From: bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com   
      
   On 12/13/2015 06:31 AM, Markus R. Kessler wrote:   
   > Am Sat, 12 Dec 2015 07:52:16 -0800 schrieb Bobbie Sellers:   
   >   
   >> On 12/12/2015 01:19 AM, Markus R. Kessler wrote:   
   >>> Hi there,   
   >>>   
   >>> I've played around a little with open-Suse, where the files like   
   >>> mencoder, dvdbackup and so on, the files we know as belonging to the   
   >>> PLF / Zarb repository and its mirrors, are provided as "community   
   >>> repositories".   
   >>>   
   >>> Well, this means, that such packages still exist and are adapted to fit   
   >>> to new OS versions. Now I'd like to try some steps with open-Mandriva   
   >>> 2014, but there are some questions open, not knowing if it makes sense   
   >>> to completely move to that distro:   
   >>>   
   >>> # 1   
   >>>   
   >>> It seems that there's no newer version out than 2014?   
   >>   
   >> 	2014.2 x86_64 as of 6/15/15  They have ruined Mandriva's   
   >> name.   
   >>   
   >>> It looks like bugfixes are only provided via "updates" directories, and   
   >>> you have to install the old stuff from DVD first and then overwrite it?   
   >>   
   >> 	Sounds like it.   
   >>>   
   >>> # 2   
   >>>   
   >>> What the hell means Mandriva "LX"? -- I cannot find any explanation for   
   >>> that therm.   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >> 	LXDE is the virtual desktop manager for Open Mandriva. Open   
   > Mandriva   
   >> 	has very few developers   
   >   
   > I'm not surprised to hear that.   
   >   
   > And there are even more things that do not fit together at all. For   
   > example, the source code repo isn't on the same level as the binaries'   
   > repos. The sources are located at a completely different position within   
   > the directory tree on their server. You won't find it without their help.   
   >   
   > But, hopefully, LXDE is not the only desktop manager?   
   > At least there should be a chance to install XFCE instead, which has lots   
   > of really helpful addons like (notebook) power manager etc.   
   >   
   >>> # 3   
   >>>   
   >>> On rosa.ru server there is, indeed, a mirror backup of the former Zarb   
   >>> / PLF repository, where you can get the packages needed for video   
   >>> processing like mencoder, mplayer, dvdbackup and many more. But, the   
   >>> last revision you find refers to Mandriva 2011. So, the question is, is   
   >>> there any newer version, or should one try to install the old stuff   
   >>> from Mandriva 2011 on open-Mandriva 2014?   
   >>   
   >> 	No.  PCLOS has all the tools you would need though you   
   >> might have to download.  Not sure that the Mageia repositories do but   
   >> they are pretty good.  If you have plenty of video memory and memory in   
   >> general Full Monty has nearly every concievable tool   
   >   
   > Good to know. Thanks!   
   >   
   > So, it seems to be a matter of personal preference, if you either choose   
   > PCLinux or Mageia. Both are significantly better supported than open   
   > Mandriva, and they both are up to date, right?   
   >   
   >>> Any hint highly appreciated!   
   >>>   
   >>> Best regards,   
   >>>   
   >>> Markus   
   >>   
   >> 	Which hardware Markus?   
   >   
   > Oh, really difficult question -- It sounds funny, but, including all my   
   > notebooks, even the Raspberries, workstations and servers, honestly said,   
   > I don't know the exact number of machines I currently own :-)   
   >   
   > But the machines relevant for this task are from 2007..2010 and have 64   
   > bit single, up to quad-core processors from AMD or intel and have SATA   
   > interfaces and PCI express slots inside.   
   > Any OS should run on them.   
      
   	Yes any OS should run but sometimes little problems come up   
   with the details.   
      
   >   
   > Btw, when working with open Suse, I got stuck with some scripts I used   
   > for years to recalculate video files from VOB to mpeg4-avi. They can   
   > strip off ads for other movies, scale down the bit rate, exclude audio   
   > tracks in languages I don't understand anyway etc, and hence have a   
   > compression factor of at least 10. So I can archive even "subprime class"   
   > movies on some storage systems to faster retrieve them.   
   >   
   > These scripts refuse to work on Suse, because due to license aspects,   
   > they excluded some codecs, and so the scripts are pointless now.   
   >   
   > On Ubuntu similar happened. The developers were not afraid of trouble   
   > with licenses, but had unsolvable dependency issues with their libraries.   
   > Finally they simply threw off the whole mpeg4 lib.   
   > Same regarding Twinkle VoIP client. This one is compiled based on QT3   
   > library, and they did not get it run together with QT 4 / 5. So, they   
   > simply stripped off the whole graphics GUI and released a pure   
   > commandline based TEXT version (!)   
   > Whaaaa... What can you do with such a distro?   
   >   
   >> 	On my old machine which quit when the SATA interface failed   
   >> I was happy with PCLOS but when my new machine was UEFI I switched to   
   >> Mageia.   
   >>   
   >> 	If you have an older machine with the MSB rather than a newer   
   >> machine with UEFI or EFI then PC Linux OS 2014.12 in 32 or 64 bit is the   
   >> best.  You will have lots of updates.   
   >>   
   >> 	If you have UEFI then get Mageia 5.  Read the   
   >> instructions online about UEFI machines and how to set them up. You will   
   >> have lots of updates including recent kernels.   
   >>   
   >> 	TexStar is supposedly working on UEFI facilities for   
   >> the PCLOS but nearly a year now...   
   >   
   > What I am looking for is a system like Mandriva 2009.1, which on some of   
   > my machines is still in use. Therefore I learned to create my own   
   > installation packages to be able to bugfix / update the systems and even   
   > get foreign packages which were never meant to run on this old OS.   
   >   
   > I admit, it's fun to work like this, but this cannot be done infinitely   
   > long. I should switch to a new system, which fully replaces that older   
   > system, capable of doing all the multimedia stuff like mp3 lame,   
   > mencoder, mplayer, VoIP, bash / perl / python /c++ programming, and all I   
   > forgot to mention.   
   >   
      
   	Well I switched from Mandriva 2010.2 after a few years when they   
   did not turn out a fix for the problems that made 2011 refuse to run on   
   my old Compaq Presario with 4 GiB and a AMD X2.  The first version of   
   Mageia I tried could not find my hardware.  It got better.   
   	Meantime I used PCLOS for about 2 years.   
   	In 2014 my Compaq's SATA failed.   
   	I got not what I wanted but a HP Pavilion with a AMD A10 4 core   
   which was handy at a price I could afford.   
   	Now the HP had Windows 8.1, UEFI and GPT which I wanted to use.   
   	I did not fully understand the installation instructions and had   
   to re-install x 2 before I got to my present no doubt temporary state   
   of satisfaction and even added another 4 GiB to make up 12.  But Mageia   
   4.1 was fine and when they finally got to 5 RC it was a perfect fit.   
   	Still there are very good tools on PCLOS including ones that let   
   you back up your system to an iso file.   
      
   	A couple of weeks ago I set up a system for a LUG member all of   
      
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