----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Densmore" > You should all really take a look at Mandrake's software manager! It > works very well. Not quite finished though. I'll say. Even though it effectively "works" as of the 8.1 release, it still has major problems. Updating the databse takes WAY to long, even when doing local updates or updating over a hot broadband link. It eats LOTS of CPU while updating. It also fails in much the same way that RPMFIND fails, it will eventually become confused about the dependencies of updates, and will start listing all the software you just installed off the update CD as new, uninstalled, available, and/or required updates. Part of this is the fact that Mandrake relies on voluntary mirrors like RPMFIND to maintain the list of updatable files. If one of the sites doesn't follow the prescribed protocol for listing the new files, it breaks the database. They've also fallen down badly on updates in general. Ximian, Gnome, KDE, Mozilla, and Netscape all have relesed updates with major functionality improvements since 8.1 was released, but none of the updates is available through Mandrake or through the Software Manager. Still not ready for "prime time" in my book. Your only real option is to use raw command line RPM, do your own web searches for update packages, and track your own dependencies.