TechieMoe.com

Introduction:

Mepis and I have a long history. We got along well in the beginning, but things started getting distant between us and I haven't had so much as a phone call in months. After a few Google stalkings, I moved on and found Ubuntu. We're happy, thanks for asking.

On an email request, I took a look at the latest release from the Mepis crew, SimplyMepis 8.0.10. This is a point release update to Mepis 8, which came out several months ago.

Several years ago, when my only option for a usable distro was Xandros or a retail copy of SuSE, Mepis was a very cool, free alternative. The fact that it hooked into Debian was icing on the cake. I was curious to see what the latest version had to offer.

Install:

The initial boot, loading, and logon screens looked nice, certainly a step up from the old two-toned, pixelated GRUB background of past releases.

The Mepis installer was cutting-edge when I first looked at it several years ago. It was simple, functional, and looked a good bit more polished than their contemporaries at the time. Now, it just looks old. It still works, but it could use a refresh.

Toward the end of the install I was given the option to choose which services I wanted to enable/disable before first boot. I'm always appreciative to have this option.

I noticed that Mepis still uses KDE 3.5. This is both good and bad, in my opinion. I'm not exactly known for showering praise on the direction KDE went with version 4, but I have to confess it is at least a visual improvement over 3.X.

I've gotten so used to the way KDE 4 looks that opening Konqueror or Control Center up kind of made me feel like I was back in the late 90's living in my parents' spare bedroom. That's not to say Mepis 8 doesn't have a nice look; it's just a dated one.

Software Selection:

Firefox and OpenOffice were included, but not GIMP or Pidgin. Instead you get OpenOffice Draw and Kopete (not my first choices). I figured this was as good a time as any to see how well Mepis syncs with the Debian repositories.

Synaptic was already set up to pull from both Mepis and the Debian Lenny repos, so I updated everything first and then pulled down Pidgin. It worked as advertised.

I've bragged about this feature for other distributions, so it's only fair to mention Mepis has a good size User's Manual accessible right on the desktop. This is a nice touch for new users.

I noted that Java and GCC where installed. Speaking as a Java developer, I think more distributions should include Java by default. Yes, I'm a bit biased.

A lot of KDE-centric distributions (for whatever reason) tend to neglect the casual gaming crowd and only include "productive" applications in their default software selection. I was pleased to see that Mepis was not one of those distributions.

Conclusion:

Mepis has a mature graphical installer, a clean (if not cutting-edge) look, and it works well with its parent distro, Debian. If that sounds like what you're looking for, you can do no wrong with Mepis.

I, however, find myself looking for more these days. Stable is good. Older isn't necessarily bad either, but throughout my use of Mepis 8 I just couldn't help but think, "Is this all?" There's not a lot going on with Mepis that makes it stand out for me.

Thankfully, with a fresh set of graphical tweaks and perhaps a move to KDE 4 (yes, I actually said it), there's room for improvement in future versions. Mepis won't be supplanting Ubuntu on my laptop, but it does hold a fond place in my heart that was not tarnished by this latest iteration.

One last thing in response to the fellow who requested this rant: as of 2009 I'm 27 years old, I got my start writing PASCAL programs on my father's Packard Bell 486/SX33 when I was 10, and I'm married. My rants, however, are single. You're welcome to proposition them but I can't guarantee you won't catch something. Some of them are dirty.