Sep 12, 2003
Here
is a brief list of some useful suggestions for any user
interested in getting a better use of a Mandrake installation.
These are derived mainly from my own personal experience, so
use at your own risk.
-
Installation: If you can't get the services of a good
sysadmin (as in most SOHO/home situations) and don't feel like
installing the distro yourself, get the help of a
local”computer wizard” or better yet, contact your LUG (Linux
User Group). They can help you surmount the issues described in
the review.
-
Partitioning: If you plan a common desktop
installation,you usually don't need more than 16 MB in your
boot partition. More is a waste of disk space.
-
Try to get as much swap space as you
can. If you make heavy
usage of your system, you'll need
it.
-
If you can
afford it, set the X Window System color depth to
16-bit
(65,535 colors). This is the best balance between
quality
and performance for most situations and will likely
result
in great speed improvements when compared with 24 or 32
bit
depths.
-
Install
only the fonts that you are really going to use. The
more
fonts you use, the slower the system will be.
-
While we're at it, don't forget to
install the MS fonts and the
Bitstream Vera fonts.
You will not regret it.
-
If you're a teTeX user (and this includes the LyX and
TeXmacs
users) you absolutely need to download the CM-Super
font
package, which is available
here. This package, not included in the Download Edition,
is a complete set of PostScript fonts for the Computer Modern
font family of the TeX typesetting system. This enables normal
TeX documents to have a much better look, especially when
viewed in Windows machines as PDF documents. (But beware:
CM-Super is huge: 64.6 MB!)
-
Texstar has a package repository that is
almost essential for
any Mandrake power user; you can get
most recent versions of
“important” software there.
Texstar's packages are aggresively
optimized for speed and
size, but are not tested as thoroughly
as the regular
Mandrake packages, so the usual disclaimers
apply. In my
experience Texstar's packages have always had a very
good
reliability record, and, should you have a question,
Texstar is a very approachable and friendly guy. You can get
the packages, together with many pointers to other Mandrake
package repositories and an excellent urpmi
configuration wizard at Texstar and TheDarb's site,
PCLinuxOnline.
-
Get the LinuxCookbook
(also
available on paper from No Starch Press) and read it. It
is
invaluable for getting you out of ruts and quicksand traps!
-
If you can
afford it, buy the boxed versions of PowerPack or
ProSuite.
The convenience of having a lot of software not
included in
the Download Edition in a physical medium is worth
it.
-
If you
really like Mandrake, remember that the best way to
support
Mandrakesoft is by joining the Mandrake Club.
Where to Find Mandrake ISO's