TechieMoe.com

Introduction:

MEPIS was introduced to me originally by a fellow I met completely randomly in a book store. I liked it a lot back then, and subsequent versions have been solid, if not necessarily noteworthy.

A few versions ago, MEPIS changed its underlying system from one based on vanilla Debian to one based on Ubuntu. I was wary of this at first, but it hasn't changed what MEPIS represented to me: a relatively easy to install, solid and fully-customizable Debian/Ubuntu based distribution.

Install:

The install hasn't really changed much since the last time I used it (or the first time I used it, for that matter). It's a Next->Next->Finish affair done through a LiveCD environment.

I was happy to notice that although they still had KWeather in the taskbar by default, that pointless aquarium applet was gone. Perhaps they heard my screams.

Once I picked my drive and hit Next the installer went about its business. Afterward I was asked if to install the bootloader and then whether or not I wanted to activate some special services.

I was given the option to activate PPP (for dial-up networking), guarddog (a firewall), cupsys (printing service) and bluez (for bluetooth devices). I didn't need any of the above, and I was glad to have the option to turn them off.

I was then asked to set up a default user and set the root password. The idea of a "default" user is something familiar to Microsoft users, but it made me uneasy. I like the fact that generally speaking one must have logon credentials to access my machine.

It was unclear at this point whether that user would be logged in by default (again, behavior familiar to home XP users) or would require a password. I finished the installer and rebooted to find out.

It turns out my fears were unfounded. Upon reboot I was greeted by a login screen. Apparently all a "default" user does is fill in the username at the prompt for you. That's perfectly fine by me.

The default desktop was clean, and looked a lot like XFce, although a quick trip to the "K Menu" told me it was actually the usual MEPIS KDE.

MP3/MPG/WMV8 playback was a no go. Not even the RealPlayer app that was included had the proper codecs.

Software Selection:

The usual FOGG players are present, along with some typical K-apps (Konqueror, K3b, KMahjongg, etc). There's really not much for me to mention here. Most of the basic functions (office, email, web, graphics) are covered by at least one application.

The proper Sun Java 1.6 VM was installed by default, which I noted with satisfaction. This is something that (to the best of my knowledge) is still not available in the Ubuntu default install.

One more thing worth mentioning is that Mepis allows a pretty simple way to install official drivers for Nvidia and ATI hardware through their Mepis X Windows assistant. I wasn't able to test this (as I had no access to Rig 2), but it's good to know it's there.

Who's it best for?

Mepis will probably appeal to the same kinds of people who like Ubuntu or Kubuntu. That's not surprising, since as of version 6 (if memory serves) they're using Ubuntu as the backend for this distribution.

This naturally makes me want to ask, "but why use Mepis instead of Ubuntu?" The answer is one typical of all distributions: personal preference.

Simply put, there's not much functional difference between a default Mepis install and one of Kubuntu. The only real difference is the default look and feel, their default application choices, and the ability of Mepis to handle 3D driver installation differently.

The first two points can be modified on either Mepis or Kubuntu to make one look like the other. They both use the same repositories so anything that's installed on Mepis can be had on Kubuntu. Kubuntu (and Ubuntu proper) also have ways to install Nvidia and ATI drivers graphically (Automatix, EasyUbuntu).

The Mepis installer will be more comfortable to some people. It differs in presentation (if not in function) from the one for Kubuntu.

In short, Mepis is a stable, relatively easy to install distribution based on Ubuntu. There's nothing terribly unique about it, but you could do a lot worse.