DesktopLinux has published a detailed and lengthy eight page review of SimplyMEPIS 2004. In the review, SimplyMEPIS is declared “the absolute masterpiece of desktop Linux distributions.” There are several screen shots to go along with the article. Update: More Mepis screenshots here.
SimplyMEPIS – Best Free Desktop Linux
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
On Firefox the screenshots are illegible at that small size and you can’t click for a larger version.
Drag them on an empty window/tab and they are full screen.
Thanks for the tip. where did you figure that out?
I figured it when I saw that the shots were “gadgy”. Gimp and other raster apps are using filters or special algorithms when they resize down shots, so it was easy to figure out that this was simply a case of the browser alone resizing the shots, without applying soften filters.
That’s pretty dumb move. I hope in the next release they change it to Fire-Fox instead.
Well, if and when the main Mozilla suite becomes unsupported, I’m sure they’ll switch it over to FireFox, or some other thing. No big deal, IMHO.
The problem does not have to do with Mozilla not being supported it has to do with Mozilla being a huge beast with the resources when compared to FireFox. Firefox has matured to the point in which to not have it be a default browser and in the OS settings means you are making a big mistake. Just like how some linux distros still stuck with netscrape for a while despite mozilla being the better more compliant browser.
This is the bomb! Mepis rocks, it’s the first distro I’ve used that makes Linux realy easy to use, the very least amount of breakage I’ve seen on any Debian spin off. I liked Morphix, Knoppix, and the like, but this one ran nvidia, updated, and install outside source’s without breaking my box. Cool! I still install alot of different os’s, but this one has half my hd for the longest of any Debian based distro. It isn’t perfect ( hasn’t baked any pizza’s for me, maybe next year!!), but everything just works. alot of nice touche’s, like nvidia driver works in 2.4 and 2.6 kernel, alsa works in both, too. And first linux that has offered to run at 1280×1024 at over 100mhz…….. sweet for gaming! Thanks, and keep up the great work guys and gals.
ps. freindliest help ever too, very good folks!!!
FWIW, with Firefox you can also right-click on an image and select “view image”.
While I question the usability of sites that do this, it’s understandable considering the fact that MOST people will want to view the full size images anyway. By just scaling it in the HTML, it almost acts like a pre-loader.
Being a power-user (and web designer) on broadband, it works really well for me, but it may make the whole experience rather sluggish for dialup users.
Now, on topic, this distro looks really interesting. I’ve turned into a fanatical Ubuntu user, but it’s my first Debian based distro and I’ve come to love the Debian way of doing things. While I’m sure Gnome is available as an option, Mepis looks like it’s more focused on KDE – so it sounds like the ideal distro for KDE users!
Aaron
this isn’t a review, it’s more of an excruciatingly drawn-out Guide To A Few Linux Apps. Moreover, it has very little support for the conclusion drawn (that Mepis is the best thing since sliced bread). In particular, it trots out the long-dead mistake that somehow Debian packages inherently support dependency resolution and RPM ones somehow inherently don’t. Neither package system supports dependency resolution inherently. Both have excellent package managers which implement dependency resolution; for Debian packages, apt-get and synaptic, for RPMs, urpmi, rpmdrake, YaST, yum and apt4rpm. His later points in support of Mepis are vague and rather ill-founded.
1280×1024 at over 100mhz……..
100MHZ? Now thats something I’d like to see a monitor do..
Don’t you mean 100Hz?
Libranet has been making it easy to install a Debian based Linux distro for quite a while now. A few of the Libranet guys have looked at Mepis and have all come back to Libranet – there comments? “Mepis breaks like every other Debian based distro”. I tried Mepis out myself and in all honesty couldn’t see what the fuss was all about…
Libranet may be getting old now (package wise) but it installs, installs well, pretty much install onto the vast majority of hardware, has great forums, great support. Better still, Libranet 3 is close to being finished and entering beta testing.
Dave
simplyMepis user thinks its the best. Drill down and read the amazing 8 page review of the standard linux desktop applications that every single linux distro can run .. and how simplyMepis makes them better (not).
Does anyone else get tired of seeing these stupid headlines that mean nothing? I don’t even bother to read most of them anymore .. all you have to do is scan them. Someone needs to create a Form that they can just fill out the name of the distro and it auto generates one of these reviews.
DesktopLinux has published a detailed and lengthy eight page review of SimplyMEPIS 2004. In the review, SimplyMEPIS is declared “the absolute masterpiece of desktop Linux distributions.” There are several screen shots to go along with the article.
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Run screaming as fast as you can in the opposite direction, be cause the person who created such an article is usally a clueless moron.
If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have wasted their time creating it.
“If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have wasted their time creating it.”
Y’know….That actually makes sense.
I’ve raved in other forums about Mepis. The one I like is Mepis 2003.10, because everything does, indeed, just work, as billed. And Mepis has the plenty of packages that I like, including the games, KOffice, QT Designer, gcc, g++, and KDevelop.
However, SimplyMepis has been a disapointment so far. It’s too stripped down for my tastes (no KOffice, no KDevelop or QT Designer, far fewer games). People say you can always apt-get, or user KPackage to get that stuff you want. But that’s not practical for me. I’m on dial up at home, and my time is limited for downloading lot’s of stuff. So I like the convenience of a distro that packs lots of packages in it’s CD’s.
Finally, SimplyMepis has failed to detect sound in any incarnation I’ve tried it, and on machines where it was a no-brainer for Mepis 2003.10 and Mandrake 10.
So in my mind, SimplyMepis is a step backward from Mepis 2003.10 (the original full release of Mepis). I’ll give it another try when a mature version of ProMepis comes out.
But in the meantime, I keep going back to Mandrake, which is awesome in all departments (easy install, great hardware detection, great package selection, great package management, great look and feel, great speed and great stability).
I completely agree. I find it incredibly hard to get excited about yet another Linux/KDE/OO.org/etc kludge distro.
There are some interesting projects in the Linux world, though, like:
ROX
http://rox.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/index.php/WhatIsRox
Cosmoe
http://www.cosmoe.com/
GNOME Beagle
http://www.gnome.org/projects/beagle/
Maybe if some smart folks could harness the potential of some of these projects (and others) and carry them into the mainstream, we would finally have something to get excited about.
Personally, I’m keeping my eye on Syllable, though. 🙂
live cd ….. didn’t detect my cable modem.
i think that as far as h/w detection is concerned ubuntu and knoppix are superior. i also prefer the look and feel of gnome over kde. personal taste, i suppose.
i wait and see what linspire and the upcoming libranet 3.0 have got to offer. it’ll be debian based, that’s for sure.
I’m also in agreement that this seems simply to be stating a bunch of Linux apps, and saying “SimplyMepis Linux is compatible with Linux”, as if it were some special unique thing for this distro.
What’s up with those ugly-ass font shadows that are so prevalant in KDE screenshots. Get rid of that crap.
Well since I am stuck on W2K, the article was actually interesting to me, even if this particular distro isn’t really the best. Just reading the snips about what I could do with some of the apps I wasn’t familiar with has gotten me more interested in setting up another box sooner than I would.
Its the general evangelizing that counts and what things are possible that might mean $$$ on Windows. In the end its the apps that count, and there seems less reason now to hang on to Windows except laziness!
Cool 🙂
Though I don’t use SimplyMEPIS as my personal desktop distro … I do use it exclusively for setting up friends and neighbours PCs.
Tweaking and personalising my desktop may be interesting and entertaining for me but I don’t want to do it to every box I setup!
SimplyMEPIS has all the apps a web surfing windows asylum-seeker needs … like Realplayer 10, flash plugin, streaming multimedia and mp3, wmv, mov, avi and DVD support etc.
Even if you’ve tried it before – do yourself a favour and get the lastest version (it improves tremendously with each new release.)
FWIW I find the default desktop a bit ugly, but my ex-windows users don’t seem to mind the look!??
Lastly, for those who dismiss it as just another distro/ who cares / it doesn’t do or have xyz ….
you are seriously underestimating the desktop niche this disto may end up dominating.
Just my 2 cents worth,
cheers
rob
did the reviewer mistake KWord as KWrite? I was like amazed to the fact that Kwrite can open PDFs, until I realized he meant KWord.
I thought it was a very nice review and many of the comments here at OSnews are insulting, low level and/or off-topic.
SimplyMEPIS is another alternative to Knoppix and I believe it has a future as a leading Linux distribution, exactly for the reasons the author states, mainly as a Windows XP replacement.
The review itself is well-written and very well presented. In contrast to some reviews from authors that have just started using Linux two months ago, this one is written by somebody who is qualified and has experience of various distributions and extensive know-how of SimplyMEPIS.
I am puzzled by the fact that instead of following up with a good discussion of the points the author makes, OSnews posters are just generating noise.
>>Does anyone else get tired of seeing these stupid headlines that mean nothing? I don’t even bother to read most of them anymore .. all you have to do is scan them.
Me:
Yes. It was just another review of KDE and the most common apps included in a KDE distro. Not saying that Mepis isn’t good. It probably IS great. But you’re right, reviews like this are pathetic. What WOULD tell us something is: does MEPIS have d/loadable updates regularly or documentation on how to use CVS to do the same thing with? Are dev tools included or do you need to apt-get them? If you install Gnome or FluxBox, or other desktops will it break the distro? and so on. It should have answered questions like this and then just bulleted the common apps installed instead of being some review about KDE and apps.
Hmm, I have used a soundblaster clone (Ensonique 5880) as well as the built in one, and both 2004.3 and 2004.4 detected and ran both flawlessly. Curious, which brand is your’s? Also, the few questions on sound and hardware detection asked in the forums, always seem to get answered promptly. I understand that it uses the most up to date cloop files, so if knoppix or other such run-live cd’s detect and run it , should be good to go… having said that, like any new os, things break. If you run the bleeding edge stuff, things break. I don’t run anything but new, so I’m used to it, and enjoy the challenge. It’s not close to perfect, but i appreciate the extra features mentioned here, and the ones I’m finding every day.
It’s been mentioned here, the fact that it will run fine on box a , but not find hardware X on box b…. I always chuckle at it. These are probably some of the same people who complain about macs and how expensive the mac haedware is. Think openly about it for a second. Wouldn’t Linux be the bomb if we put all our effort into yellow dog or another ppc distro? could you imagine if we had to figure out just one or two kinds of built in sound cards ( or whatever other type of hardware you are having probs with???) , rather than forty new ones this month, and forty new next month? I know it’s good to have some competition, but could you imagine how much easier it would to be to write drivers? no doubt that linux would come up with better drivers than closed source, as more folks would be bug chasing.. just a thought.
“I am puzzled by the fact that instead of following up with a good discussion of the points the author makes, OSnews posters are just generating noise.”
You must be new around here. ;-D
Seriously, I liked the review. I think it’s especially targeted at people who don’t know much about linux on the desktop yet and gives a good overview about what linux is capable of doing. And for me it was interesting to read about Mepis, as I haven’t tried this distribution yet and frankly didn’t have it on the agenda as a distribution I should try once the “I want to try a new distribution” bug bites again.
Stupid spelling error – “foreward” should be foreword”
Any competent sub-editor should have got this one… hopeless.
I became a believer when SimplyMepis automatically configured my desktop wireless card–without me having to install a driver.
After setting up Samba, my Mepis box sends files to my LaserJet located on a different floor of my house. Ironically, my wireless windows-to-windows printing (in the same room, no less) does not work as often as it does.
I just have to get more comfortable with the Debian way of doing things.
MaryTee
IMHO the default interface looks very cluttered…
I’d like to see the people who always complain about the content of these Linux reviews write a review of Windows or Mac OSX. I’d be interested to see what there is to say about an OS from a user’s point of view, that isn’t just a description of some of the apps the OS provides…
it would be better if hardware manufacturers released specs and info so that people didnt have to poke blindly to figure out how to talk to a soundcard. i dont see how limiting choice helps one bit. mutch better with standards so that competition can be effecive without vendor lockin…
Exactly.
I have found it always buggy. Buggy as hell in the past, very slowly getting better of late. But still 2004.03 crashed badly and I had no sounds. With 2004.04 I still have sound problems.
Libranet has *always* detected and configured my hardware.
Besides Mepis is very heavily customized and, IMO, very ugly (especially the dozens of icons and the Mepis theme everywhere) It takes me quite some work before I can make it look more standard (or more according to my tastes, if you prefer)
I can’t decide whether I was expecting something more or just something else entirely…? moreover, after wading through page-afer-page of that bunk, I swear I need a shave again…
“Hmm, I have used a soundblaster clone (Ensonique 5880) as well as the built in one, and both 2004.3 and 2004.4 detected and ran both flawlessly. Curious, which brand is your’s? Also, the few questions on sound and hardware detection asked in the forums, always seem to get answered promptly. I understand that it uses the most up to date cloop files, so if knoppix or other such run-live cd’s detect and run it , should be good to go… having said that, like any new os, things break. If you run the bleeding edge stuff, things break. I don’t run anything but new, so I’m used to it, and enjoy the challenge. It’s not close to perfect, but i appreciate the extra features mentioned here, and the ones I’m finding every day.”
I’ve tried both Mepis 2003.10 and SimplyMepis on an eMachines (with a Via sound card), a Gateway (with a soundblaster), an IBM Thinkpad 600, and a Dell laptop.
The score for sound:
Hardware Mepis 2003.10 SimplyMepis Mandrake
eMachines Yes No Yes
Gateway Yes No Yes
Thinkpad 600 No No No
Dell laptop Yes No Didn’t try
With the Thinkpad, there’s a driver available, but I have not downloaded the source and compiled it and loaded the module yet.
In each case with SimplyMepis, when the sound did not work, I tried the following, based on reading Linux docs, as well as posting at MepisLovers.com:
Turn up volumne in KMixer
Change the Sound system in KDE Control Center from auto detect, to OSS, to ALSA.
Use alsaconf to config sound card.
Load the 2.4 (more mature) kernel instead of the 2.6 kernel, and use OSS (since the 2.4/OSS combo worked with Mepis 2003.10).
All failed.
But with Mepis 2003.10, everything worked right out of the box, no fuss whatsoever.
Truth be told, and to be fair on SimplyMepis, I was using SimplyMepis 2004 rc5 (a release candidate). So it is expected that something might not work. However, since it was automatic and a no brainer with the previous build, I figured even a release candidate would support something that worked before.
But as I said in my previous post, I will be giving ProMepis 2004 a try when a full, mature release comes out. I’m waiting for ProMepis because I want the extra apps on CD – again, I don’t have tons of time to apt-get everything I want. I love the convenience of installing most of what I want from a CD. To me, it beats the crap out of downloading from the internet, even when I have access to T1 speed (which I do at work).
http://osdir.com/shots/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=164&slide=1
Like many reviews, this review seems to focus on the applicaitons that come with distro, rather than anything special about the distro itself.
I want to know: what is special about this distro, what sets it apart from the hundreds of other distros out there. I can run app on any distro.
What’s so great about SimplyMepis2004? That everything just works. 😉
>>”I am puzzled by the fact that instead of following up with a good discussion of the points the author makes, OSnews posters are just generating noise.”
You don’t understand the basic difference between OSNews and the site the review came from: DesktopLinux.
OSNews has a hardcore knowledgeable os reader base. DesktopLinux on the other hand specializes on information for people that basically want a windows clone. That’s why the distros they feature are almost all KDE based and all feature the same apps. The review was good for its intended audience. But to link it here on OSNews? – it just doesn’t provide the information that users like most of us would find actually helpful here.
Sorry, all these reviews blow
When i installed Mepis, it wouldn’t partition using QTPartition, corectly, so I used fdisk. T( and hter were lots of wierd “&&” symbols everywhere)>
Also, I don’t like how thyou view network shares though a spearate rpbogram, I much rpefer the integrated apporach that Xandros/Suse have.
TOo much hype, not much substance, sorry
Oh yes, I agree with the :8ugly” comments.
Ignoring the distro for a moment, I’m more excited about the voip stuff. I recently looked into getting vonage or something but found their flat rates weren’t much cheaper than my local phone provider. However I thought about using skype since it’s got a linux client and they have that skypeout service which is fairly cheap to make calls routed to regular land lines. But the problem is actually receiving calls.
So I got kinda excited to see services that would allow incoming calls from land lines routed to a sip phone.
The article mentioned ipkall and libretel. Libretel is only 6 bucks a month and ipkall is free! Unfortunately, libretel is not available in my area (toronto, canada) and ipkall is free but only available in washington, or more accurately will give someone a number with a washington area code.
So anyone know of other companies providing this service in other areas? I’m wondering if this is a lucrative business opportunty to set this up in other areas. Anyone know whats involved in actually getting land line calls routed to ip calls?
Btw, I’ve been able for ages to click on the images in firefox so they are fullsize. You should see the magnifying glass if you hover over the image. And you can turn it off in firefox in preferences/advanced. The option is ‘resize large images to fit in the browser window’
Excellent article, writing is clear and the recommend will be tried. The user experience espoused by Michael Barnes, namely ease of use, is all that matters.
Reviews that bullet the major apps in a list, then another list of other apps included. History and maybe input from the developers on why they decided to do the distro in question .. who their target audience is and why they decided to go that way. Outline of where distro is going overall in the future.
Maybe a list of known gotcha’s from their support forums or something .. hell how about they have great IRC here .. and forums over here .. Mail list here .. install faq here. etc
Regardless which package mananger it uses .. how about info on solid repositories and what the different repositories are for and why they are around.
Stop review the DE .. there are alot of those .. concentrate on what makes the distro different. Repeating a review of KDE or Gnome for the 100th time is worthless, there are usually pretty solid DE reviews when there is a new release of said software. If there is a major departure from the defaults of that DE install, point those out. Example check the menu bar in Ubuntu .. its different than standard Gnome, thats interesting info because its DISTRO specific.
I read the review and thought I would give it a try.
I cleaned off a drive and booted the CD and followed the install routine. In 10 minutes I was booting into a 2.6 kernel driven KDE Desktop.
I am impressed.
I them decided to load Win4Lin. It went off without a hitch. I have a win98SE desktop within my KDE Desktop so that I can run AutoCad.
I have been using it all day without a glitch. I riiped a few CD’s to Ogg Vorbiss, printed some files, played with Autocad, surfed the net, Received some E-mail, listened to XMMS, and pushed about every button I could.
I am even more impressed.
I am going to send these folks some money. I do believe that this is the easiest I have ever come up with a full working system – ever. I usually use Slackware, but I have installed and tried about a dozen distro’s over the last three years so I do have a little bit of credibility as to my opinion about this distro.
I may have found a Slackware replacement.
The article says Mepis has dumped IceWM. I’d personally like to see a Mepis-like Debian-based distro that comes with a pre-configured IceWM as the default desktop (maybe with ROX-filer and desktop icons). That would rock. KDE is just a bit too complicated for larger audiences — it’s “geeky” to have dozens of icons on toolbar and overcrowded menus everywhere, but average users simply don’t like that. I seriously suggest that SimplyMepis should drop KDE (but not necessarily KDE apps) and default to simpler IceWM.
I just noticed that Kanotix ships with both KDE and IceWM. Has anyone tried both & is Kanotix as good as Mepis?
“it’s “geeky” to have dozens of icons on toolbar and overcrowded menus everywhere, but average users simply don’t like that”
On the contrary, “geeky users” (whatever that means) hate dozens of icons and overcrowded menus. They prefer “a clean look”
And they prefer to create the icons they really need: see the default Debian KDE: hardly any icon to start with.
A few weeks ago, I installed Simply MEPIS on a spare partition, in between Windows and Mandrake. It looked good enough to be worth the effort. Of course, it wasn’t much effort…
It’s a nice distro. It installs VERY easily. Of course it lacks the customization of Mandrake, but if you have room for it, the base selection of packages is good. Being debian-based, it’s easy to add more. The review talked about text-mode apt-get, but there’s also Kpackage (included) and synaptic (snarf it up with apt-get or Kpackage); both are graphical apt front ends, and let you see what’s installed and what’s available.
I disagree with those who thought Mozilla was a worse choice than Firefox. Full Mozilla provides a workable email program and WYSIWYG web page editor, so it replaces both Firefox and Thunderbird with some extras. It’s a bit slower but not bad. Also, I don’t like how Firefox has the same Go menu for all tabs, vs. separate (for the active tab) in Mozilla. Anyway, it’s a matter of choice, and easy enough to change.
What’s missing: a good “repair” function. I did manage to really spooge it, requiring a re-install. How? I tried to install the nvidia driver, using an obsolete installer on a 2.6.9 kernel I compiled myself. The old kernel wouldn’t boot afterwards; the nvidia installer must have messed up some directories. I had to build a kernel because Linux insists on discovering and using my motherboard audio, making my sound card secondary, even though I told the BIOS that the audio was “off” (I guess Windows takes it as a hint; it sees the mobo audio but doesn’t use it). So I had to compile a kernel without even a stub for that VIA686B module. Either that or the age of the Nvidia updater (not even a year, but not current) caused something to go wrong.
Okay, the review wasn’t terribly critical, and did spend too much time on apps that everybody else has too. But the basic point remains; Simply MEPIS does what it sets out to do quite nicely. Its look is fairly clean and stark, but there are plenty of options to change it. If you want a KDE/Debian desktop distro, it’s a good choice.
“the absolute masterpiece of desktop Linux distributions.” – Say What? To me one of the fundementals of a ‘desktop OS’ is to hide all the *nixisms from the user. A desktop OS should be something my grandmother can sit down and install software at, and this falls way short.
Chief on the list of ‘must haves’ (comitting major *nix blasphemy here. You gentoo rice-boys be sure to cover your ears) is making it so the user can see lists of options and choose from them, not go to a command line and type names of packages they may or may not ever have heard of. Despite this the author spends his first several pages talking about running apt-get from the command line before ever even getting to installing Synaptic… So lemme get this straight, this ‘desktop OS’ doesn’t even have a gui front-end for apt-get installed by default?
A desktop OS should also probably by default have a good set of base applications, but instead the writer spends 90% of his article going over all the stuff he had to ADD to it to reach what he considered ‘baseline’. That is hardly what I’d call a ringing endorsement – much less the fact that almost the whole article is pointless if the machine you are setting up isn’t even on the web yet. (while I have broadband on a router, and you have broadband on a router, it doesn’t mean everyone has broadband on a router)
Even the writer’s knowledge of digital cameras seems archaic at best, ignorant at worst. I haven’t seen a camera that ‘needed’ drivers to work with any recent OS since camera’s went to USB – since most of them just pretend to be a flash disk anyways. Having to reboot just to mount a camera that is nothing more than a flash disk? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?
“makes no assumptions about the users’ knowledge of Linux.” is utter nonsense considering the entire article. IMHO while apt-get is a great tool, and debian a great base to work from, asking the ‘average joe’ to use it from the command line is asking too much of the typical dimwit off the street… much less manually entering mnt/sda1 as the mount point for what should be a hot pluggable USB device.
In backreading Mr. Barnes previous articles about linux on the desktop in my accessment it is not that Mepis meets his original definition closer, but that the writers knowledge of how to use linux has improved… Perhaps past the point where he was able to notice the ridiculous hoops he jumps through for the easiest of tasks.
Actually, after testing 2004.4 more (I’d previously used 2004.3), it is very good.
Linux makes anything multimedia a hassle, and it’s great to see a distro make it useable. Plus you can have an entire testing Debian repos if that’s not enough
!!!!!
BTW, anyone not getting their Winkey detected/numpad/page down issues? Changing the debconf to v1.0 in Mepis System Config helped my numpad, but my windows key still isn’t detected! Is this a general Debian problem?
Still, Slackware is the best.
😉