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Tutorial explains Mandriva 2008 configuration
Apr. 23, 2008

A step-by-step tutorial on setting up Mandriva One 2008 Spring (Mandriva 2008.1) desktop (GNOME) has been published on HowtoForge.com. Written by Oliver Meyer, the six-page tutorial, called "The Perfect Desktop," covers basic configuration, and then steps through installations for over a dozen Linux applications.

Mandriva has been around for awhile, but the distro was substantially updated for the 2.6.22.9 Linux kernel in a Mandriva 2008 release in October. The new version integrates a reworked hardware detection subsystem that supports many new devices, and automatically loads drivers for permanently installed devices such as PCI and AGP cards. For an interface, Mandriva lets users choose between KDE 3.5.7 and GNOME 2.20.

The new version also adds a lot of new Linux applications and applets, which brings us to the focus of the tutorial: installing applications.

Oliver starts out by explaining the basic installation process, including custom partition layouts and password settings, and then moves on to cleaning up the GNOME file manager Nautilus. He also explains how to select font-rendering options. Meyer then proceeds to the Mandriva Linux Control Center, where he shows how to remove unneeded devices, select a preferred browser, and download software updates for desired programs.

At the top of page 3, Oliver explores the GNOME package manager (rpmdrake), showing how to de-install software packages, including dependencies. He then shows how to install packages, such as Adobe Acrobat, and provides tips on configuring display resolution, True Type fonts, and codecs. Next the tutorial covers installation and configuration of the NTFS configuration tool, as well as Java, Digikam, MPlayer, and the K3B burning suite.

By page 5, Oliver moves on to installing and configuring the Network Traffic applet and the Azureus Java BitTorrect client, and he spends considerable space on Skype installation. He then shows how to set up the Audacity audio editor, the Filezilla FTP client, the Gparted partition formatter, the Gtkpod iPod manager, and the K9copy DVD backup tool.

The final page explains how to install the Wine Windows emulator, as well as Cedega, a Wine variant customized for Windows games. Oliver finishes off with a section on the VMWare Server installer for installing guest operating systems.

The full tutorial on HowToForge, which covers six pages and many dozens of screenshots is available here.



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