Mandriva's Linux-on-a-stick refreshed with Spring '09 release

Mandriva has refreshed its Linux-on-a-stick distribution to put the pocket-sized operating system in line with its desktop Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring release. Mandriva's 8GB USB dongle comes with a complete, bootable version of Mandriva Linux, with 6GB of the space free for saved software, documents, and system preferences …

[John Gamble]

Insert 'Man' and 'Drive' Pun Here

Excellent. Now, will the Reg hardware people be using this on laptops as part of their test suite?

Not being snarky here, I would genuinely like to see this as it will be a criteria for my own purchasing plans.

[Anonymous Coward]

What about shipping

I've bought these before and they are really handy. The problem is that the cost of shipping makes the deal unafforable in the USA. Thankfully, they sometimes have sales.

Today cost of item in USD 59.90

cost of shipping 29.09

Twenty nine dollars to ship a USB key?

No thanks.

[Piloti]

Mandriva as a desktop....

.....beats the paps of XP and Vista, no doubt.

I've been using Mandriva for around 18months on my home laptop. Works like a treat.

Would recommend it without a shadow of a doubt.

AS for the usb stick, well, if you already have Mandriva there is a 'save as a bootable....' option, but you still have to buy the 8gb stick to put it on ; £15 for the usb and 25 for the 'ease of having it done correctly...', is perhaps not a bad return.

P.

[Martin 6]

Alternatively

Download Ubuntu live CD for free.

Steal colleagues USB key, or pick up a government one from the pub car park.

Select install to usb stick

Spend $80 on beer

[Tankantoo]

How much profit margin in this?

Nice 8gb pendrives only 8 quid these days.

+ http://www.pendrivelinux.com

It's hardly rocket science.

[Eric Dennis]

No thanks.

I'll stick with Ubuntu. Free download direct from their website. Burn a boot disc, boot, install, end of story. Still haven't spent any money and I have a full working system with office suite, games, music recording software, the works.

[Happy Skeptic]

Re:No thanks.

"I'll stick with Ubuntu. Free download direct from their website."

Guess what - if you bother to check their website (www.mandriva.com) you'll find that Mandriva is also a free download. Not having an entrepreneur and his millions behind them Mandriva tries to make a bit of cash from their desktop distro by selling merchandisey things like this (they've also got an 'enterprise' version on a similar pay-for model as RHEL).

The entire distro and all the extended repositories are still availble for free online though if you just want to download it.

[Matt.Smart]

Hold on.

They want me to PAY FOR it? For a free, open-source operating system which I could download for free and stick on a USB disk I already ahve? That's ridiculous. I'd rather stick with Ubuntu.

[Dan@Work]

@James

I think I just wet myself laughing!

[Matt.Smart]

@James Greenhalgh

Come on, that's a little harsh. But be honest here, who will take Mandriva (or Ubuntu, yes, well done) up on that offer? For every "cock-fingered rabbit" willing to get squeezed to the tune of forty quid, there will be many who are happy to forego the USB stick and pay zero quid. Luckily my coding skills exceed those of a "cock-fingered rabbit" thus I can avoid the penance I should apparently be paying.

I could understand, perhaps, if the whole thing was about £20, max. The price they're charging is disproportionate.

[Steen Hive]

@Matt

Remember free as in freedom, not free as in beer. This is precisely the sort of added value product that free software companies are supposed to make their living with, innit? If you think it's too expensive, don't buy it - the price will come down or the product will disappear if it really is too expensive. In an environment where people will pay top-dollar for a mediocre mobile phone packaged as an alien tampon-applicator, I'd say anything goes.