MEPIS 8 Final Released

It's released as of 2.22.09 on the mepis.org website. Several download mirrors. It's based on Debian Lenny which is now 'stable' as of this month. They haven't gone to KDE4 yet officially but will when it's a little further along.

 

That's a good piece of news. I tried Mepis a few years ago and didn't find it to be solid enough for my needs. Still staying with KDE 3 I might give it a try later this week. Thanks for heads up.

 

Gotta try Mepis once, seems like a good time to step in.
Thanks John.

 

You're welcome Baserk and guys....I've been fooling around with Fedora, but I've already downloaded the MEPIS 8 final...going back. It's a pretty great linux experience really. And for Kubuntu users, the learning curve to switch is NIL.....going to burn the disc now

 

Cogratulations to the Mepis community. One of my partition is Antix!

I was not able to install any of the betas of mepis 8 on my laptop with external optical drive, so i was not able to try it.

 

I've got MEPIS back on the Asus A8JS which my External DELL monitor set up with nvidia-settings and it is very much appreciated after using Fedora for a while because I'm used to Debian distros.

 

Why don't you just use pure Debian?

 

I've thought about it....basically MEPIS is, it uses the Debian Lenny repos....I like the support of MEPIS, and there are some niceties added too.

 

Like what ?

I'd also like to know if I need to something, and I get instructions for Debian Lenny, whether I can blindly use those instructions for Mepis 8.


Could you post the Mepis repo list ?
(I thought it also used Ubunutu repos)

 

the MEPIS 'assistants' for Xserver, System, User and Networking are nice. The installer is very nice, and not time consuming.

MEPIS comes with it's own instruction manual. You certainly won't need instructions for the install. But in general yes, MEPIS = Debian, as far the underpinnings go. To tell exacty how and where they differ, I can't but the forums have that information.

MEPIS does not use Ubuntu repos, it has nothing to do with Ubuntu like, say, Mint.

This is my sources.list:

# MEPIS improvements, overrides and updates--the MEPIS magic
deb ftp://ftp.mepis.com/mepis/ mepis-8.0 main

deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free
# deb-src ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free

deb http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main contrib non-free

# deb http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile/ lenny/volatile main contrib non-free

# Some Debian Multimedia software might be illegal in some jurisdictions
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ lenny main

# Some extra packages that are maintained by the MEPIS Community
deb http://mepis.blue-pearls.net/repo/ mepis8cr main non-free

Visit mepislovers.org for the forums.

Addendum: the Debian Multimedia Repo above has all the non free stuff you want like libdvdcss2, W32codecs, etc etc. Synaptic comes OTB with that repo, you just X it in Synaptic to use it. Nvidia or ATI drivers are installed through the MEPIS Xserver Assistant, i.e. just select the driver you want, and it downloads and installs.

 

Thanks !
It now looks like it'll be either 64 bit Mepis or Debian as my next install.
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/mepis.html
seems to say that Mepis still has many kinks... someone convince me that Mepis is better than Debian for me

 

Go 64 bit Debian

 

nice! I was waiting for this.

 

Kinks? I don't know...I distro hop as much as the next guy, and I just love it...plus I was weened on Kubuntu (not counting Libranet and RedHat in the days of old) and there's been virtually no learning curve. I'd do 64bit MEPIS on this DELL, but on my Asus I have 32 bit. I noticed MEPIS is in the top ten now on DW, also top 5 for the last week which is interesting as it's usually been around 15 or so.

EDIT: That reviewer did Beta, but didn't know how to use Networking....just go to MEPIS Network Assistant first, select that you want to use Knetworkmanager as it defaults to manual for some reason, then launch Knetworkmanger...your wireless will come right up. Why it doesn't default to automatic Knetworkmanager I don't know, but it's really not an issue. But from then on your wireless will connect automatically asking for a ring key.

@borgcube: Assimilate MEPIS...I'd like to hear a review from a Debian user...you might like it, a lot

also, the support community is fantastic...that means something. Some things can had at Ubuntu forums even though it's not a Ubuntu Knockoff.

 

I won't argue 'anything' Debian

 

ElPenguino, can you install Debian and see which one you prefer ?

 

Hmmm.....I've thought about it, but I've got MEPIS just so perfectly set up now and all my data transferred. I started to do that actually, but didn't obviously. Which Debian DVD is necessary for install? They got about 4 four of them? I might down the road.

EDIT: if you're at the point of a reinstall of something, MEPIS should go first because it's a much faster install than Debian...also is a LiveCD.

 

The debian dvds contain the full distro (hence there are 5 dvds).
I install debian using the netinst CD.
It contains the core, and enables you to download the other packages you want to install:
http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/


And yes, I will be reinstallin on a couple of precision laptops.

 

I do the same thing as wearetheborg. Don't download and install those huge DVDs. Do the netinstall, install just the base and then download just the stuff you want. Works great!

 

OK...I remember, i.e. the netinstall. Way back when I started to do that but was put off because I needed a cable which in my situation made it a royal hassle...actually, I think that's how I ended back with Kubuntu and then MEPIS. Wish they'd give us a fast installer for that !!

 

When you say cable, do you mean the Ethernet cable? If so, that was true in my case. The way I install Debian is real minimal by installing the base and unchecking all the software categories, when presented them by the installer. Then I hook the laptop up to my Ethernet connection and then proceed to download various packages. One of the packages allows my wifi card to become functional and then I set up my wifi from there. Then once I have my wifi up and running I unhook from the wired Ethernet and use wifi only for downloads of stuff. Maybe the larger DVDs or installing the suggested categories of software during the installation(ex esktop, Laptop...)are beneficial in this way, where they would set up my Wifi without me having to use my Ethernet connection, but it really doesn't bother me. I would rather start with a minimal install and build up.

 

It still starts with a "minimal install." The extra discs are the entire main debian repositories on disc. This is generally for installing on a computer that can't easily download files. (slow connection/no connection at all)

 

Yes...ethernet cable....major hassle for me. I like to be able to do a reinstall if I need wherever I am, and many times that isn't ethernet cable friendly. I wish they'd put together an installer/liveCD for Debian. I won't use Slackware for the same reason. I don't know...maybe I'll try it anyway to see what's different re: MEPIS

 

If ethernet install is difficult, you could always use the dvds

 

A Mepis review here:
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20090302#feature

Seems there are issues with the built in network tools.
This concerns me --- if I have to spend time debugging Mepis tools, I may as well go with Debian and spend the time there ?

 

NOT with me...let me check out that review and get back.

EDIT: LOL....he's richarding around with that network tool. Like I said above, just check 'automatic' which is knetworkmanager, then immediately launch knetworkmanager and go to configure, check it start at boot, and your done. But this IS clunky...but it's brain dead easy, but a beginner may have to tool around it until the light comes on. It's really a non issue given the rest of the system
I'll send Warren an email and ask why he doesn't change that part.

EDIT2: 'borg....you can assimilate via a liveCD...just check it out that way.