a Linux machine.

Cooker rpms are thus incompatible because they are compiled against
libraries that are not available on your stable installation.  It is
also important to remember what Cooker is.  It IS NOT the place where all
the new programs for Mandrake are released.  It is the development version
of the next release of Mandrake, and is an entire distro unto itself.  It
is constantly in flux and sometimes cannot even be installed because it is
broken itself because of incompatibilities.

With all that being said, if you would like a version of the software that
is available in the Cooker distribution tree, then it is generally safe to
use if you rebuild the src.rpm on your own machine.  A src.rpm as opposed
to the binary i586.rpms contain the uncompiled source code of the
application, along with instructions for the compiler about how to
compile the software in a spec file.  In other words, you are actually going 
to compile the software against the libraries on your machine, thus 
eliminating the library incompatibility.  I do this all the time, in fact, as I 
write this, I am compiling the Cooker src.rpms of KDE3.1 with AthlonXP 
optimizations.
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