Nah, Mepis is good, it has potential, but if you use ubuntu 5.04, KEEP IT, it has more packages in apt for some reason, and it uses Xorg, which is not in mepis, or it's apt.

Actually Ubuntu doesn't have more packages, it only appears that way. I was advised to do this (open up synaptic>settings>repositories and check the boxes of the other sources and reload.) And when I did hunderds of new Mepis packages appeared.

Since Mepis is Debian based can it use the repositories from apt-get.org: Unofficial APT repositories
http://www.apt-get.org/ ? If so there are thousands of packages/programs available for it.


Another fun and easy way to get programs is klik - point-and-klik software
http://klik.atekon.de/ simple and easy way to play around with programs without the hassle of installing them. The site says Simply MEPIS 2004.4 is supported so I would assume the newest version is as well.

craig, yes, it does use Debian based repo's

That is one of the majour benefits of MEPIS, compatability

You're welcome, CouchMaster That is the ONLY thing I didn't like about 3.3.1. I mean it is not a big thing to change this--I just wished it was announced beforehand.

As far as Mepis not using X.org, here is Warren's take on the subject:

"Because of our commitment to remain as Debian compatible as possible, we will switch to X.org, OpenOffice 2.0, and KDE 3.4, only when Debian releases those packages." [These will be included in the next Mepis version, 3.4]

Warren chose not to use programs from the experimental repositories and I can see why. Last week knowing that the imminent release of 3.3.1 was coming and a reinstall was near, I decided to try out a distro with KDE 3.4 just to see what it was like. Since I never tried Kanotix before, I downloaded it and installed it (I installed Ubuntu back in January and it hosed my XP partition--only one other distro out of about 20 done that, Suse--and I just can't trust Ubuntu/Kubuntu right now). 3.4 did look a lot "prettier" but it was "clunky" on my 3GHz system. For some reason I lost the programs in the task bar but after tinkering around I was able to get them back. I decided then I will just stick with 3.3.2 until 3.4 matures and moves out of experimental. Good things come to those who wait!

[By the way, Kanotix was ok but I could not get my Nvidia driver to work. I guess I am now used to checking a box in the Mepis installation to use the Nvidia driver--very simple]

I originally went from Mepis to Ubuntu... I've not regretted it.

I would have liked to try Ubuntu/kbuntu but I was never able to get grub installed in the / partition. I tried the last two versions too.

Kanotix is awesome. Tried the amd64 version and it rocks. Easy to get nvidia up and running thanks to Kano's scripts.

Mepis is the ONE! I can play tuxracer immediately and everything works. A great selection of programs included in the install. All I needed to do was add my favourite Opera browser. Mepis is a slick, attractive, and ready for the masses desktop operating system.

I tried a Gentoo offspring - Vidalinux. Now this gentoo stuff is a joke. 50 minutes to install a browser. What's with that? Tried upgrading a few programs and my whole system went down because of dependancy problems emerge is not capable of dealing with. Why gentoo has any kind of following just baffles me.

The point being, Debian rules and Mepis does debian the best.

These Debian based distro's are so unoriginal and full of bloated crap, i installed MEPIS on my test computer only to find it bloated with stupid weather control things and a lot of useless unneeded stuff. MEPIS does NOT give you choice it more or less forces you to install KDE by default, linux is meant to be all about choice, MEPIS destroys that.

I'm now going to tell you why, Debian itself is much better than these ripoffs. I can completely customize my debian install, if i want to install just X and fluxbox i can do that, if i want to install just X and XFCE i can do that. The debian net install let's you customize everything how YOU want it, it gives you the choice to install what YOU want. Debian is completely free, you don't need to pay extra money to get the latest features. In my opinion Debian is the most stable distro around. I could go on all day about how much better Debian is than these bloated clones, but i have better things to do than argue with you arrogant people.

...nice to see there are still distro wars. NOT!!!

What was that all about?
This room is here to help people who use MEPIS. This is NOT a room for arguments. Why do people still battle over what distro is better? I use what I WANT to use, not what is forced upon me.

If you really _need_ to argue over distros, go to a room that really cares.

Unfortunately it was symptomatic of why so many people dislike Debian - the attitude of it's adherents.

Your one person, there is a lot more people here. This thread was just asking to be ripped wide open, you do realize when you compare distro's your going to get someone who feels it's wrong (Like i do). I wouldn't post here at all, but if your going to compare distro's, i'll make sure i'm here to prove Debian is better.

MEPIS is about making it simple for new users to switch to linux, Debian is anything BUT simple for a new user. Debian is great for a power user but not for a windows to linux convert. there is room enough in linux for both so lets all play nice.

It appears that you, Lowe, have completely missed the Big Picture. This is not about which distro is better, which distro is more bloated, etc. This is about getting more people to use Linux. Distros such as Mepis, Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Xandros, Libranet and others were designed for one purpose—to help people move away from Windows. Who cares what is included with these packages? I took Kweather off with a couple of mouse clicks. How hard was that? Some people like Kweather but since I am on dial-up it isn't much use to me. With a couple of more clicks I can install whatever windows manager I want. I use KDE mainly because since I am a long time Windows user I am more comfortable with it and I like some of the apps that come with it. And that was the main point in Mepis and others by providing some familiarity to ex-Windows users and when these people become more proficient with Linux, they can customize their Linux machine however they want. You mention freedom but first you must have the knowledge to become free. I may myself someday move on to pure Debian and I would have Mepis to thank for that.

Please don't go shooting our own feet with all this “distro-bashing” (what I mean by “our” is the collective Debian community).

Hi folks,

First of all: It's great, that MEPIS find its way to this forum!


to you, Lowe:
I don't think anyone here is arguing against DEBIAN and, as midway wrote, al those Kanotix, K/Ubuntu, Mepis, etc. have one main thing for all "switchers", they just run out of the cd.

Just an example, i gave the MEPIS CD and a 2 year old PC to my doughter having her to install it and it just worked. Sure, she dind't really know what she was doing, but she was able to write some homework and chat and so on... Since that day, she is very proud of her own PC. This, for sure, will never work with Debian.

I'm using Mepis now for 2 years since i switched from WIN2K. I installed a lot of things from Debian and www.apt-get.org. I'm using wine an VMWare and QEMU. It just works for me. It does not look like Mepis these days. It is configured to my needs and expectations. I would not claim to be a Linux expert, i'm feeling at home now. When i desided to try Linux round about 3 years ago, i tried a lot of distros, even Debian Woody. I was not able to install Mandrake, Suse don't want to install, the Debian setup was too difficult to me. My first succes was with the Mepis 2003 and i stayed with it. During this period i installed the apps i want to have. I made the updates i want and so on.

So, for me Mepis was the right stuff. For others there are other distros the right way - i don't think this does matter in any case. As someone wrote here, when you get down to it - all the distros are "just" Linux!

The Debian apt is great, but, to be honest, i can't compare it, cause i never used Redhat, Suse or other resources. If i want to have some app which i cant find for Debian, well then i get the sources an compile them myself - just like all the others do here.

Cheers!

... but very daunting to a newbie..
So why not take the most advanced and stable package system out there and
put some polish on it an already awesome distro... to "hide" all
that incredible power.. so the newbies don't get scared away..

Warren has done that.. IMHO..

This is all an evil plot to let the world know there ARE alternatives
to M$.. hmmm sounds fun.. I'll play.. :-)