Mepis Talk

[Sammi]

I am thinking of trying MEPIS, just to check if it is a more polished KDE platform, than Kubuntu is, because Kubuntu seems a bit rough around the edges to me...

I know that this forum is biased, but still. What are your honest opinions? Which one is better?

PS: Just for the record: I can't stand the dull look of Gnome and also how hard it is to customise in comparison to KDE. So don't give me any beef about using Ubuntu/Gnome instead.

[aysiu]

I won't give you any beef about Gnome, but it is easier to install themes on. It's as dull as you want to make it... or as exciting as you want to make it.

I like Kubuntu better just because I think this community is more knowledgeable and helpful than Mepis' community.

The God-honest truth, though? Mepis is a much better piece of software. More GUI configuration tools. Popular proprietary codecs included in the default installation. And... starting with version 6, it'll be based off Ubuntu anyway.

[mostwanted]

I can't stand the dull look of Gnome and also how hard it is to customise in comparison to KDE.

Arhm. Gnome is much easier to theme than KDE (drag and drop a theme file) and certainly not dull in my opinion, but I guess that's a matter of personal taste.

I see you're from the Faroe Islands, cool! Think I've seen at least one more user from there.

[aysiu]

Yes, Gnome is so dull.

[Sammi]

OK that remark about Gnome was made, so you guys would NOT discuss it. Please. And again for the record, themability is NOT customisability. Customisability is much more.

Back to topic plz.

PS: Jup I'm from the north atlantic. We're not all MS cavemenn in the Faroe Islands :-D

[aysiu]

OK that remark about Gnome was made, so you guys would NOT discuss it. Please. And again for the record, themability is NOT customisability. Customisability is much more. If you had said, "I like how easy it is to install themes in Gnome, but some other configuration options aren't as easily available as they are in KDE" or even just "I prefer KDE, so do you think I should go for Mepis or Kubuntu," you wouldn't have gotten those responses.

Saying that Gnome is dull is what those screenshots were in response to.

I myself prefer KDE, but you can't really say Gnome is dull and then expect people not to try to convince you otherwise.

[Sammi]

Ok can we just start over without my "Gnome is dull" remark? You've got the power, right aysiu?

This tread is already bloated with non topic text and I think that it's a pity.

[mostwanted]

Ok can we just start over without my "Gnome is dull" remark? You've got the power, right aysiu?

This tread is already bloated with non topic text and I think that it's a pity.

He did give you the answer in his first post!

btw, hvis du er færing betyder det så, du kan dansk? :P Sorry for being so off-topic, I've never used MEPIS myself.

[Rhapsody]

Well I would (and did) go with Kubuntu over MEPIS because of Kubuntu's strong userbase and the fact that MEPIS comes packaged with a lot of proprietary software (which is something I've been trying to move away from for two or three years now).

But if you don't care about that, then MEPIS is stable and easy to use. It really depends on what you want and need.

[eMuNiX]

I run Mepis and Kubuntu, I must say that I prefer Kubuntu as a vanilla install doesn't have as much bloat to it, however Mepis has a few things that are worth having. A bit like the old SuSE 9.1 personal, a polished KDE with the minimum of apps to keep you going for a browsing machine, that is where I would want Kubuntu to be, then add stuff as required (the bare minimum would be Kubuntu with Automatix I suppose). I too prefer KDE, but that isn't to say that Gnome isn't good, my Kubuntu has a Gnome flavour to its looks anyway with the external taskbar. http://www.gstapleybo.dsl.pipex.com/april4-thumb.jpg (http://www.gstapleybo.dsl.pipex.com/april4.jpg)

[Sammi]

On a more advanced note: Which is more stable Kubuntu 6.06 beta2/flight7 or MEPIS 6.0 beta2?

This is also an important comparison to me.

[aysiu]

On a more advanced note: Which is more stable Kubuntu 6.06 beta2/flight7 or MEPIS 6.0 beta2?

This is also an important comparison to me. If you have a CD burner and a broadband internet connection, you can try them both--they're both live CDs.

[ComplexNumber]

apparently, Mepis is meant to be really good. kubuntu gets lots of complaints, whereas Mepis users(or ex-users) seem to be quite pleased with it.

[Buffalo Soldier]

It was MEPIS that re-ignite my affair with GNU/Linux back in 2004. It was surprisingly a very nice experience. Everything works perfectly out of the box, even MP3.

The only thing that made me jump to Ubuntu is GNOME, Human (brown) theme and this forum.

I've recommended MEPIS to all my friend that prefers KDE.

[purdy hate machine]

In my opinion Mepis is a better distro than Kubuntu at this stage in time. (The question was about the actual distro and not the online communities)
Try them both for comparison if you get the chance.
As for stability I have been using Mepis 6.0 beta2 since its release and have experienced no problems with it in everyday use. Not a single crash to date.
I wouldn’t call Gnome dull or hard to customise in any way, there are some really nice Gnome desktops in the gallery which prove that point.

[awakatanka]

I'm using both and both latest test versions, i have the feeling mepis is more stable then kubuntu and it is more mature then kubuntu, but i like the cleaner install from kubuntu, mepis install very much apps that i don't use.

There livecd is very fast and it installs mepis between 8 to 20 min depending on youre machine.

Both have a good community that is helpfull but mepis sites are looking very outdated in there design, but its a little minor point.

[Reshin]

MEPIS is pretty much more stable and more out-of-box distro. Mepis-install gets you much more apps, with many I don´t use but I don´t see this as a disadvantage. Pretty much easier to remove stuff and leave the ones you need than looking and installing all the nessessary stuff IMHO :)

[zachtib]

personally, i like the 'dull' look of gnome, i think it looks more professional
anyways, on the subject, has anyone heard anything about the canonical buying mepis and merging it with kubuntu rumor? It seems like it would be a good choice for kubuntu, because mepis seems to be a much better kde distro than kubuntu. I was a KDE guy until i tried kubuntu, i then installed ubuntu, and ive been using gnome ever since

[awakatanka]

personally, i like the 'dull' look of gnome, i think it looks more professional
anyways, on the subject, has anyone heard anything about the canonical buying mepis and merging it with kubuntu rumor? It seems like it would be a good choice for kubuntu, because mepis seems to be a much better kde distro than kubuntu. I was a KDE guy until i tried kubuntu, i then installed ubuntu, and ive been using gnome ever since
Probably you have started it the rumour :P:mrgreen:

[Steve1961]

I tried the Mepis 6 alpha1 and it seemed very stable for an alpha release. I haven't used kubuntu so can't really compare it, but after installing kde in ubuntu dapper I prefer the look and feel of Mepis. That said, I think opensuse has the most polished kde, but as I'm mainly a gnome user I'll stick with ubuntu and FC5.

One extra point in favour of Mepis: I compiled a 2.6.16 vanilla kernel in mepis and it ran without a problem - something that I'm still working on with dapper.

[tseliot]

One extra point in favour of Mepis: I compiled a 2.6.16 vanilla kernel in mepis and it ran without a problem - something that I'm still working on with dapper.
Did you read my guide about kernel compilation?

You can compile the kernel in any distro.

[Steve1961]

Did you read my guide about kernel compilation?

You can compile the kernel in any distro.


I did tseliot, and I used it to check the steps I usually do. Very nice how to. Using the kernel source from the dapper repos (2.6.15 + patches) it works perfectly, and I now have a working 2.6.15 kernel optimised for my k8 processor (I know I could install the 64bit version of ubuntu but I've tried that in the past and I prefer to stick with the 32 bit). However, when I use a vanilla 2.6.16 kernel the enterprise volume manager fails to start (I've tried lots of config options but nothing seems to make the difference). I'm guessing that there's a patch in the ubuntu kernel source that I need.

[hermesrules]

I tried MEPIS about a year or so ago, having screwed my Hoary Gnome installation in an attempt to use KDE, as far as I remember. And then MEPIS seemed much closer to Debian than Ubuntu was, and sometimes packages would be slighly outdated. I was satisfied with the stability and the setup (pretty much), but the community support can not even compare to Ubuntu's. In fact, people on these very forums are one of Ubuntu's greatest assets (if not THE greatest). So I switched back, and installed Kubuntu. Never looked elsewhere since.

But now that MEPIS uses the Ubuntu repositories, maybe it's getting more popular?...

[Iandefor]

Yes, Gnome is so dull. Sorry for the offtopic, but OW! That screenshot hurt my eyes, aysiu!

[shuttleworthwannabe]

I am using both at the moment; and are both equally stable for me. MEPIS id all my hardware ou tof the box, including the wireless LED light on my laptop. Both Kubuntu and MEPIS do not id my volume buttons. MEPIS laptop support for power management I feel is not up to speed with Kubuntu" kpowersave does not have the same effcet o MEPIS.

Multimedia and SUN Java work out of the box in MEPIS. I had to use easyUbuntu to get that working in kubuntu. S

I have both looking and feeling the same at the moment. I prefer the more polished grub, bootup, and login screen in MEPIS. If only kubuntu got this right. Appearance is everything, IMHO, and MEPIS captues you once you start. Granted MEPIS could do better with its logo and desktop wallpaper, but that is a minor thing.

MEPIS has a relatively slow forum support wrt to response. I thus prefer forum support here.

But hey, the power of ubuntu and the magic of mepis is what makes these flavors of linux's one of the most liked distro' aorund!

I can't wait for either to adopt the new kernel 2.6.16, when the rest of the other distro's have: slax, suse, etc.

I like both.

[RAV TUX]

I haven't tried MEPIS and probably won't I currently have a Dual boot on my old computer of Ubuntu/Kubuntu I can see why people like the flashy sexiness of KDE but I prefer Gnome, but hey thats just me. I will get rid of Kubuntu and just use Ubuntu and experiment with other distros. I think I will try something a bit different I downloaded the ISO image of Debian Hurd, I think I will try and help out if I can with the HURD next.

honestly if I really liked KDE I found PC-BSD to be the best yet (I know it is BSD OS but honestly I was impressed but not enough to pull me away from gnome/Ubuntu)

http://www.pcbsd.org/

KDE is the default install but you can enable gnome also.

Lately I am most impressed with " Musix GNU+Linux "
Mostly since it is the only Linux Distro I can get to run on my new computer with no major problems. (Intel EM64T dual core)

http://www.musix.org.ar/en/index.html

pretty awesome OS give it a try especially if you like music.

So to answer your question "Re: Kubuntu or Mephis?"

Neither, if I liked KDE I would choose PC-BSD.(but to be fair perhaps I will try MEPIS and re-post my opinion)

[hogweed]

On the MEPIS vs. Kubuntu issue: I wonder if the Ubuntu forums would be as relevant to MEPIS users now that MEPIS is using the Ubuntu base? I currently use Kubuntu, but can see myself moving to MEPIS (which I actually had on my comp. right before switching to Kubuntu) -- but I would really only do it if I can get all my questions dealt with here in the Ubuntu forums. Of course, I understand that initial install and config issues would have to be through MEPIS forums, but after that?

-- hogweed

[awakatanka]

Lately I am most impressed with " Musix GNU+Linux "
Mostly since it is the only Linux Distro I can get to run on my new computer with no major problems. (Intel EM64T dual core)

http://www.musix.org.ar/en/index.html

pretty awesome OS give it a try especially if you like music.

So to answer your question "Re: Kubuntu or Mephis?"

Neither, if I liked KDE I would choose PC-BSD.(but to be fair perhaps I will try MEPIS and re-post my opinion)Nice KDE music distro :mrgreen:

[Luke]

interesting topic. i myself have been wondering the same thing (i know i can just try them since they're both free...) i have tried the mepis beta 2 and like it. also used kubuntu 5.10 for a little while and thought it was good (forget why i stopped using it. just whoring around i guess)

on the issue of stability:
some have said that mepis is more stable than kubuntu. any idea why this would be?
also, i think i've read in the past people saying that they love ubuntu (w/ gnome) but just find kubuntu too unstable. i don't understand this. is it just that KDE is unstable (according to those people) or is there some other underlying difference between ubuntu and kubuntu that could lead to differences in stability

[mstlyevil]

To clear up the confusion a little, Mepis is still an entirely different disto than Kubuntu. The kernel Mepis uses is based on Dapper but is modified to be different. The default packages and configs are completely different and the structure is different. Mepis also does not use sudo and certain config files are changed or located in different places.

The How to's and guides will work for the most part on this forum.There are enough differences that you are taking a big risk by relying on the Ubuntu forums for tech support for Mepis.

As to the OP's question, Mepis is the overall better more polished and complete distro of the two. Both are equally stable as long as you do not update Mepis as you do Kubuntu. Some of the Ubuntu packages and kernel modules do not play nice with Mepis when you update it through synaptic. This of course will change when both go stable on June 1st and the updates become mainly security updates.

Kubuntu is a lot lighter on a default install then you add what you need. Mepis has almost everything a typical user would want or need installed by default. You still have to add W32 codecs and Libdvdcss to Mepis to get full multimedia support. The downside to Mepis is that it may be bloated for your needs. I also found it is incompatible with the Dapper K7 kernel. You are stuck using the i386 kernel unless you compile your own kernel and headers.

To decide you have to ask what is more important. A almost completely configured distro with less flexibility or a Distro you will have to spend more time on to configure but is extremely flexible.

[aysiu]

Would Mepis use Ubuntu repositories or Debian repositories?

[mstlyevil]

Would Mepis use Ubuntu repositories or Debian repositories?

It uses Dapper repositories instead of debian as previous releases have.

[aysiu]

It uses Dapper repositories instead of debian as previous releases have. Thanks for the clarification.

[awakatanka]

As to the OP's question, Mepis is the overall better more polished and complete distro of the two. Both are equally stable as long as you do not update Mepis as you do Kubuntu. Some of the Ubuntu packages and kernel modules do not play nice with Mepis when you update it through synaptic. This of course will change when both go stable on June 1st and the updates become mainly security updates.
Its now possible to upgrade with synaptic our dist-upgrade.

" Warren continues "Thanks to the solid foundation provided by our friends and colleagues who maintain the Ubuntu pools, current users testing SimplyMEPIS 6.0beta2 can do a full update from the pools instead of reinstalling or upgrading from a new CD."

http://www.mepis.org/node/9802

But its better to wait till its live to switch to it for poeple that don't want to have beta distro, because still it can break.

[RAV TUX]

I am thinking of trying MEPIS, just to check if it is a more polished KDE platform, than Kubuntu is, because Kubuntu seems a bit rough around the edges to me...

I know that this forum is biased, but still. What are your honest opinions? Which one is better?

PS: Just for the record: I can't stand the dull look of Gnome and also how hard it is to customise in comparison to KDE. So don't give me any beef about using Ubuntu/Gnome instead.

I wanted to thank you for your post. Even though I prefer a Gnome based desktop with Ubuntu, I have been experimenting with KDE. First by setting up a dual boot of Ubuntu/Kubuntu.

My very first introduction to KDE was with PC-BSD while the install was the quickest and most easy I have experienced and the KDE with this OS is knock your socks off flashy and sexy. I choose not to use KDE.

After reading and posting to this thread I have tried many new and different Linux distros, BSD and even the HURD.

I didn't think I would ever use or like KDE but I have found a KDE (by default) linux distro that I enjoy using as much as Gnome (by default) Ubuntu.

Yoper, simply awesome.

Yoper is a very refined and classy Linux distro and the install is very easy and intelligent. If you want a KDE(by default) distro I would say give Yoper a try. If you do try it opt out of the lilo boot upon install and instead use the GRUB boot with the Ubuntu install.

My honest non-biased opnion, for the most polished KDE platform would be Yoper.

Ubuntu/Yoper live side by side on my hard disk in simple harmony...
:KS

http://www.yoper.com/

[aysiu]

Now that Mepis uses Ubuntu repositories, you can have Ubuntu with a root account and proprietary codecs.

I prefer sudo myself, but just for kicks, I installed Mepis RC2 on VMPlayer and installed xubuntu-desktop.

Cool stuff.

I'm probably going to stick with Ubuntu, though. The annoying Earthlink icon on the desktop has nothing to do with it, of course.

[Jucato]

So basically, MEPIS will be something like Kubuntu + propriety codecs + MEPIS repositories? If MEPIS 6 proves itself to be a very polished KDE distro, I might find myself migrating over there. The fact that it's now based on Ubuntu would make it easier for me to help people on both sides. :D

aysiu, I just have 2 questions:
1. Is MEPIS developed/driven/made by a one-man team (Warren)? Or is the community actively involved. I prefer community involvement very much.
2. In MEPIS, the root account is enabled. Can you still use sudo, even in launching graphical apps? And what if you change the root password into your own password? will using sudo then be the "almost" the same as using sudo in Ubuntu? (Sorry, not very familiar with the whole sudo/root thing).

[mstlyevil]

Mepis 6 beats the living s**t out of Kubuntu. I have been using both and Kubuntu is slow and buggy. Mepis 6 is very fast, stable and polished. Also if you prefer sudo you can enable it. (as I have done in Automatix testing) I would recommend Kubuntu to no one as many problems a supposedly stable distro as Kubuntu has given me.

Mepis 6 is easier to install and has the benefits of the ubuntu packages. If you want Ubuntu with KDE instead of Gnome, Mepis is the best choice.

[mstlyevil]

So basically, MEPIS will be something like Kubuntu + propriety codecs + MEPIS repositories? If MEPIS 6 proves itself to be a very polished KDE distro, I might find myself migrating over there. The fact that it's now based on Ubuntu would make it easier for me to help people on both sides. :D

aysiu, I just have 2 questions:
1. Is MEPIS developed/driven/made by a one-man team (Warren)? Or is the community actively involved. I prefer community involvement very much.
2. In MEPIS, the root account is enabled. Can you still use sudo, even in launching graphical apps? And what if you change the root password into your own password? will using sudo then be the "almost" the same as using sudo in Ubuntu? (Sorry, not very familiar with the whole sudo/root thing).

1. Warren is the lead developer and CEO, but there is a strong comminity involved in Mepis development.

2. Sudo can be enabled by just adding one line to the /etc/sudoers file. The downside to Mepis 6 is I have not found a way yet to enable sudo where it requiores the users password. Essentially your system is very open if you enable sudo to security risk.

[mstlyevil]

Now that Mepis uses Ubuntu repositories, you can have Ubuntu with a root account and proprietary codecs.

I prefer sudo myself, but just for kicks, I installed Mepis RC2 on VMPlayer and installed xubuntu-desktop.

Cool stuff.

I'm probably going to stick with Ubuntu, though. The annoying Earthlink icon on the desktop has nothing to do with it, of course.

The Earthlink Icon can be deleted. ;)

[Jucato]

@mstlyevil: thanks for the clarificatons. I guess I'll just probably set the root password and the user password to the same thing.

I'm really looking forward to the official release of MEPIS (July 10, finally...). I've been having some issues with Kubuntu (and a bit on Ubuntu in general) for these past weeks since the release of Dapper. Kubuntu Dapper is absolutely faster than Breezy, but lacks the same polish (and attention) as Ubuntu. Can't blame anyone, though.

I hope Mark keeps his word about Kubuntu. I'm going to look forward to it in Edgy. (No plans on trying out an RPM/KDE distro just yet).

Btw... what's that "Earthlink Icon" you're talking about?

[aysiu]

The Earthlink Icon can be deleted. ;)
Yeah, I realize that. It just makes me cringe to see an Earthlink icon on the desktop--reminds me of when you buy a Windows computer, and they have all these "free trial" icons sitting all over your desktop.

[darkhatter]

wow I thought Mepis only used open-source programs thats why I never went near it, but I'll try dapper first I don't want to move distro after I just came to (k)ubuntu. (I changed over the day before they released dapper :mad:).

'sudo passwd'

you now have a root account in ubuntu.

[aysiu]

'sudo passwd'

you now have a root account in ubuntu. But you won't be prompted for your root password when you launch Synaptic or any other program that requires root privileges.

Vice versa is true for Mepis, as Mstlyevil pointed out. You can enable sudo, but you'll still be prompted for your root, not user, password when you launch a program needing administrative privileges.

[darkhatter]

fair point

[jc87]

Personally i´m going to continue with Ubuntu , i prefer sudo and i love Gnome8)

But this sounds a great oportunnity for both distros to improve themselves , imagine Ubuntu and Mepis devs working together at common ground like bugs fixing , adding packages to the repos , etc....

Having two different distros with the same base system (and only small differences like the proprietary stuff default or not) sounds great:-D , and for the end user is an win-win situation

[aysiu]

Personally i´m going to continue with Ubuntu , i prefer sudo and i love Gnome8)

But this sounds a great oportunnity for both distros to improve themselves , imagine Ubuntu and Mepis devs working together at common ground like bugs fixing , adding packages to the repos , etc....

Having two different distros with the same base system (and only small differences like the proprietary stuff default or not) sounds great:-D , and for the end user is an win-win situation
I agree. I love sudo, and you can probably hack Mepis to include it, but I think I just prefer Ubuntu for whatever reason.

Gnome isn't really as much of an issue, since you can just install ubuntu-desktop on Mepis.

[bruce89]

What are the disadvantages of su over sudo?

[aysiu]

What are the disadvantages of su over sudo?
The pros and cons are outlined here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo#head-6cfb89699f99dbeee57c81c64945454d6ded2fac

[bruce89]

The pros and cons are outlined here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo#head-6cfb89699f99dbeee57c81c64945454d6ded2fac
Makes sense, is the main one the fact that su requires the root's password, whereas sudo doesn't?

[aysiu]

Makes sense, is the main one the fact that su requires the root's password, whereas sudo doesn't?
I don't know if there's a main one, to tell you the truth.

[darkhatter]

'sudo' is a harder to destroy your computer with lol :D I don't think is so much about finding out your root password, you just need root powers not to actually be root

[bruce89]

Yes, I suppose the fact that with Ubuntu is you don't know what your root password is (it's random), so you can't login as it without setting up a load of stuff. It's kind of builtin protection from yourself. Mind you Breezy stored the root password in some file in /var!

[G Morgan]

Yes, I suppose the fact that with Ubuntu is you don't know what your root password is (it's random), so you can't login as it without setting up a load of stuff. It's kind of builtin protection from yourself. Mind you Breezy stored the root password in some file in /var!

It's actually quite simple to setup root on Ubuntu, I think they should make it harder. Last time I did it there were only 2 steps (Set root password then enable root GDM login).

Sudo is a great thing and should be the method of choice for Ubuntu. It works well and its very rare you run into something where you actually need root. It's also better integrated, by allowing people to take root so seemlessly while limiting it to a single action you encourage people not to take root as default.

[bruce89]

It's actually quite simple to setup root on Ubuntu, I think they should make it harder. Last time I did it there were only 2 steps (Set root password then enable root GDM login).
Yes, I just wondered what the advantages of sudo are over su. I know that running as root is very bad news, and have never done it. Mabye it is too easy.

[RAV TUX]

Personally i´m going to continue with Ubuntu , i prefer sudo and i love Gnome8)

But this sounds a great oportunnity for both distros to improve themselves , imagine Ubuntu and Mepis devs working together at common ground like bugs fixing , adding packages to the repos , etc....

Having two different distros with the same base system (and only small differences like the proprietary stuff default or not) sounds great:-D , and for the end user is an win-win situation

I agree with the Ubuntu/Gnome preference.

I don't agree so much on the Mepis/Ubuntu connection, but I do think Ubuntu/Debian should make a stronger bond in working together.

Mepis is just one of many Distros transitioning thier base to Ubuntu, it just makes sense. Good job Mepis keep up the good work and awesome marketing and foundational decision to base Mepis on Ubuntu.

Actually all Ubuntu based Distros should work together in unison with Ubuntu and Debian.

remember: united we stand, divided we fall.

[darkhatter]

debain needs to stop popping out babies like this. I just want to welcome all the Mepis users to ubuntu.

[Iandefor]

It's actually quite simple to setup root on Ubuntu, I think they should make it harder. Last time I did it there were only 2 steps (Set root password then enable root GDM login). Why harder? It's not like some new user is going to accidentally stumble upon this combination of actions and setup root access with a password like 'root'.

[mstlyevil]

I encourage people who love Suse to try Mepis. Mepis has the polish of Suse and the power of Debian. I am not a big KDE guy but I find Mepis to be faster and more responsive on my system than Ubuntu. It has me seriously considering switching it to my main Operating system and making Ubuntu the secondary one.

I still love Ubuntu and will continue to use it and support it. It is still more flexible than Mepis simply because you have the choice of all the different platforms. Mepis does not play well with different kernels like the K7 kernel. But on the other hand the i386 version of Mepis is faster on my computer than Ubuntu with the K7 kernel.

Now if Mepis would consider creating their own Gnome desktop, it would be perfect. I know you can install Ubuntu's desktop, but this is just not the same and it creates a few issues since the Mepis kernel is modified.

When deciding on either using Kubuntu or Mepis you have to decide by the following criteria.

1. I need a easy to use, fast, stable and dependable operating system that needs little configuration. -Mepis

2. I need flexibility and the ability to modify the operating system to my needs. -Kubuntu

[aysiu]

I would think about this way:

Mepis: I don't mind deleting the Earthlink icon and disabling the aquarium applet and the system monitor applet, and all the stuff running in the notification area, and hacking Mepis to get a better bootsplash... as long as all my proprietary codecs are installed, and I have a point-and-click way to reinstall Grub.

Kubuntu: I don't mind adding proprietary codecs and getting rid of some huge bubble notifications to have an uncluttered desktop and a better support community.

[mips]

I'm beginning to think Kubuntu Dapper sux, writing this from a livecd. Breezy was way stabler imho.

Currently battling with erratic window scrolling, tab jumping and application change over with any input from my side. It is so bad that it has made my install unusable.

I think I will have a serious look mepis 6 once released.

EDIT: Not Dappers fault, does it on the livecd as well. Booted into my old xp partition and same problem there. So it must be my mouse/hardware.

I must just add that wow is XP fast, seriously it's like lightning and it is an old install full of crap & stuff.

[aysiu]

It's already at release candidate #2. I would imagine Mepis is pretty much at the final release stage.

[PapaWiskas]

Not to be superstitious but couldn't they have added a couple more files to the iso?

File size is 666 MB. :twisted: :twisted:

[bruce89]

Yikes, why is there a big fuss about it, and it isn't out yet. (It's close enough though)

[aysiu]

I brought Mepis up only because I saw a few threads about "Why can't Ubuntu include blah-blah-blah?"

Whenever I see complaints about Ubuntu "needing" proprietary codecs and drivers or "needing" to log in as root, I just keep thinking, "Well, the next release of Mepis will use Ubuntu repositories..."

So I tried Mepis RC2 out just for kicks. VMPlayer makes that easy to do.

[bruce89]

I brought Mepis up only because I saw a few threads about "Why can't Ubuntu include blah-blah-blah?"

Whenever I see complaints about Ubuntu "needing" proprietary codecs and drivers or "needing" to log in as root, I just keep thinking, "Well, the next release of Mepis will use Ubuntu repositories..."

So I tried Mepis RC2 out just for kicks. VMPlayer makes that easy to do.
That's alright, I just wondered. I wouldn't think it needs proprietary codecs, it discourages people from using free formats.

[aysiu]

That's alright, I just wondered. I wouldn't think it needs proprietary codecs, it discourages people from using free formats.
I'm probably going to stick with Ubuntu until kingdom come... or Shuttleworth broke, but I like that there is an alternative for those who think they "need" things, and Automatix or BUMPS is "too much trouble," and they hate sudo because they're "just used to" root.

[bruce89]

I'm probably going to stick with Ubuntu until kingdom come... or Shuttleworth broke, but I like that there is an alternative for those who think they "need" things, and Automatix or BUMPS is "too much trouble," and they hate sudo because they're "just used to" root.
It's all a matter of personal choice, and what they "need". Shuttleworth will last a good bit longer without going broke I think.

[mips]

Yikes, why is there a big fuss about it, and it isn't out yet. (It's close enough though)


Not to long ago dapper was'nt out either and the fuss was much bigger.

[curuxz]

Personaly while this looks good I am sticking with Kubuntu (I have been a Kubuntu user for nearly 2 years now, tho i think it started out as Ubuntu + KDE since I have only onced used a kubuntu disk). I want to make our distro better not jump ship to the nearest project. Why is mephis not helping Kubuntu, if the aims are the same why the need for the seperation?

[aysiu]

Kubuntu and Mepis do not have the same aims at all.

Mepis is a commercial enterprise (you'll notice an Earthlink icon on your default Mepis desktop) that includes proprietary codecs and favors many programs to one program. It is a distribution focused on the KDE desktop alone, and it does not ship you CDs for free.

Kubuntu is the KDE branch of Ubuntu, which has several different ways to to install Ubuntu--server, OEM, KDE, Gnome, XFCE. Ubuntu is dedicated to free/open source software, and it's designed with simplicity in mind--one initial user with one password, and one application per task.

Also, I don't know that Mepis doesn't help Kubuntu. Any improvements that Mepis makes that are open source (I don't know which of them are) could easily be picked up by Ubuntu developers.

[darkhatter]

I'm not sure how old Mepis is, but I'm sure its had more time then ubuntu. give it time it keeps getting better with each release. I'm still waiting for kde 4, I just hope they can live up to the hype that they are trying to create.

and for your information we need more commercial software. Any idea why linux is so popular in the cg market. Shake, Maya, etc.

[Jucato]

Personaly while this looks good I am sticking with Kubuntu (I have been a Kubuntu user for nearly 2 years now, tho i think it started out as Ubuntu + KDE since I have only onced used a kubuntu disk). I want to make our distro better not jump ship to the nearest project. Why is mephis not helping Kubuntu, if the aims are the same why the need for the seperation?

I probably wouldn't "jump ship" either, if I could actually see any glimpse of hope for a better Kubuntu future. But as it stands, I'm a bit skeptical. I want/need a KDE distro that works, and right now, Kubuntu only semi-works for me (I repeat, for me). Now that MEPIS is Ubuntu-based, my transition could be a lot easier, and I could still probably help around here.

But I'm worried about some previous statements (in this thread) that seem to say that MEPIS is much less customizable than Kubuntu? Is this true?

[aysiu]

For most practical purposes, Mepis is as customizable as Kubuntu. There's something weird that Warren does with the bootsplash so that you can't just change it as easily as in Kubuntu, if at all. It also doesn't have full integration with Ubuntu (but it mostly does).

I ran into an error or two installing Xubuntu on Mepis, but it seemed to have installed well. I can use it.

Basically, Mepis uses the Ubuntu repositories, but it has one special Mepis repository additionally.

[Jucato]

For most practical purposes, Mepis is as customizable as Kubuntu. There's something weird that Warren does with the bootsplash so that you can't just change it as easily as in Kubuntu, if at all. It also doesn't have full integration with Ubuntu (but it mostly does).

Hmm... that could be a deterrent for me, since I'm planning on studying how to make bootsplashes, splash screens, etc.

I guess I'll have to try it out some time after it has been released.

Could anyone point me to any reference about how MEPIS is developed? I mean, mstlyevil mentioned that Warren is just the lead developer/CEO, and that there's a strong community involvement, but I haven't seen any mention of this (yet).

Sorry if I'm sounding like a soon-to-be-ex-Kubuntu-user. I'm just really curious about MEPIS. And I like the Egyptian sounding name better than the African one, even if MEPIS actually has no meaning. :p

[aysiu]

According to Wikipedia:
MEPIS distribution is managed by MEPIS LLC, while Debian is a community project associated with Software in the Public Interest. I don't know if that answers your question or not.

[Jucato]

According to Wikipedia: I don't know if that answers your question or not.

Well, not really. But thanks anyway.
I'm usually wary of one-man-development-team distros, as these are usually subject to that one man's situation (whims, wants, financial status, etc.). I think that having a community deeply involved in the development process at least gives an assurance of outside influences, motivation, etc.

[mstlyevil]

Warren gets a lot of his input from the Mepis community when developing a release. Both Ubuntu and Mepis are actually on a semi-closed development platform. This is how they are able to quickly put out stable releases every six months.

I just get the feeling going to the Mepislovers forums and reading their web site that Warren is more open to community suggestions and involvement than Ubuntu devs are. The community is not as large as ours, but they are very loyal and passionate about their distro. This community drives Mepis and makes it strong just like our community does the same for Ubuntu.

Are they a large community? Compared to Ubuntu and Suse the answer is no. But their community is every bit as strong as ours.

[tsb]

I look forward to trying it out. I have a weeks vacation right about the time it will go final. My wife and I like the Vista beta so much that I've already deleted my Kubuntu Dapper partition, mostly because the multilingual support sucks in K/Ubuntu. My wife needs perfect traditional Chinese fonts and input, but it seems that in Dapper they are worse than they were in Breezy. I'll be happy playing with another distro and will probably delete the XP partition entirely if DVDFab works on Vista. Mepis and Vista sounds better every day.

[shuttleworthwannabe]

Warren gets a lot of his input from the Mepis community when developing a release. Both Ubuntu and Mepis are actually on a semi-closed development platform. This is how they are able to quickly put out stable releases every six months.

I just get the feeling going to the Mepislovers forums and reading their web site that Warren is more open to community suggestions and involvement than Ubuntu devs are. The community is not as large as ours, but they are very loyal and passionate about their distro. This community drives Mepis and makes it strong just like our community does the same for Ubuntu.

Are they a large community? Compared to Ubuntu and Suse the answer is no. But their community is every bit as strong as ours.
I second that. I have sent a numbe rof bug report to dev, and have received a personal reply from Warren. Another distro that is similar is BLAG (FC based). jebba is his username on the forums; he peronsally replies to all the questions on the firums (where he gets the time to do all this and put together a distro) is beyond me.

[chadk]

Me ****?
Hmmm
Aside from that... I thought KDE just got bought by some corporation and it was going to end up going the Red Hat route?

[bruce89]

Aside from that... I thought KDE just got bought by some corporation and it was going to end up going the Red Hat route?
KDE's toolkit, QT is made by trolltech, which charge for commercial licences. (but only for commercial applications)

[Jucato]

1. MEPIS pronounces as "meh-pis", like Memphis (without the "m" and "h"), a place in Egypt (hence the pyramids in the bootloader and wallpaper)
2. Like what bruce said, KDE uses Qt, a toolkit that is owned by a company called Trolltech, which recently went public, meaning (IIRC and AFAIK) they're going to have share/stockholders (not sure which).
3. KDE will always be free.
4. KDE is a Desktop Environment; Red Hat is a Linux distribution.

Hope that clears up some things a bit :D

[tucuman87]

1. actually, MEPIS is a Kubuntu fork. what will happen when edgy is out?? will a new MEPIS be released??

2. Kubuntu is ten times more polished than MEPIS, and uses ADEPT which is nicer than synaptic, at least in KDE.

3. can an installation be any easier than what it is like in Kubuntu??

[aysiu]

1. actually, MEPIS is a Kubuntu fork. what will happen when edgy is out?? will a new MEPIS be released?? Ubuntu is based on Debian but does not time its releases with Debian. Likewise, Mepis was formerly based on Knoppix and did not time its releases based on Knoppix's releases.



2. Kubuntu is ten times more polished than MEPIS, Can you give examples of this?
and uses ADEPT which is nicer than synaptic, at least in KDE. Adept is a piece of crap package manager right now. It may be improved for the future, but right now it can't lock package versions, and it doesn't warn you before it removes packages. You could be removing fifty or 100 packages, and you wouldn't know it until they were in the process of being removed.

I use Synaptic, even in Kubuntu.


3. can an installation be any easier than what it is like in Kubuntu?? Mepis has had an easy install way before Kubutu had one.

[bruce89]

...Adept is a piece of crap package manager right now. It may be improved for the future, but right now it can't lock package versions, and it doesn't warn you before it removes packages. You could be removing fifty or 100 packages, and you wouldn't know it until they were in the process of being removed.
The famous "What Sucks About DEs" saga complains about it too -

Kubuntu's front-end to apt, adept, is another one of those graphical disasters. Just look at it:

A picture says more than a thousand words. Please enlighten me; how, exactly, is a Windows or Mac user supposed to use this abomination of a user interface? But wait, that is not all. The auto-update part of adept is even worse; this is a big grey window with in the middle "Welcome to adept!" (or something similar) and two buttons down the far right. That's it.
- http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=14927. It's number 4.


I use Synaptic, even in Kubuntu.

Or more likely, aptitude!

I mean, it's hopelessly complcated, look at the screenshot. That's taking KDE policy a bit too far (just kidding)!

[aysiu]

If I'm lazy and looking for a package I don't know the name of, I actually do use Synaptic, not aptitude.

[bruce89]

If I'm lazy and looking for a package I don't know the name of, I actually do use Synaptic, not aptitude.
You are aware of it's GUI, I suppose it doesn't support searching the description. Actually it does, but I am not sure how to do it.

Anyway if anyone wants to see screenshots of SimplyMEPIS 6.0b5 see here - http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=671&slide=5&title=simplymepis+6.0+beta+5+screenshots

[aysiu]

I almost prefer straight-out command-line to text-based graphical interfaces, to tell you the truth. I have a hard time wrapping myself around the "graphical" version of aptitude.

If I'm too lazy to launch Synaptic, I'll do
apt-cache search whatimlookingfor

[darkhatter]

whats so confusing about adept enter the name and click the package, a cave man could do it. Please don't start flaming kde in this thread too

](*,)

if anyone cares this is my first post in (k)ubuntu 6.06 :mrgreen: looks like I'm not switching over to Mepis anymore, they fixed everything I hated about it

[aysiu]

whats so confusing about adept enter the name and click the package, a cave man could do it. Please don't start flaming kde in this thread too

](*,)

if anyone cares this is my first post in (k)ubuntu 6.06 :mrgreen: looks like I'm not switching over to Mepis anymore, they fixed everything I hated about it
I can't speak for anyone else, but I never flame KDE. In fact, I love KDE, Gnome, and XFCE equally and switch between them at whim.

Just because KDE is cool doesn't mean that Adept isn't a crap package manager. I'll use Synaptic in KDE, and I'll use KRename in Gnome. I'll use Firefox in KDE, and I'll use Kolourpaint in Gnome.

Adept is a crappy application, and it has nothing to do with KDE's quality.

[bruce89]

Please don't start flaming kde in this thread too
I wasn't, I just pointed out someone's critisism of Adept. If you want vengence, then post about this - http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=14811.

That's taking KDE policy a bit too far (just kidding)!
Also notice the (just kidding) bit on the right of my comment.

[aysiu]

bruce89 and I are not ComplexNumber.

[bruce89]

bruce89 and I are not ComplexNumber.
I had to do a bit of research to find out who that was! Seems as if ComplexNumber's comments are a bit odd, as claiming that KDE didn't adopt gstreamer first is a flaw. Gstreamer has a "g" in it for a good reason.
To that end, my brother seems happy with Fedora/KDE, and I don't annoy him about it (only in jest really). Has some intersting things to say:

By default, Fedora/Redhat uses Gnome, and each time I upgrade I try it out for a while. However, I always end up going back to KDE. There are more options in the control center to get everything set up just the way you want it. I find Gnome a bit less flexible. It's no big deal anyway -- they both run each other's apps, and the last thing that's needed is a war between the two Windowing systems on an OS that is aiming to compete with MS/Apple! which is a view I share. (mostly)

[mstlyevil]

1. actually, MEPIS is a Kubuntu fork. what will happen when edgy is out?? will a new MEPIS be released??

Actually Mepis has been around longer than Kubuntu and is not a fork. In fact Mepis uses very little Kubuntu packages in it's version of KDE. All Mepis did was switch kernels and sources. And then they modified them to be completely different. Mepis has never been and never will be a fork of Kubuntu.


2. Kubuntu is ten times more polished than MEPIS, and uses ADEPT which is nicer than synaptic, at least in KDE.

I have no clue what you mean by polish. Kubuntu has very little polish to it. Mepis is as polished if not more so than Suse. You obviously have never used Mepis or you would not be making such a ridiculous statement.



3. can an installation be any easier than what it is like in Kubuntu??

Yes! And Mepis has had an easier installation foir several years. Kubuntu can not nor will ever be that easy to install considering the fact that Mepis is almost entirely complete out of the box and Kubuntu needs a lot of work to get it useable. The graphical installer on Mepis is way better than Kubuntu's and has been around for several years. Kubuntu just got one this release.

[tucuman87]

about this:


I have no clue what you mean by polish. Kubuntu has very little polish to it. Mepis is as polished if not more so than Suse. You obviously have never used Mepis or you would not be making such a ridiculous statement.

actually, the theme of Kubuntu is nicer, more clean. The Control center has more options (how you change domain server names in MEPIS?? manually??) and I installed a kernel supporting smp (for i686). can MEPIS do that?? even the default background is better.

maybe, in the past, Kubuntu was not polished - was very different than ubuntu. but nowadays Kubuntu is a real ubuntu.... and not to mention the great forums!!

[awakatanka]

I have no clue what you mean by polish. Kubuntu has very little polish to it. Mepis is as polished if not more so than Suse. You obviously have never used Mepis or you would not be making such a ridiculous statement.





I think he means kubuntu has a cleaner install of appz, it doesn't have a few different appz of the same kind. Also the taskbar is cleaner.

ATM i'm realy devided between the two, in beta's i had a little favor of mepis but when kubuntu 6.06 was live i found it stable, but after a few updates its again less stable for me and i'm more and more thinking to drop kubuntu 6.06 in favor of mepis 6 because it is rocksolid atm. But the only thing i dislike it installs to much for my feelings but luckly that can be uninstalled. I like the clean base install of kubuntu. Anyone tested the 686 kernel of mepis? Because ubuntu's 686 kernel gives problems for me.

[bruce89]

Not to mention, Ubuntu doesn't have a EarthLink icon on the desktop, but you can delete it. (Quite a luxury compared to Vista!)

[tucuman87]

...Adept is a piece of crap package manager right now. It may be improved for the future, but right now it can't lock package versions, and it doesn't warn you before it removes packages. You could be removing fifty or 100 packages, and you wouldn't know it until they were in the process of being removed.

actually, it does warn you - just press the "preview changes" button and you'll see whats about to happen, and then changes can be made to the list. it's easier than in synaptic.

and ADEPT even has an advantage - you can make a safe upgrade.

it's not as buggy as it used to be. it's perfectly usable.

about forking - kubuntu will have the newest packages, like when KDE 3.5.3 came out.sure mepis can update from ubuntu repos, but only from basic stuff. don't think you could upgrade from a repo containing KDE 3.5.3 for ubuntu, in MEPIS. what will happen when KDE 4 is out?? I'll just upgrade. but will MEPIS handle this???

[Jucato]

whats so confusing about adept enter the name and click the package, a cave man could do it. Please don't start flaming kde in this thread too

](*,)

Adept might be simple for someone who's a bit used to package management in Linux. But for a newbie, the interface is a bit scary. Specially now that the debtags are visible by default, and no way to turn off. Adept also has some, IMHO, very serious usability issues, like no confirmation for actions. One thing I do like about it is the filter search and filter options.

@tucuman87:
- polish has little to do with "appearance" and more to do with performance.
- MEPIS now also uses System Settings like Kubuntu for system settings. However, for MEPIS-specific settings, there's still it's own Control Center. Most KDE distros have this kind of distinction between system settings and distro-specific settings. Kubuntu, on the other, only has one. However, System Settings pales in comparison to it's original and older brother, KControl. There are still some issues that need to be ironed out.
EDIT: Preview Changes is NOT a proper warning feature. It only informs you of that stuff IF you remember to click on it. That's not how a package manager should work. Adept is the only one that does this. IIRC, when a bug/wishlist for a proper warning (ala Synaptic or apt-get) was filed, Petr Rockai, the developer of Adept said he would not implement such a thing becaue HE finds it too intrusive and HE know what he's doing/installing/removing. the problem is, not everybody who will use Adept is as intelligent as a programmer.

[aysiu]

I don't consider having to go out of your way to preview changes the same as warning you if it's about to remove packages.

I've rarely seen someone post because she was committing changes in Synaptic and suddenly realized half her desktop was being removed.

It happens quite often for Adept, though.

Adept also lacks the ability to add a CD-ROM as a repository.

And... you still can't lock package versions, which (for some strange reason) appears to be a very popular request as of late.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "safe upgrade."

Edit: Apparently this is what "safe upgrade" means (http://doc.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/adeptguide/C/ar01s02.html):


Safe Upgrade: Mark the equivalent of the APT command upgrade.
*

Full Upgrade: Mark the equivalent of the APT command dist-upgrade.
*
and Synaptic has both of those options. So there's really no advantage to Adept, apart from being a Qt app instead of a Gtk one (i.e., a native KDE application).

[Jucato]

I'm not sure what you mean by a "safe upgrade."

Safe Upgrade in Adept is equal to apt-get upgrade
Full Upgrade in Adept is equal to apt-get dist-upgrade

Don't you wonder why Adept's default upgrade action is Full Upgrade, when dist-upgrade is only to be used for upgrading distributions to the next version?

[aysiu]

Actually dist-upgrade is, apparently, the preferred method of upgrading, as I learned from this thread. (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=86198)

[Jucato]

Actually dist-upgrade is, apparently, the preferred method of upgrading, as I learned from this thread. (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=86198)

Which, theoretically and AFAIK, should not be. It's usually used as a last resort when upgrade doesn't seem to install packages that you want. But then the problem lies with the packages, not apt-get. It's quite logical. Why should you upgrade the whole distribution (which is what dist-upgrade essential does) when you only need to upgrade a few packages within the distribution (upgrade)

But that's another topic...

[aysiu]

Which, theoretically and AFAIK, should not be. It's usually used as a last resort when upgrade doesn't seem to install packages that you want. But then the problem lies with the packages, not apt-get. It's quite logical. Why should you upgrade the whole distribution (which is what dist-upgrade essential does) when you only need to upgrade a few packages within the distribution (upgrade)

But that's another topic...
That's what I thought, too. Read the thread I linked to.

[bruce89]

Which, theoretically and AFAIK, should not be. It's usually used as a last resort when upgrade doesn't seem to install packages that you want. But then the problem lies with the packages, not apt-get. It's quite logical. Why should you upgrade the whole distribution (which is what dist-upgrade essential does) when you only need to upgrade a few packages within the distribution (upgrade)
I think it just works around dependancies different ways, synaptic's default upgrade method is smart (which is the same as a dist-upgrade).


Default Upgrade

The default upgrade method marks upgrades of installed packages only. If the later version of a package depends on not installed packages or conflicts with an already installed package, the upgrade will not be marked.

Smart Upgrade (Dist-Upgrade)
The smart upgrade method tries to resolve package conflicts intelligently. This includes installing additional required packages and preferring packages with higher priority. Smart upgrade is also known as dist-upgrade in the console tool apt-get.
In Dapper, Smart upgrade is the default of synaptic.

[darkhatter]

I think this thread has gone way to far. Would you go to someones house and start making fun of it? Think long a hard before you post lets take this somewhere else.

[Jucato]

I think this thread has gone way to far. Would you go to someones house and start making fun of it? Think long a hard before you post lets take this somewhere else.

I don't get it...???

[bruce89]

I think this thread has gone way to far. Would you go to someones house and start making fun of it? Think long a hard before you post lets take this somewhere else.
How have we gone too far?

[aysiu]

I think this thread has gone way to far. Would you go to someones house and start making fun of it? Think long a hard before you post lets take this somewhere else.
Whose house are we making fun of? Are we in the Adept house or the Earthlink house?

[darkhatter]

This is a ubuntu forum, you don't need to bring your Mepis in here and put down kubuntu. It's getting better, from 5.10 to 6.06 was a huge jump, we know that its going to get better

[Jucato]

This is the Ubuntu Cafe, where you can talk about anything and everything (that's within the guidelines of the forum).

This thread also talks about Kubuntu. No one is "putting down" Kubuntu. They are just merely stating their opinions regarding some of Kubuntu's inadequacies/failures.

Should people now stop posting bugs/wishes/complaints in Launchpad because it would be "putting down" Kubuntu?

Also, if you haven't noticed, most of the people posting in this thread ARE Kubuntu users.

[aysiu]

This is a ubuntu forum, you don't need to bring your Mepis in here and put down kubuntu. It's getting better, from 5.10 to 6.06 was a huge jump, we know that its going to get better
"Your Mepis"? What?

[bruce89]

This is a ubuntu forum, you don't need to bring your Mepis in here and put down kubuntu. It's getting better, from 5.10 to 6.06 was a huge jump, we know that its going to get better
People are allowed to express their opinions you do know, even if they are not the same as yours.

"Your Mepis"? What?
I know, I thought we were critising it more than Kubuntu.

[aysiu]

Well, darkhatter's well-intentioned. I think we all are. This is just a misunderstanding.

[bruce89]

Well, darkhatter's well-intentioned. I think we all are. This is just a misunderstanding.
I hope so, some people aren't prepared to change their opinions.

[darkhatter]

everyone is right your free to say what you want, I say that kubuntu is getting better, and if I was to jump ships I would go with Suse its getting faster, and the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop looks so nice.....

check out some of the screenshots

http://www.novell.com/products/desktop/preview.html

I think that is the future of Linux.

[blastus]

Mepis is an awesome distribution. Hats off to Warren for helping me and many others migrate to Linux via Mepis. I especially recommend Mepis to anyone who is new to Linux. Mepis is a gateway to the world of Linux.

[tsb]

I couldn't wait for the final. :)

Awesome is all I can say. Almost none of the hassle that goes with installing
K/Ubuntu. All I needed to do was map the volume keys and add DVD support. My list is ten times as long with K/Ubuntu. Verry impressive. I'm now MEPIS/Vista permanently.

PS-The W32 codecs have been updated on the mplayer page for those doing new installs.

[sophtpaw]

everyone is right your free to say what you want, I say that kubuntu is getting better, and if I was to jump ships I would go with Suse its getting faster, and the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop looks so nice.....

check out some of the screenshots

http://www.novell.com/products/desktop/preview.html

I think that is the future of Linux.

I'm confused. I use Ubuntu (gnome) but want an additional os i can dual boot into for backup. I figured i'd use kde in the second os just ot balance and keep an eye on both. Kubuntu was going to be my choice. Then i hear how great and better Mepis is. Ok, so lets have Mepis then. then i hear how great SUSE is. Now i don't know which is hte better secondary os for me. Mepis is supposed to be kubuntu + propriety codecs preinstalled. But SUSE is also supposed to work 'out of the box' Why all these distros? I'm confused :(

[Joey French]

Welcome to choice!

[aysiu]

I'm confused. I use Ubuntu (gnome) but want an additional os i can dual boot into for backup. I figured i'd use kde in the second os just ot balance and keep an eye on both. Kubuntu was going to be my choice. Then i hear how great and better Mepis is. Ok, so lets have Mepis then. then i hear how great SUSE is. Now i don't know which is hte better secondary os for me. Mepis is supposed to be kubuntu + propriety codecs preinstalled. But SUSE is also supposed to work 'out of the box' Why all these distros? I'm confused :(
I would use Mepis. The installer is faster than SuSE's, and the Debian-based package management will feel more familiar to you.

[Cbertram68]

I have been using Mepis since I started using Linux again. I did just switch my machjine to (K)Ubuntu, but this was because I was having trouble with printing in Mepis. SMB printing just would not work. I have to say though that part of it was the fact that I was using the Beta, and RC builds. Other than that it was a very complete OS out of the CD.

What I do have to say is that I believe that Kubuntu seemed to run faster out of the CD. This may have been because it is lighter as far as what is installed, but either way I have liked both distros equally.

I also had one other issue and that was VMware, and getting it to work on Mepis, but I believe my issue was not knowing how to find out the kernal header versions so I could compile it. I have since found plenty of info on that.

The other thing I do have to say about Mepis, and this might change as the user community grows is that you get replies to your posts on problems faster there. I have several posts in the Ubuntu forums, and have recieved very poor response to my problems. Do a search for "Wireless Fails". I may switch my laptop back to Mepis after release, but I really want to get Xubuntu going on my old 380XD.

[Rackerz]

What forums do you use to get support for Mepis?

[Jucato]

What forums do you use to get support for Mepis?
http://www.mepislovers.org I believe

[johnbl]

Noted your comment " enable root GDM login "
Am a newbie trying to set up a couple of systems both of which seem to have differing ' problems '.
To read some text files it appears that one must have root privaleges [ etc/readahead/resolv.conf ] This file being mentioned elsewhere as a possible source for solving of network problems. NB ADSL is online but no ones home.pings ok but refuses to allow actual access to the internet!
That's the why that I think could be resolved - if I'm right - by being able to read ALL the stuff in these files via file browser. Back to the how please do I go about enabling root. Managed first step of applying a password...

Thanks for any suggestions.

John

[aysiu]

That's the why that I think could be resolved - if I'm right - by being able to read ALL the stuff in these files via file browser. Press Alt-F2. This will open a "Run" dialogue. In that dialogue, enter one of the following commands:

Gnome:
gksudo nautilus
KDE:
kdesu konqueror
XFCE:
gksudo thunar

Now you can browse as root.

[GarethMB]

I really prefer KDE over Gnome after using it for a while, and i love ubuntu but kubuntu is just buggy. I mean right now ktorrent won't even launch. It seems to me that kubuntu is far less stable than ubuntu.

So i'm considering giving Mepis a try, has anyone tried it yet?

Opinions and other things i should bear in mind.

[raffytaffy]

I ran mepis....i must say...the pyramids arent all that.lol..its an ok distro...thing is...software wise..i think more stuff is available for ubuntu and suse type distros then mepis...my .02$

[ajgreeny]

I tried Mepis a while ago, and it was not bad, but, (and here is the greatest strength of Ubuntu [and Kubuntu, which I use]) the forums were pretty useless, probably because of the quite small user base.
Did you install from a Kubuntu CD? I used a Ubuntu CD (beta, in fact) and added kubuntu-desktop, and find it very stable, though I don't run ktorrent at all so can't comment on that. I have seen on these forums that Kubuntu installed as that alone is less stable, but don't have any way to be certain.

[aysiu]

If you're going to switch to Mepis, use the release candidate for Mepis 6--it's fairly stable, and Mepis 6 is based on Ubuntu and uses Ubuntu repositories.

[harisund]

Personally, I was quite impressed with Mepis. I liked the installer, the software that comes with it, but I am sticking with Ubuntu (don't ask why .. just like that... )

I know, the Linux hard core zealots out here are going to probably say they pack stuff that are not GPL compliant and sh** like that, but hey, if I get a system with Realplayer, codecs, acroreader and all that pre installed, I would love it than having to rely on some third party EasyUbuntu or Automatix to install it for me.

Give it a try . . as Aysiu has pointed out, it uses the Ubuntu repositories, so you won't be losing out on much software too. A Win Win situation for all :)

[RAV TUX]

I really prefer KDE over Gnome after using it for a while, and i love ubuntu but kubuntu is just buggy. I mean right now ktorrent won't even launch. It seems to me that kubuntu is far less stable than ubuntu.

So i'm considering giving Mepis a try, has anyone tried it yet?

Opinions and other things i should bear in mind.

Just say NO. (joking)

[FredB]

I tried Mepis, and it is a great distro. Far better than Kubuntu for KDE. Give it a try and see what you think about it ;)

You're free to use the distro you want to use !

[ajgreeny]

Did you find the forum any real help for Mepis? That was my main fault with it; there was no one who would answer any questions I had, so I just gave up.

Better than Kubuntu? I added the kubuntu-desktop to a standard ubuntu install and find it better than mepis was. Perhaps having the ubuntu setup first makes kubuntu better for some reason; I have certainly seen this suggested several times in different places.

[Lord Illidan]

Kubuntu is quite stable for me.. the only thing which me problems occasionally is kicker.

If you want to try Mepis, or indeed any other distro, go ahead. Choice is our pregorative, after all.

[FredB]

Did you find the forum any real help for Mepis? That was my main fault with it; there was no one who would answer any questions I had, so I just gave up.

Maybe http://www.mepis.org/forum/7 ?



Better than Kubuntu? I added the kubuntu-desktop to a standard ubuntu install and find it better than mepis was. Perhaps having the ubuntu setup first makes kubuntu better for some reason; I have certainly seen this suggested several times in different places.

Kubuntu feels for me a little unfinished. Adept is unstable, setting up time is really a p-i-t-a compared to ubuntu.

Maybe it is me which has problem with kubuntu :o

[FredB]

Kubuntu is quite stable for me.. the only thing which me problems occasionally is kicker.

What kind of problems ?



If you want to try Mepis, or indeed any other distro, go ahead. Choice is our pregorative, after all.

No ? :D :D :D :D :D :D

[RAV TUX]

2006-07-22 Distribution Release: SimplyMEPIS 6.0 (http://distrowatch.com/3585) http://distrowatch.com/images/icon-large/mepis.png (http://distrowatch.com/mepis) Warren Woodford has announced the availability of SimplyMEPIS (http://distrowatch.com/mepis) 6.0, the first public release of SimplyMEPIS to incorporate an Ubuntu foundation: "Based on the Dapper LTS package pool, 6.0 is designed for stable long term use and support. SimplyMEPIS 6.0 is a complete and safe desktop environment designed to meet the needs of everyday computer users. SimplyMEPIS offers advanced hardware autodetection, multimedia integration, and an easy to use installer. Featured software includes KDE 3.5.3, Kontact 1.2.3, OpenOffice 2.0.2, Firefox 1.5.0.4, Thunderbird 1.5.0.4, RealPlayer 10.0.7, as well as hundreds of other top quality applications. SimplyMEPIS 6.0 runs the latest security patched 2.6.15 Linux kernel from Ubuntu-Security." Read the complete press release (http://www.mepis.org/node/10606) for further information. Download from mirrors (http://www.mepis.org/node/1462): SimplyMEPIS_6.0_i386.iso (http://mirror.cs.vt.edu/pub/MEPIS/SimplyMEPIS_6.0_i386.iso) (690MB, MD5 (http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/mepis/released/SimplyMEPIS_6.0_i386.md5sum)).


Anybody having any success playing with this one?

[kripkenstein]

I'm curious about the new Ubuntu-based MEPIS, I might try it sometime. Feels odd, having it based on Ubuntu, I must say.

[elijahclarity]

SimplyMEPIS 6.0 FINAL is out! Those who have tried it, plz share ur experiences with us. And whether it was better/worse than Kubuntu Dapper! Being a KDE fan, I'm definitely gonna try it...but it will be some time before I try the latest Mepis...as I do not have access to high-speed internet:(

[Jucato]

I'm downloading the torrent right now. I might install it tomorrow, but I wouldn't probably be able to make a final review until after I've used it for more than a day.

[RAV TUX]

there is already a thread on this release I will merge the two.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=220761
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1288371#post1288371

[RAV TUX]

I am using SimplyMepis now based on Ubuntu 6.06.

The live CD booted quick and smooth.

This is a distro for KDE lovers, but I am sure I could reconfigure to Gnome.(not sure how)

I have one small problem thus far.

the screen display is huge! I could stand 30 feet away and have no problem seeing. It makes for a very comical first impression. Again I am sure this can be easily adjusted but I don't know yet how.

If I could figure out where the screenshot icon is, like the little camera on Gnome I would take a screenshot.

I think my main problem is I am unfimilar with KDE settings.

If anyone could help me that would be great.

[tseliot]

This is a distro for KDE lovers, but I am sure I could reconfigure to Gnome.(not sure how)
Maybe with this command?

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

[RAV TUX]

I rebooted to SimplyMepis again and for some reason it didn't recognize my mouse, not sure why since it did the first time?

[aysiu]

I just downloaded it, and it's awesome--fast and the best combination of Ubuntu and Knoppix. It's got the stability and repositories of Ubuntu, but it still allows you to automount (with one click) any partitions you have.

I'm still sticking with Ubuntu just because of the community and support, but Mepis 6 is the best distro I've seen. I'll keep its live CD around for sure.

[codejunkie]

i've been testing mepis 6 since it was in beta, and even in beta it was way better than kubuntu, it's a great solid kde based distro. but even though it's based on ubuntu, it still doesn't play as well with gnome as ubuntu does, or at least in my experiance mepis with gnome is not as good as ubuntu and kubuntu is nowhere near the kde based distro mepis is.

[RAV TUX]

I am still working on a few things:

1. how to get to recognize my mouse (Razer Diamondback) it worked the first time but not the second time.

2. how to adjust the screendisplay.

3. how to load Gnome.

I am considering loading this on my new computer, which thus far I have been unable to load Ubuntu on, but I had no problems with Mepis. I like the fact that it is based on Ubuntu.

I will continus to use Ubuntu on my other 2 computers.

disappointing that they don't have a Gnome version based on Ubuntu.

[wyth]

Just curious --I've seen more than a few people say Mepis got KDE down better than Kubuntu, but I've not seen specifics yet. I haven't used Mepis in over a year, and have my Kubuntu system pretty well set up. What gains would a person get by switching to Mepis? What are the major improvements over Kubuntu?

[aysiu]

I don't think there are any advantages in the end result for Mepis over Kubuntu, but for an "out of the box" experience for most users, it's much better:

1. It automounts partitions in a readable way (no "permission denied"). You just click the partition once.

2. It includes a ton of multimedia codecs that are proprietary but very popular--no need for Automatix or BUMPS or Easy Ubuntu.

3. It has easy-to-choose options at bootup for low-spec and vesa and something else--using different kernels.

4. It includes a way to easily restore Grub to the MBR.

[gingermark]

If Ubuntu repositories work with SimplyMEPIS, is the reverse true? I love Kubuntu, but I would be interested to see if their version of Synaptic is better integrated (dunno if this is possible, would be good to try),

[RAV TUX]

Just curious --I've seen more than a few people say Mepis got KDE down better than Kubuntu, but I've not seen specifics yet. I haven't used Mepis in over a year, and have my Kubuntu system pretty well set up. What gains would a person get by switching to Mepis? What are the major improvements over Kubuntu?

For KDE users I found Sabayon Linux a better choice then Mepis or Kubuntu.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=221399

[rattlerviper]

I write this from mepis live cd. I am simply NOT impressed. I figured it was a derivitive of Kubuntu (which I like) that maybe it was simply a more polished version. It is not! The desktop takes us back 12-18 months or more. What happened that mepis cannot get my screen resalution correct? What happened that the fonts are weird tiny little things? Kubuntu has those right how did it go wrong?
Why swimming fish, what in the world do they do because I have no clue. I think Tseliot was right saying you could sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop, which after seeing what is here looks like a far better option than keeping what it came with. One might even be tyempted to sudo apt-get install gnome and get the full gnome experience if you like gnome. If you like like KDE I would imagine you could always fix it here. http://www.kubuntu.org/download.php download the iso, burn it and install it!

Maybe I'm blind, but I just don't see what Mepis is offering that Kubuntu doesn't already have? (that's a serious question what have they added besides the ummm intresting desktop enviroment?)

[aysiu]

Maybe I'm blind, but I just don't see what Mepis is offering that Kubuntu doesn't already have? (that's a serious question what have they added besides the ummm intresting desktop enviroment?) See post #13 of this thread.

[rattlerviper]

See post #13 of this thread.

I see now. I'm not sure how I missed post 13 the first time through. Do you have any idea about how they are using the codecs? Do they have a licensing agreement, or are they based in a country that does not recognize those copyrights? DreamLinux also includes the codecs to just make DVD play work, but I have not figured out how they do it since their forums are mostly in Portrogese (spelling sorry).
Then again I may have missed it because I was reading it while using mepsis and the Font was so small I could barely read it? That would be easily solved by installing extra fonts after install right? I would guess that a Mepis user could download easy Ubuntu and tick the download nice fonts and the situation would improve?

[aysiu]

I don't know how Mepis gets away with it. I don't know how PCLinuxOS or Blag do either.

Linspire I can understand, so they pay for the right to use those codecs.

[jacksaff]

KDE just feels better set up in mepis. A menu link for opening konqueror in super-user mode and an open terminal here icon for example. Kubuntu seems to follow the gnome philosophy of 'if you don't already know how to do it, you shouldn't be doing it' and hides this sort of stuff. Mepis also has a much better (IMO) selection of packages and isn't kept back by a kde app only approach. Synaptic is better than adept so goes in despite not being qt-based. Firefox likewise. Not good if you want to build a lean system, but much more newbie friendly.
Pretty much everything in mepis is also available in ubuntu though and the mepis config utilities are not enough alone to justify swapping. The one mepis utility I do love is the installer. Instead of installing the system it just copies accross a ready made one. It's not configurable at all but it is incredibly fast. Takes about 10 minutes for a complete install, including a lot more apps than kubuntu (though a lot less stuff like language packs).
The difference between mepis and kubuntu is a little like the difference between ubuntu and debian. Debian is a general purpose system to do anything on any hardware. Ubuntu does (basically) one thing - desk top computing - but keeps as many options open as possible on how to do that one thing. Mepis does the same one thing, but does it one way. If you like the mepis set-up then it is the best of all possible ubuntus. If you don't, then ubuntu has the more flexibility.

[aysiu]

The one mepis utility I do love is the installer. Instead of installing the system it just copies accross a ready made one. It's not configurable at all but it is incredibly fast. Takes about 10 minutes for a complete install, including a lot more apps than kubuntu (though a lot less stuff like language packs). In all fairness, though, the Desktop CD for Dapper does essentially the same thing--it doesn't install the system; it just copies over, which is why the Desktop CD cannot be used as a full repository.

Of course... Mepis' installer has had all the kinks worked out of it. Ubiquity has a long way to go.

[fluffnik]

I just downloaded it, and it's awesome--fast and the best combination of Ubuntu and Knoppix. It's got the stability and repositories of Ubuntu, but it still allows you to automount (with one click) any partitions you have.

I have a 2TB raid that ran on a SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 live cd while waiting for a new system disk - it JustWorked(TM).

It's running on an installed SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 right now because it was the fastest (trustable) way to keep it on line; faster even than a Debian NetInstall followed by a reboot into a (predebianised, on my net) custom kernel supporting my disk controllers...

...the somewhat kludged upgrade/maintainance path means it'll probably revert to vanilla Debian at a convenient moment - tracking Debian is fraught despite a well formed apt/preferences - though it might be worth trying SimplyMEPIS 6.0 since as a worst case I can provide service off a live CD (!)



I'm still sticking with Ubuntu just because of the community and support, but Mepis 6 is the best distro I've seen. I'll keep its live CD around for sure.

MEPIS has a bought media/deluxe subscription (arm) to its business model and I suspect they (he, called Warren in reality) has a bulk licensing/distribution deal for all the non-free stylee stuff with a cost based on paid for copies which everyone using it benefits from - cool.

The downside of that comercial model is (has been???) the failiure to access the awsome SuperCowPower of dpkg due to being neither fully tracking nor a snapshot. Hopefully linking to ubuntu's tracking snapshot model will result in a distro that is not just massively convenient but maintainable across releases too.

I've spent about 20 mins with it on this ThinkPad (battery monitor worked - see other thread...) and it has me casting my eyes about looking for a suitable victim...

[fluffnik]

Just curious --I've seen more than a few people say Mepis got KDE down better than Kubuntu, but I've not seen specifics yet. I haven't used Mepis in over a year, and have my Kubuntu system pretty well set up. What gains would a person get by switching to Mepis? What are the major improvements over Kubuntu?

One of the neatest things Mepis does is to integrate Gnome/GTK apps into the KDE desktop to the extent that the default apps are probably better integrated than most WinXP installations; even the GTK1/GTK2 differences are almost invisible - unlike ubuntu - provided you stick with the default theme or its close relatives.

There are probably more look and feel inconsistancies within KDE and Gnome than between Mepis's implimentation of the two.

...and it's mostly one guy!

[kennylog]

I tried it and liked it a lot, still I'm not sure what it does better than Kubuntu, hardware detection had the same flaws, anyone got better results?

[kazuya]

Can you say faster. Well, quite a bit low on resources used and easily maintained or managed compared to kubuntu. Kubuntu is great as well, but mepis is designed with kde in mind, so obviously, it comes better stocked with ease of maintainance, look, optimization, and ease of control.

Kubuntu has greatly improved since this week's upgrade. I shall investigate more . But it seems every month or so, it gets much more capable. It is very close to Mepis 6, but Mepis 6 definitly takes the cake and lead in terms of speed and polish.

Also after installing mepis 6, you can easily install ubuntu-desktop, xubuntu-desktop, and in essence you get Ubuntu as everyone else does.

The two seem almost the same for me. I love gnome more now which is a far cry for my love for gnome before. I hated gnome with a passion and loved kde. Since Ubuntu dapper and the use of gnome 2.14, I am addicted to gnome.

This is why I am not back in mepis. If I was a kde guy like before, I would much prefer Mepis 6 over any other kde based distro. It is simply incredible in ease of install, maintainance, and functionality.

In truth, they are all great and equal depending on your preference. Very soon kubuntu would catch up to mepis as they both use the same core. Kubuntu just needs to be better optimized slightly.

Now maybe, my Kubuntu seems slower than mepis due to xfce, and gnome already being there versus just mepis{kde}. I shall give more answer. But kubuntu is a close distance from mepis. gnome on mepis for example would not function as great as gnome on Ubuntu. Hmn. I may have to try this out.

Both are better than most of the other rpm based distros. Mepis in my experience runs close to kanotix, but all still slower than Vector Soho 5.1.

[aysiu]

I tried it and liked it a lot, still I'm not sure what it does better than Kubuntu, hardware detection had the same flaws, anyone got better results?
Here's what it does better...

1. Easy choices at the boot menu for different situations (older computers, for example).

2. Inclusion of popular proprietary codecs and software. One could argue it's the strength of Kubuntu that it's committed to free and open source software, but for many new users straight from Windows... it isn't.

3. Inclusion of a "browse as root" button in the KMenu. In Kubuntu, you have to create your own
kdesu konqueror command if you want to do that.

4. Ability to mount any partition (NTFS, FAT32, Ext3) with a single click and with the correct permissions.

5. Ability to reinstall Grub graphically with a few clicks.

6. A mix of Gtk and Qt applications--Synaptic and Firefox are much better (for me and a lot of users) than Adept and Konqueror.

7. An installer that's tried and true. Dapper's Ubiquity is still quite buggy, since it's Ubuntu's first foray into point-and-click installation/partitioning.

[RAV TUX]

I merged the SimplyMepis 6.0 Poll thread with this thread. One SimplyMepis 6.0 thread is sufficient.

[Dinerty]

I personally thought hardware detection was not great for Mepis 6, it failed to detect the correct resolution of my laptop monitor (1920 x 1200) and wireless connection, all of which Ubuntu detected :)

Have to say mepis 6 has a nice gui and looks a good OS, I liked the fish moving in the task bar :D

[RAV TUX]

I personally thought hardware detection was not great for Mepis 6, it failed to detect the correct resolution of my laptop monitor (1920 x 1200) and wireless connection, all of which Ubuntu detected :)

Have to say mepis 6 has a nice gui and looks a good OS, I liked the fish moving in the task bar :D

The fishies are cute but they are available in the Synaptic Package Manager.

Screen resolution detection seems to be a problem for SimplyMepis 6.0, easily fixable but you would think more care would have been put into minor details.

Presentation is everything and when I see a distro ignore attention to detail I find it not a good sign overall.

[Dinerty]

The fishies are cute but they are available in the Synaptic Package Manager.

Screen resolution seems to be a problem for SimplyMepis 6.0, easily fixable but you would think more care would have been put into minor details.

Presentation is everything and when I see a distro ignore attention to detail I find it not a good sign overall.

The fishes in the synaptic packager manager hey !, might have to look for them (lol I'm 23 how sad is that !), Mepis I found installed hell of alot of software (ClamAV, Guard dog and many other programs .... I personally thought it was very cluttered)

Non the less it does a simplelestic feel, shame about not detecting correct resolutions :(

[aysiu]

I don't think you can make an across-the-board statement that Mepis doesn't detect screen resolutions as well as Ubuntu.

After all, Ubuntu did not detect my native screen resolution, and Mepis did. I don't then generalize that Ubuntu is worse than Mepis at detecting video and monitors.

It's a mix and match.

[RAV TUX]

I don't think you can make an across-the-board statement that Mepis doesn't detect screen resolutions as well as Ubuntu.

After all, Ubuntu did not detect my native screen resolution, and Mepis did. I don't then generalize that Ubuntu is worse than Mepis at detecting video and monitors.

It's a mix and match.

You are right about this, aysiu.

[Dinerty]

I don't think you can make an across-the-board statement that Mepis doesn't detect screen resolutions as well as Ubuntu.

After all, Ubuntu did not detect my native screen resolution, and Mepis did. I don't then generalize that Ubuntu is worse than Mepis at detecting video and monitors.

It's a mix and match.

Valid point mate

[Jucato]

Actually, no distro has yet been able to set my screen resolution correctly (NVIDIA GeForce4 MX4000 + AOC Spectrum 4Vn 1028x768) except for Kororaa. I can get that resolution in MEPIS using the VESA boot option.

[Jucato]

Just wanted to bring this little tidbit to those wanting to try SimplyMEPIS 6. It seems that it no longer has out of the box support for MP3s, at least without an update. Here's the relevant entry from mepislovers.com

http://www.mepislovers.com/forums/index.php?topic=487.msg3703#msg3703


New users may note that Kaffeine or Amarok crash when you try to play MP3's on a vanilla Mepis installation. This is NOT a bug!! Due to licensing issues Mepis cannot directly distribute all necessary components to play MP3's out of the box. However, it has been set up in such a way that you can easily fix this.

1. Find Synaptic (package manager) in the system menu, launch it and enter root password
2. Click on the button RELOAD and wait until the updated list is downloaded (this should not last long)
3. Now click SEARCH and find the package libmad0 (libmad and then a zero)
4. On the package name, right click and 'mark for upgrade'
5. Now, hit the APPLY button and wait for the package to be upgraded
6. Close synaptic and you're done.

Again, please understand this is necessary to prevent Mepis from getting into licensing trouble. But hey, what is two minutes of your time to save Mepis some hassle and be able to listen to those MP3's by just taking some simple steps.....


So in some ways, one of MEPIS' strengths is gone. But then again, upgrading libmad0 isn't that hard. You won't have to modify your repositories.

The only unfortunate thing here is that this little inconvenience is not known to the general public, at least not on the main MEPIS website. None of the reviews mention this fact either. The only way to find that out would be to browse through mepislovers.org, and hope you hit the right thread (luckily the thread was a sticky). That's right, I said browse, not search. Why? Because it seems that the phrase "play mp3 crash amarok" is not accepted because " Your query was not specific enough. Try using larger words, or less common phrases." :confused:

Just thought you guys might be interested to know about that. I'm testing MEPIS right now. So far, I haven't run into other problems. So far... :D

[aysiu]

What a bummer. That and the aquarium and Earthlink...

[RAV TUX]

Just wanted to bring this little tidbit to those wanting to try SimplyMEPIS 6. It seems that it no longer has out of the box support for MP3s, at least without an update. Here's the relevant entry from mepislovers.com

http://www.mepislovers.com/forums/index.php?topic=487.msg3703#msg3703


So in some ways, one of MEPIS' strengths is gone. But then again, upgrading libmad0 isn't that hard. You won't have to modify your repositories.

The only unfortunate thing here is that this little inconvenience is not known to the general public, at least not on the main MEPIS website. None of the reviews mention this fact either. The only way to find that out would be to browse through mepislovers.org, and hope you hit the right thread (luckily the thread was a sticky). That's right, I said browse, not search. Why? Because it seems that the phrase "play mp3 crash amarok" is not accepted because " Your query was not specific enough. Try using larger words, or less common phrases." :confused:

Just thought you guys might be interested to know about that. I'm testing MEPIS right now. So far, I haven't run into other problems. So far... :D

Very interesting, I would like to compile a list of Distros that do have out-of-the-box codecs to play movies and MP3's

1. dyne:bolic

[aysiu]

Very interesting, I would like to compile a list of Distros that do have out-of-the-box codecs to play movies and MP3's

1. dyne:bolic
Unless something has changed, I think Linspire, DreamLinux, Blag, and PCLinuxOS do.

[RAV TUX]

Unless something has changed, I think Linspire, DreamLinux, Blag, and PCLinuxOS do.


Thanks aysiu, to avoid taking this thread off topic I started a new thread to make a list here:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1312952#post1312952

[Jucato]

@aysiu: major bummer. Another thing I noticed is that most of my DivX encoded videos are choppy in Kaffeine, but not in KMPlayer. really weird.

Everything for multimedia codecs are installed though (libxine-extracodecs and libmad0). Except you have to upgrade first. Not a very "out of the box" experience, but bearable, nonetheless.

@Jozef: I think a new thread for that would be good. You can add KNOPPIX, Kororaa (last time I checked), Mandriva, and PCLinuxOS to that list. Those are the only ones I have tried.

[RAV TUX]

I have decided to start a series of threads specifically for technical help for other Distros...the Distro is listed in the thread title. This is primarily for Ubuntu users who test or use other distros and feel most comfortable seeking help in our own community. In no way does this superceed the help you should also be getting from the perspective Distro., in fact I encourage you to be as active in their forums as you are here and post ideas, knowledge and solutions here to provide a reference point to share, reference links are encouraged.

***Mepis Tech Talk***

Threads merged:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=220761
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=231270

[harisund]

way to go yozef.. I really do love this community and am definitely the most comfortable here

[Jucato]

I'm gonna say something that I know I'm gonna get flamed for...

SimplyMEPIS 6 is faster and more responsive on my system. Of course, the experience of other people may vary. But then again, it doesn't matter what they experience, coz it's not their system that I will be using, right?

There are also a lot of things I like about MEPIS, but leaving Kubuntu just doesn't feel right. Some of my issues with Kubuntu are just practical ones, like speed, performance, stability, bootsplash (soon to be solved in Edgy!!!), etc. But there are "probably" some ideological/philosophical questions as well. I say "probably" because I don't know if they are really true, or just rumors...

I still prefer and love Kubuntu. But MEPIS is very tempting...

[ubuntoy]

MEPIS is the proof and product of improving an existing linux distro rather than creating another linux distro or "re-inventing the wheel" like what others did.

MEPIS ladder 3, debian>ubuntu>mephis. The MEPIS team just concentrated on improving the desktop and hardware compatibility, they no longer waste their time and resources with the system base, as a result, a powerful distro.

[Jucato]

From what I've heard, there is no MEPIS "team", just Warren doing the stuff. I heard this from a MEPIS user.

What makes me wonder the most is that Kubuntu has the resources, and probably the manpower if compared to MEPIS, to somehow optimize performance. Both MEPIS and Kubuntu use a 386 kernel for the default.

Maybe it's just me being a bit frustrated seeing how MEPIS is faster, and wishing that Kubuntu could be equally as fast or even faster. :(

[rattlerviper]

I'm gonna say something that I know I'm gonna get flamed for...

SimplyMEPIS 6 is faster and more responsive on my system. Of course, the experience of other people may vary. But then again, it doesn't matter what they experience, coz it's not their system that I will be using, right?

There are also a lot of things I like about MEPIS, but leaving Kubuntu just doesn't feel right. Some of my issues with Kubuntu are just practical ones, like speed, performance, stability, bootsplash (soon to be solved in Edgy!!!), etc. But there are "probably" some ideological/philosophical questions as well. I say "probably" because I don't know if they are really true, or just rumors...

I still prefer and love Kubuntu. But MEPIS is very tempting...

BURN BURN BURN LOL.
I have to say it's the Philosophy that keep me here. Ubuntu is GREAT but it's not the only great distro out there. I like the philosophy here. I like the people here. I like knowing that when edgy comes out it won't cost me 50 bucks. LOL What you use for you OS is your choice...as long as it is Linux!LOL

[Jucato]

Nooo!!! I'm still using Kubuntu!! LOL

Anyway, I also like the philosophy. I use a lot of media in proprietary formats, but I don't have issues with having to install codecs (you also need to install DivX in XP anyway). I also love the community, specially the response time in the forums. But probably because we are a much bigger group. The community is one of the things that has kept me sticking to Kubuntu.

But then I want a KDE distro. I want a fast KDE distro. But I also want to stick to Kubuntu...

Here's to hoping that Kubuntu 6.06.1 or Edgy would have them all... :D

[rattlerviper]

Nooo!!! I'm still using Kubuntu!! LOL

Anyway, I also like the philosophy. I use a lot of media in proprietary formats, but I don't have issues with having to install codecs (you also need to install DivX in XP anyway). I also love the community, specially the response time in the forums. But probably because we are a much bigger group. The community is one of the things that has kept me sticking to Kubuntu.

But then I want a KDE distro. I want a fast KDE distro. But I also want to stick to Kubuntu...

Here's to hoping that Kubuntu 6.06.1 or Edgy would have them all... :D

If you want a FAST Kubuntu start chopping it up taking out what you don't need. I would personally have no idea of where to start, but it is possible! PCLinuxOS minime is a KDE based distro and faster than any XFCE distro I have run! They have just trimmed thing out to make it that way. I would guess that you could run thier live disk and check to see what is installed and start removing stuff from Kubuntu from that. On the other hand you might just end up BREAKING Kubuntu, and if you do I deny all knowledge. I repeat I deny all knowledge. LOL [-X

I'd bet the KDE people around here would be able to help out! Personally I prefer Gnome to KDE.(but KDE is pretty!)

[Jucato]

LOL!
I could "simply" tweak everything to optimize it, but I'm not very knowledgeable how to do that. Wouldn't it be nice if Kubuntu was already fast by default?

Oh well... one with the show!

(Please don't burn me :D)

[natrixgli]

My input:

1: Mepis has Webmin in their repos... ;) Big sell for me!

2: The first thing I do when I install X/K/U/buntu is type "sudo passwd root", followed by a very strong password. I never log in as root, and I always log out after issuing whichever command requires root permissions. And for silly bits like ejecting flash drives and such, I use visudo rules.

3: Mepis doesn't require any kernel parameters to operate in 1024x768 console mode, which is nice. (For Ubuntu, I have to remember to boot with "VGA=773".. not really a big deal. (Well, it's a big deal until I get around to fixing it... ;)

4: For servers, I stick to Ubuntu, because noX = good.

5: I only use KDE for some of it's apps, like KATE & KControl.. I don't actually run the window manager... (I prefer Fluxbox.) So either performs well imho. Ubuntu & Mepis are two kick *** distros.


So is there any difference in performance if you start out with Ubuntu server and add the necessary KDE packages from there? That's essentially what I did on my laptop, except I use Fluxbox. I did install the ubuntu-desktop package, and most of KDE because there are several related apps that I like, like amaroK, kate, etc, and having all of the KDE/Gnome libraries can be helpful...

[richbarna]

Ok guys I have read this thread (yes every post!) and I've got Mepis 6 coming down now.

If all goes well, I'll do a review for the "Distro-Test" sticky :)

PS: If it hasn't already been done by then.

[richbarna]

Hi everyone,
I haven't got afast adsl (1Mb), but found the Mepis 6 html download would only reach 20-30 kb a second.

If anyone else wants this Mepis 6, I will seed the torrent for a month.

The torrent is here :-
http://www.tlm-project.org/public/distributions/SimplyMEPIS/released/

[Jucato]

Ehehe! let's race, richbarna? eheh! Kidding!
I don't know if I have enough "facts" to write a review, but I do feel one coming soon. :D

[richbarna]

Damn! it's still slow !

Hey Conanm4, could you seed this, I'm like hoping to try it before Mepis 7 is released. ;)

[richbarna]

Feel free to do the distro test Fenyx, I downloaded and tried the live cd.
It is now in the back section of the cd holder. This is a better position than the Gentoo coaster or the freebsd that I threw on the beach, but not much.

After all the talk about Mepis, I thought that there would be something interesting, but no, it's just kde with an ugly fish tank on the main panel.

I have a run of the mill nVidia card and Mepis only allowed the 640 screen resolution. I couldn't get automatic access to other partitions.
It did connect to the internet, WOW! [=SARCASM] being as I have a router on DHCP that isn't so impressive.

So, not impressed, ZenWalk or PClinux it aint.

[richbarna]

Ok, it finally downloaded.......
And it wasn't worth the wait !

Yozef, you may delete this thread.

Thank you

Rich

[RAV TUX]

PS: If it hasn't already been done by then.

Rich I think multiple reviews on the same distro would be great, since we all have different hardware and user experience....also I would like to start computing averages based on the RYDES standard,....I know that there would have to be two categories

1. Live CD
2. Install

on Mepis, very disappointed after hearing all the hype, but I honestly wanted to give it a second and thrid chance but lost patience with it when it don't recognize my mouse. It did the first couple of times, so I find Mepis very sporadic in quality.

[richbarna]

My PC is an "out of the box" master !! 7 out of 10 distros will find everything. I am willing to play with the other 3 as long as they offer something different. I am getting a bit bored with all these distros that use the plain KDE set up.
ZenWalk and PClinux are the leaders in my opinion, and other KDE based distros should learn something from them.

[RAV TUX]

Ok, it finally downloaded.......
And it wasn't worth the wait !

Yozef, you may delete this thread.

Thank you

Rich

Rich if you don't mind, I have merged the thread here instead of deleting it.

[Jucato]

Argh! Now I have to wade through the whole thread again to see what was added. ehehe!

richbarna: You're right. Up front, it is just KDE with an ugly fish tank. In fact, where appearances are considered, I'd give MEPIS a 6/10, while I would give Kubuntu a 8-9/10. In fact, the only thing I like about the default MEPIS look is the pyramids (I have a thing for ancient Egypt), a nice GRUB menu (gfxmenu), a nice, easily themeable bootsplash (this deficiency in Kubuntu is about to be solved in Edgy). That's it.

But I was looking more under the hood. I know my away around KDE too much to worry about default looks, although it does make up a sizeable part of my "impression" of a distro. On a 1.5GHz 640MB RAM machine, with no possibility of being upgraded for the next months (maybe years for the processor), a very fast KDE is something I dream about in Kubuntu. Don't get me wrong. The speed difference isn't as overwhelming as the speed difference between Xubuntu and Kubuntu (probably not a fair comparison...), but it is noticeable enough to have made me say "whoa". It boots around 10 seconds faster, KDE loads 5 seconds faster, and programs launch and run faster. I do not know whether the same performance can be reproduced on other systems. But the personal experience of others, with regards to performance, will be irrelevant, as I will not be using their system. I'm going to use my system, so what I experience on my system is what matters to me. Sounds a bit snobbish, but it's true.

Still, I'm having some "theoretical" issues about MEPIS (just as I have some "theoretical" doubts about Kubunut) which holds me back from "migrating". If I were able to resolve those "theoretical" doubts of mine with Kubuntu, then there would be no reason for me to leave. In fact, I'll probably devote all my time and resources trying to help improve Kubuntu.

(still typing this in Kubuntu... :D)

[Jucato]

Is it just me, or is MEPIS faster, out of the box, than Kubuntu? I'm really intrigued by this...

[aysiu]

Is it just me, or is MEPIS faster, out of the box, than Kubuntu? I'm really intrigued by this...
It's not just you.

I wonder what it is about Kubuntu that makes it slow.

Even using Ubuntu with the kde-core package (instead of kubuntu-desktop package) is faster for me.

[Jucato]

Not wanting to make another thread for this (which will be merged with this anyway...), I really want to discover the reason for this "discrepancy" in speed. It's becoming my pet peeve, so to speak.

Main Question: why is MEPIS 6 (out of the box) faster than Kubuntu (out of the box), considering that:
1. They basically use the same base (Ubuntu)
2. Kubuntu has definitely more developers than MEPIS 6. When I asked around their forums, it seems that Warren really is the only or main developer, and that there might only be 2-3 others form the community.
3. both use/install the same kernel for the same architecture (386)
4. neither installs the proprietary/binary drivers for video cards by default. (You need to still separately install nvidia-glx, for example)

And a follow up question would probably be how do you optimize/speed up Kubuntu, without having to be a rocket scientist or without fear of ruining your system?

I got a funny (ok not really funny) experience in the #kubuntu IRC when I asked these questions. something like:

Q. How do I speed up Kubuntu
<long discussion>
A. Use Xfce

Q. But MEPIS 6 uses KDE, and it's a bit faster (than Kubuntu). How come?
(multiple answers)
A1. MEPIS 6 is a different distro
A2. Kubuntu wasn't made to be fast
A3. Just go and use MEPIS

Amusing...

If MEPIS could do it, I'm sure as hell that Kubuntu could do something similar. I'm still sticking to Kubuntu, hoping that I'll find the answer to that Why and How soon. I mean, if it can be done, there's no need to switch. IF it can be done (going back to the Why).

aysiu: so installing kde-core, instead of kubuntu-desktop seems a bit faster? do you think that doing a server (minimal) install then installing kde-core would probably give me a faster system? what would I lose by not installing kubuntu-desktop?

[aysiu]

aysiu: so installing kde-core, instead of kubuntu-desktop seems a bit faster? do you think that doing a server (minimal) install then installing kde-core would probably give me a faster system? what would I lose by not installing kubuntu-desktop? I actually didn't do a server install. I did a clean desktop install of Ubuntu (Gnome) and then added kde-core to it, and it was much faster than the kubuntu-desktop I'd added to my previous Ubuntu installation (same computer).

I don't know what packages or services are slowing it down, though.

[PaulFXH]

My mouse has only two buttons. However, I can generally simulate the middle button by pressing both at the same time.

So, for example, I use this to avail of the very useful Linux copy/paste shortcut.
However, while this works fine in Ubuntu 6.06, in SimplyMEPIS 6.0, it doesn't (although it definitely DOES function for those fortunate enough to have a middle mouse button).

Anything I can do to persuade Mepis to accept my two-button click?

Thanks
Paul

[fluffnik]

Anything I can do to persuade Mepis to accept my two-button click?


In /etc/X11/xorg.conf you'll find a section about your mouse like this:



Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection


...except yours will be lacking the magic line:

Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"

Fire up - as root - your favourite editor and add it, log out, force X to restart with a <ctrl><alt><backspace>, log back in and the job should be jobbed.

File a bug report if you like because that line does no harm even if you have a 3-button mouse and should probably be there by default.

[fluffnik]

What are the disadvantages of su over sudo?

The biggest advantage for a root account is on machines that are not user administrated.

I've used Mepis for several ZeroAdmin userproof machines for the commitedly non-techie for that very reason.

[fluffnik]

A1. MEPIS 6 is a different distro


SimplyMEPIS grew out of Knoppix along a very different route to that taken by (K)ubuntu to arrive at its installable live CD.

One of Mepis's biggest strengths was that its small number of unique packages which gave it its power and slickness could be built atop a snapshot of the Debian pool which they (Warren in fact) could not realistically have created with their minimal resources.

...it was also its greatest weakness.

Because Debian development is a rolling process and its Stable, as in hewn from stone, releases rare keeping a Mepis installation up to date without breaking its Mepisyness (including the crucial boot time hardware detection) could be fraught.

What Mepis gains from Ubuntu is the ability to syncronise with a software pool which maintains compatability with a fixed and reasonably recent release, it remains quite different in many ways, not all of them immediately apparent to the user.

I suspect part of the speed-up may be due to the kernel only loading modules it's sure it needs.

[fluffnik]

richbarna: You're right. Up front, it is just KDE with an ugly fish tank.

...except that quite a lot of the "just KDE" stuff is actually gtk(2) stuff.

Mepis does a great job of integrating the best of all worlds and the flat(tish) looks probably help the speed too.

[Jucato]

I suspect part of the speed-up may be due to the kernel only loading modules it's sure it needs.

That makes sense. And it's probably the most sensible answer I got so far. So I thank you for it.

This leads to another question, presuming it's true: Why is Kubuntu loading more modules than necessary?

Do more modules mean that Kubuntu supports more hardware/systems? It's quite debatable which distro supports more hardware out of the box, but I always thought that MEPIS held that position longer than Kubuntu did...

[PaulFXH]

Thanks for your reply, fluffnik
That worked perfectly for me.

Best wishes
Paul

[fluffnik]

That makes sense. And it's probably the most sensible answer I got so far. So I thank you for it.

This leads to another question, presuming it's true: Why is Kubuntu loading more modules than necessary?

AIUI Mepis either avoids loading modules on a Just In Case basis or unloads them if hardware probing shows them to be unneeded whereas most will run with unused modules loaded. For example Ubuntu loads bluetooth on laptops (at least?) whether there is hardware or not, Mepis only loads it if hardware is present.

The same philosophy seems to be applied to services too.



Do more modules mean that Kubuntu supports more hardware/systems? It's quite debatable which distro supports more hardware out of the box, but I always thought that MEPIS held that position longer than Kubuntu did...

Mepis hardware detection is superb, that's why it can avoid the belt and braces approach to module loading employed by most others.

[arox]

I'm currently testing Mepis and it's pretty fast (even on Live CD) but I see here tons of programs that I don't need.

Is there any package selector during installation?

[Jucato]

Unfortunately, there isn't a package selector. But things can easily be removed later. AFAIK, MEPIS doesn't have a meta-package like kubuntu-desktop, so removing apps that are installed by default won't introduce any problems.

[aysiu]

Unfortunately, there isn't a package selector. But things can easily be removed later. AFAIK, MEPIS doesn't have a meta-package like kubuntu-desktop, so removing apps that are installed by default won't introduce any problems.
Actually, since Mepis uses Ubuntu's repositories, it has all the metapackages. Keep in mind, though, that since Mepis is structured a bit differently, some of the metapackages don't install well (when I tried xubuntu-desktop on Mepis, it was a little broken--one of the themes wasn't working.

[Jucato]

yes, it has some of the metapackages, but it doesn't use them. for example, there is no MEPIS equivalent to kubuntu-desktop, so if you decide to remove some of the default packages, you won't get a warning that something like kubuntu-desktop will be removed. Other metapackages, like kde-core, kdepim, etc., are standard metapackages, AFAIK.

[RAV TUX]

thread merged here:

234806 (MEPIS problem with two-button click)

[Briquet]

AIUI Mepis either avoids loading modules on a Just In Case basis or unloads them if hardware probing shows them to be unneeded whereas most will run with unused modules loaded. For example Ubuntu loads bluetooth on laptops (at least?) whether there is hardware or not, Mepis only loads it if hardware is present.

Just a question, is anybody planning to do something like this for Edgy?

[slimdog360]

Ive installed zenwalk today but it has almost nothing in its repos, this wouldnt be a problem but I cant find the source code for anything I want anywhere.
I think Im going to try this Mepis 6 on the weekend.

[natrixgli]

but lost patience with it when it don't recognize my mouse. It did the first couple of times, so I find Mepis very sporadic in quality.

You know, I had this problem, only it wouldn't recognize my keyboard. I turned off my printer on boot, and it fixed the problem. Then I just turn on the printer after I'm all booted up, and it's fine.

This happens on my eMachines with some distros when I have too many things plugged into the USB ports.

-n8

[slimdog360]

I just installed mepis6, my first impressions are good. The last time I tried kubuntu was with breezy, it was slow and buggy for me so I hadnt tried it again. Mepis seems to be a lot faster and much more stable, firefox was terribly slow though so I installed firefox2 beta2 and now its great.
I think I might stick with this one for a while now.

edit: Im really liking it, so long ubuntu from my desktop. Though my laptop will still run xubuntu.

[greggh]

Just a question, is anybody planning to do something like this for Edgy?

Isn't the new 'Upstart' in Edgy supposed to do exactly this?

[Jucato]

Supposed to, but not yet. It's still new. It will get improved, like most things in Ubuntu are. :D

[dca]

I figured I'd post here and give it a go:

I installed SimplyMEPIS 6.0 on my wife's PC because (let's face it) it's a great distro for people switching from a MSWin environment and for its great auto-recognition of otherwise funny PCI wireless cards. The thing is, wireless only works on start-up some times. In other words, sometimes when it starts up, the 'ath0' antennae lights are not lit up. I have it set (check-marked) to start 'at boot time' in Mepis OS center and and 'not' checked to activate when connected. The 'eth0' (NIC) even though is not used is set to activate when connected, not at boot time. That's the capper, some time it starts up fine, working, connected my wireless network, some time nothing....

[kopilo]

I haven't tried 6, but yes I agree Mepis is great for those coming from Windows.

If it doesn't light up on start up, can you start it from the OSCenter?

Maybe it has something to do with the theme or something, have you tried setting eh0 and wan0 to different settings or something...

[dca]

Yeah, tried all that...

The next step (just in case) was deactivate all the baloney on the desktop (kAquarium & kWeather) and see how that does. Other things I've tried is completely deactivating the NIC (uncheck starting at boot AND when connected) completely...

[kopilo]

Seriously this problem is weird. Hope you come to some kind of resolution.

[saintj0n]

I have switched over one of my computers to SimpleMEPIS and I noticed that the word 'UBUNTU' still shows up quite a bit when dealing with packages..Is there some connection between MEPIS and Ubuntu?

[po0f]

saintj0n,

Yes they use our stuff (http://www.mepis.org/history).

[taurus]

I believe Mepis is using Ubuntu packages...

[chriscando]

Both distros use Debian repositories I believe. I think they are like children of Debian. Could someone clarify the distinction between these distros?

[aysiu]

Mepis, as of version 6, is now based on Ubuntu.

Previously, it had been based on Knoppix.

P.S. Moved to Other OS Talk

[RAV TUX]

moving to Debian talk

[SunnyRabbiera]

Yeh, anything before Mepis 6 was debian based.
Mepis 6 and its beta's are Ubuntu based, Warren the owner of Mepis recoded it and Mepis now uses the ubuntu repo's.

I used to use Mepis, its pretty good if you are a beginner...

[mips]

I think the kubuntu devs should have a look at Mepis and learn from it.

[ajgreeny]

I tried Mepis 3.4 some time ago but have not yet tried Mepis 6. Why do you think it is better than Kubuntu (I presume you do from the thread title)? M3.4 was OK but I could never get any useful help from their forums or community so came back to (K)Ubuntu and have never regretted it.

I know that Mepis used to make it easy to add, or already had, all the codecs and multimedia bits and pieces, but even without EasyUbuntu it is not that long winded or difficult a task, and all the help from the forums makes life so easy with Ubuntu. I also find it great fun (I'm a newish linux user of about 18 months to 2 years) and have found it very helpful to go through all the learning curves of getting things as I want them. Some might say it is just too much trouble but I've enjoyed it all.

[aysiu]

Mepis will automount partitions with the correct permissions with a single click. It has done this for years. Kubuntu/Ubuntu still can't do this reliably.

Mepis can reinstall Grub to the MBR or install Nvidia drivers with a few clicks. Sure, you can enable extra repositories and search Synaptic and then install nvidia-glx and all that, but it's actually a lot simpler in Mepis to do.

It took Ubuntu until Dapper (less than six months ago) to get a live and installer CD in one--Mepis has also had that for years.

[RAV TUX]

moving to Debain forum

[BarfBag]

I've already posted this on 2 Mepis boards, but they're not fast like this one is.

I switched to Mepis. It's not that I don't like Ubuntu - I really do like it. GNOME just isn't my thing. I tried Kubuntu and didn't like it. I've come to the conclusion that Mepis is more stable (maybe even a little faster) anyway.

Mepis comes with Firefox 1.5.0.8 and an older version of Gaim (not sure which exactly). I want to upgrade Firefox to version 2 and Gaim to the latest beta. Problem is - neither of those versions are in the repositories that Mepis comes with. I'm not sure which ones to add. Since Mepis is now Ubuntu/Debian based, thought you guys would have some suggestions.

Also, I went into System Settings and made the font for GTK applications a little bigger. It was so tiny, I had to squint to read it. That fixed most of the problem, but created a new one that's almost as annoying. The fonts in Firefox are HUGE! I'm not talking about the fonts on the pages. Those are perfect. I'm talking about the fonts in the actual application. Is there a fix for this? I've poked around everywhere and can't find a solution.

[JoeC21]

What forums have you tried? I am sure that someone here can help but you might want to try mepislovers.com/forums, I know they have several threads on updating firefox and I believe someone posted a .deb package for the most recent gaim beta. Most of the time they are fairly quick to respond, although not nearly as many users as this forum so maybe not quite as fast.

[RAV TUX]

I wish you the best of luck with your pursuit...I would say just use a more up to date distro...like Sabayon 3.2...but I understand you may want to stay Debian based...

with that said moving this thread to the Debian (and derivatives) forum...

[sjnovick]

I think that, for now, you're out of luck when it comes to Firefox and Gaim upgrades with Mepis.

There are a few good options for you:

1. Use Ubuntu and KDE. You can change Ubuntu to KDE (without making it into Kubuntu) using the Synaptic package manager. See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallingKDE.

You may also wish to install Automatix (http://www.getautomatix.com/), which adds a few nice updates not otherwise available.

2. Try Kanotix or the new Sidux, which are currently based on Debian sid ("We make Debian unstable branch stable"). These OSes have the most up-to-date debian packages.

3. You can stay with firefox 1.5 and the older gaim. There's nothing inherently wrong with these programs. They will be updated soon enough.

4. You can install firefox 2.0 manually (it's VERY easy!). Download the binary from the mozilla website. There is nothing to compile.

I hope that helps.

[angryfirelord]

Now that Mepis has gone back to its Debian base, I'm going to play around with one of their beta CDs to see how they're doing. Mepis was the distro that got me hooked onto linux before I went to Ubuntu, which helps because the knowledge I got on Mepis applies to any Debian-based distro out there. Who knows, maybe I just might go back....:)

[kagashe]

I am downloading Mepis 8.0 beta. The iso is actually 7.9.80-beta but it will be released as Mepis 8.0.

It is based on Debian Lenny.

kagashe

[kagashe]

I have copied the contents of the iso on spare partition added following entry to /boot/grub.menu.lst

title Mepis 8.0 beta
root (hd0,3)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz init=/etc/init quiet vga=791 splash
initrd /boot/initrd.gzand running the Live Mepis 8.0 beta and posting from its Firefox.

It is very nice

kagashe

[slammed87d21]

I run Ubuntu on my AAO, but I've never been ablt to set up madwifi on my Acer Aspire 4720Z so I just run Mepis on it since my wireless just works.

[SunnyRabbiera]

Well Mepis has always had GREAT hardware support, even now with it being a bit behind ubuntu in some areas Mepis is still a good contender for a good beginners distro.
I started on Mepis so its always been a favorite of mine

[handydan918]

Guess I would have to question the "behind Ubu" characterization.

The Mepis tools alone put Mepis in a class all it's own. Half of the posts on the noob forums here could be solved by development of tools for Ubu that do what the Mepis tools do, i.e., reinstalling X from the live cd, ditto GRUB, resetting /home/user defaults, etc.