Giving Mandriva Another Go…
I downloaded the 2008 Powerpack a few months ago and tried to install it. It was a great big mess and a time waster. I lost an entire weekend trying to get the darn thing to install, much less work!
One thing I did NOT do before installing was the checksums. Maybe I just had a bad download. I’m a bit wiser (and greyer) from the experience. Next time I’ll do a checksum to make sure the download is good.
Linux. It’s as free as your time. Apparently my time is dirt cheap. 
But I’m not swayed. The geeks shall inherit the earth!