After some time with Mandrake Linux 9.0 / 9.1 / 9.2 on my PC, I finally have removed it. Why? Well, since my new ADSL modem via USB, I am unable to connect Linux to the Internet. I know, that some freaks would tell me that an ADSL connection via a USB is a ridiculous thing to do, but the largest provider in Switzerland, bluewin, just provides ADSL subscriptions together with a free USB Netopia Cayman 3342 Modem (a true DHCP-Router, btw, with NAT and IP-Sec protocol capabilities...)
But Linux does not have any supporting drivers to that thing... (not yet).
Well I hoped that maybe the new Kernel 2.6 would do better, but things got even worse. With the release of Mandrake Linux 10.0, Mandrake (or maybe Nvidia) changed the licencing of their video drivers. In the free download version, they are no longer part of the release. So, after installation, my screen turned black, and it is quite a challenge to navigate blindly...
Nvidia provides the drivers for Linux on their webpage, but again, I cannot download it from my Linux Partition, because of the non-functional USB connection to the internet... Ok, downloading it from Windows, and mounting the drives from Linux... tried, but then the installation file told me that the kernel version had to be compiled first.... Well, that is just too much.
I had my sympathies for Linux and the open source community, but again, if they want a break-through to have a great number of the ordinary desktop user switch to Linux, the word "user-friendly" must first be deployed to the fullest meaning...
