Review: Mandrake 9.1 RC2 by Clint Gilders, PLUG Secretary   Editor's Note: Clint wrote this article weeks ago. Since then, Mandrake has released 9.1 final which is not overally different from RC2. You can find out more about Mandrake Linux and download it for free by visiting them or you can buy a disc-set from us for $15 Canadian ($12 for members) and $3 shipping within Canada.   With each new release, Mandrake seems to raise the bar for what a desktop-oriented Linux distribution can and should be. From its humble beginning as a clone of Red Hat with enhancements to what is now easily considered a standalone distribution, Mandrake has often been a step ahead of the competition. Judging from my sneak peek at Mandrake 9.1 Release Candidate 2 (RC2) they will still be the distro to chase when the final is released. The installer is very similar to the tried-and-true installer seen in the 8.x series, but it has improved both functionally and aesthetically. While still not as Spartan or sterile as Red Hat's, the Mandrake installer now has a more professional look and feel to it. My biggest complaint with Mandrake's installer has always been the mouse detection. Forget about selecting a mouse different from what is detected because nine times out of ten the mouse would cease to work or operate improperly forcing the install to be restarted. I was able to to select "Generic PS/2 Wheel Mouse" when it wasn't correctly detected and successfully test my mouse. Score one for Mandrake! One new feature seen toward the end of the install is a summary of all the hardware and software settings where you can select to reconfigure any of the listings. This allows you to see at a glance what hardware wasn't detected or configured correctly and fix it. Once I finished the install, I rebooted into my new Mandrake 9.1 system. I was greeted with a beautiful KDE 3.1 desktop. The first and only serious problem was that my Internet connection didn't work. After a little troubleshooting, I discovered there were no valid nameservers listed in /etc/resolv.conf. Sure enough, I could access the web if I used the numeric IP address, but name resolution was nonexistent. I used Mandrake's network configuration wizard to reconfigure my ethernet connection, but the problem persisted. Seeing as this is not a final version, problems are to be expected. A visit to Mandrake's Bugzilla helped me learn that this bug had been reported and a fix had been applied to the latest dhcp-client RPM available from the 'cooker' (Mandrake's repository for software still in development). This brings up another issue. Being that there isn't an official 9.1 version of Mandrake, there aren't yet any update servers. So how do I update my system? Urpmi to the rescue! The cooker becomes your update source and you have to manually enter the path to the cooker directory and the hdlist.cz file on your selected server. You can use Mandrake Control Center's GUI interface to urpmi or go commando on the command line and add the update source. Once configured, you update your system like normal. I am eagerly awaiting the final release of Mandrake 9.1. Only recently, I upgraded to 9.0 from my tried-and-true 8.1.  But if RC2 is any indication, I will be quickly upgrading to the final version when it's available.       ©2003 Peterborough Linux User Group, All Rights Reserved. Logos and buttons are used by permission of their respective owners. PLUG can not be held liable for damages resulting from the use or misuse of the information at this website or from its members. Don't run with scissors.   Comments can be sent to Jason Wallwork, Webmaster.