MEPIS
Encyclopedia : M : ME : MEP : MEPIS
MEPIS Linux is a Debian-based Linux distribution (with the next update being based on Ubuntu, which is itself based on Debian) founded by Warren Woodford which can be installed onto a hard disk or run as a LiveCD.
History
MEPIS's first official release was May 10, 2003. It was created by Warren Woodford of Morgantown, West Virginia. MEPIS was first designed for the purpose of creating Warren's vision of a Linux distribution that did everything he wanted. Warren wanted an alternative to SuSE, Red Hat Linux, and Mandriva Linux (formerly Mandrake) which, in his opinion, were too difficult for the average user.
On November 21, 2002, Warren decided that if he wanted things done right he would have to do them himself. According to Warren Woodford himself, the name MEPIS is pronounced like "Memphis" (the city in Tennessee, United States) with the extra letters removed and of course not pronounced. The word "MEPIS" doesn't mean anything in particular, it came about by mistake, Warren misunderstood a friend over a bad phone connection, he decided to keep the name because it was a simple five-letter word and there were no other companies or products with that name.
Recently MEPIS has become more popular, possibly due to the fact that it comes as a fully functional operating system that doesn't need any special configuration and because it is based on Debian, another well known Linux distribution that provides a complex stability cycle for applications. It can either be installed onto a hard drive or used as a LiveCD, which makes it a boot disc for troubleshooting many operating systems. It includes a free anti-virus scanner, ClamAV, and KDE, the K Desktop Environment. As of June 2006, MEPIS has shifted from being Debian-based to Ubuntu-based (which is also based on Debian).
The current version of MEPIS is SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3. MEPIS gained attention from well known sources including TechTV and Slashdot, and is ranked, as of 2006-6-11, in the top 10 most popular distributions according to Distrowatch.com.
MEPIS comes in several flavors. The most popular, SimplyMEPIS is designed for everyday desktop and laptop computing. SOHOServerMepis is intended to be a simple workstation/server combination for small and home offices. MepisLite is a slightly stripped down version for older hardware, and ProMepis is designed for programmers and developers. A final version, ForensicMepis, is available only to qualified security professionals.
MEPIS works with a private company, [TaFusion], to provide commercial versions of its products. While the free version is fully functional, the commercial versions are bundled with other for-pay software such as [CrossOver Office], [Win4Lin], and [HiAtlantis] as well as additional Windows-to-Linux migration utilities.
Differences from Debian
MEPIS is based on Debian. The main differences are:- MEPIS is a LiveCD. The LiveCD sports an "On The Go" feature which facilitates saving the home directory to a USB drive. By saving the home directory on a USB jump drive, a user can transfer all of their personal settings, including Internet browser bookmarks and desktop configuration, plus any files, such as documents and pictures, from one MEPIS station to another.
- MEPIS has a simplified GUI installation program.
- MEPIS uses different hardware detection than Debian.
- MEPIS installs faster than Debian. Typical installation time for MEPIS is around 15 minutes, typical installation time for Debian is almost double.
- MEPIS supports by default some hardware (most importantly certain WiFi cards) and some hardware functions (such as 3D acceleration on certain graphics cards) which Debian cannot support by default, since this support requires proprietary drivers which Debian cannot officially include due to its commitment to Free Software. In Debian, the non-free and contrib sections have to be enabled to obtain proprietary software distributed by Debian.
- Debian supports more computer architectures while Mepis supports only x86.
- MEPIS includes some proprietary software not distributed by Debian due to their restrictive licenses, including: Sun Microsystems JRE, Macromedia Flash, RealPlayer and Adobe Reader.
- MEPIS distribution is managed by MEPIS LLC, while Debian is a community project associated with Software in the Public Interest.
- MEPIS uses Debian repositories, starting with the next release MEPIS will use Ubuntu stable repositories which, because of Ubuntu's six month cycle, are usually more up-to-date than Debian stable. Historically, Debian took more than a year to release its stable versions.
- MEPIS, being basically a customized Debian, uses Debian documentation. MEPIS provides a downloadable [user manual] for tools that differ from Debian.
External links
Official sites
Community sites
| Linux distributions
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| CentOS | Debian | Fedora | Gentoo | Knoppix | Mandriva | MEPIS | Red Hat Enterprise | Slackware | SUSE | Ubuntu | more… |
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