What are the differences between Mandrake Linux and Rehat Linux?

[Peston Foong]

Dear all experts,

I'm new user of linux. I would like to find out what are the differences between Mandrake Linux release 7.1 helium and Rehat Linux release 7?

Currently, my server is Mandrake Linux release 7.1. I'm new in linux. Is Mandrake linux has any management tools?

I couldn't start using the command startx, why?

Thank you in advance to your.

Peston.

[Eric Ladner]

Mandrake (current version is 8.1) has a pretty slick install tool, and a nicer boot sequence. Other than that, the packages that get installed are mostly the same. I think Mandrake is KDE based also, with the option to install Gnome (RedHat is the other way).

RedHat has some nice tools to update your system with the latest packages (up2date), as does the Ximian Gnome desktop you can install from Ximian. RedCarpet from Ximian is actually REALLY nice. You can install Ximian on either RedHat or Mandrake, tho.

[Kodjo Agbenu]

Hello,

From the strict disk and filesystem layout point of view, Mandrake and RedHat are very close from each other. That means the configuration files are located at the same place (/etc/sysconfig), and other features are similar.

However, there are few differences :

-> From the "business" point of view : RedHat is the most "biz-oriented" Linux distro. That means if your favorite Unix commercial software has been ported on Linux, you can be sure that it will run on RedHat. Normally, it should run on Mandrake, but you have no guarantee.

-> From the "sysadmin" poing of view : RedHat ships with some administration tools, but they are limited. On the other hand, with Mandrake you have a set of admin utilities that can run either graphical or text mode.

-> From the "user" point of view : Mandrake aims to be the more "M$ Windows-like" Linux distro. In my opinion, this is not an argument, as I personnally think that the best usage for Linux boxes is as entreprise servers, not end-user desktop machines, but it is only MY opinion.


In brief :

* Mandrake is a very good product for people starting with Linux.
* RedHat is a very good distro for business (entreprise servers, workstations for sysadmins or advanced users).
* M$-Windows is a good utility (not an O/S :-) for newbies and end-users almost doing word processing, spreadsheet and web.
* Debian is a good product for Linux/Unix gurus and security-oriented applications.


Good luck.

Kodjo

[Peston Foong]

Thank you to Eric Ladner and Kodjo Agbenu.

In order for me to learn more in Mandrake, where can I get more Mandrake white papers.

In HPUX, has a command called "ioscan" can scan all the drivers on the system. Did linux has ioscan too?

I couldn't locate how do I go to Desktop Environment instead of command model environment, please guide? For example, "startx" command failed.


Thanks a lot.

Peston.

[Stuart Browne]

If the driver for the given piece of hardware is already installed, you might look at '/proc/iports', '/proc/interrupts' and 'lsmod'.

If it's not, I'm not sure if there is something to re-scan the system. 'modprobe' however is a useful command. It allows you to try to initilise a module. If it succeeds, it means the device is there. If it fails, it isn't.

These drivers (modules) are usually located under /lib/modules/ under the associated grouping (scsi, net, sound, etc.).

As for your X-Windows system, when you loaded the OS, it would have asked you a nuber of questions reguarding the configuration of your windowing system (well RH does, unsure about mandrake, but I'd assume it did). If 'startx' doesn't work (that is worrysome to me), try changing your init level to 5 (issue 'init 5' as root). It might have better luck with that, as it usually starts 'xdm', the X-Windows login manager or similar.

Hope this helps you a bit more.

[Martin Burnett_2]

Hello,

The startx script supplied with the X11 distribution. If you have a Graphical environment running on your Mandrake system from the command line logged in as root, run "rpmdrake", search for X11 in the "installed" and "installable" packages. If it is not installed you need to install the rpm.

X11R6-contrib-3.3.6-14.mdk

If you do not have a graphical environment configured run:
# rpm -q x11
package x11 is not installed

This would indicate that it is not installed. A good source of information on Mandrake is www.mandrakeexpert.com