MEPIS
Encyclopedia
MEPIS is a set of Linux
distributions, distributed as Live CD
s that can be installed onto a hard disk drive.
MEPIS is developed and maintained by an active community begun by Warren Woodford and the eponym
ous company MEPIS LLC.
The most popular MEPIS distribution is SimplyMEPIS, which is based primarily on Debian
stable.
It can either be installed onto a hard drive or used as a Live CD
, which makes it externally bootable for troubleshooting and repairing many operating systems. It includes the KDE
desktop environment.
MEPIS LLC offers senior consulting services for product strategy, architecture design, business and systems analysis, and cross-platform software development.
, and Mandriva Linux
(formerly Mandrake) which, in the creator Warren Woodford's opinion, were too difficult for the average user. MEPIS's first official release was on May 10, 2003.
In 2006, MEPIS made a transition from using Debian packages
to using Ubuntu packages. SimplyMEPIS 6.0, released in July 2006, was the first version of MEPIS to incorporate the Ubuntu packages and repositories
.
SimplyMEPIS 7.0 discontinued the use of Ubuntu binary packages in favor of a combination of MEPIS packaged binaries based on Debian and Ubuntu source code, combined with a Debian stable OS core and extra packages from Debian package pools.
Warren Woodford released the source code for the MEPIS Installer and MEPIS System Assistants under the Apache License, in the Fall of 2008.
Major releases occur about six months to one year apart, based mostly on Warren's availability to produce the next version.
MEPIS Community now has a repo team that strives to keep packages up to date between releases, by maintaining a separate 'Community Repository' of various application packages, and has become a major player by producing the artwork and documentation for each release.
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
distributions, distributed as Live CD
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
s that can be installed onto a hard disk drive.
MEPIS is developed and maintained by an active community begun by Warren Woodford and the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous company MEPIS LLC.
The most popular MEPIS distribution is SimplyMEPIS, which is based primarily on Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
stable.
It can either be installed onto a hard drive or used as a Live CD
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
, which makes it externally bootable for troubleshooting and repairing many operating systems. It includes the KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
desktop environment.
MEPIS LLC offers senior consulting services for product strategy, architecture design, business and systems analysis, and cross-platform software development.
History
MEPIS was designed as an alternative to SUSE Linux, Red Hat LinuxRed Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux, assembled by the company Red Hat, was a popular Linux based operating system until its discontinuation in 2004.Red Hat Linux 1.0 was released on November 3, 1994...
, and Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux
Mandriva Linux is a Linux distribution distributed by Mandriva. It uses the RPM Package Manager...
(formerly Mandrake) which, in the creator Warren Woodford's opinion, were too difficult for the average user. MEPIS's first official release was on May 10, 2003.
In 2006, MEPIS made a transition from using Debian packages
Software package (installation)
In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
to using Ubuntu packages. SimplyMEPIS 6.0, released in July 2006, was the first version of MEPIS to incorporate the Ubuntu packages and repositories
Software repository
A software repository is a storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.- Discussion :Many software publishers and other organizations maintain servers on the Internet for this purpose, either free of charge or for a subscription fee...
.
SimplyMEPIS 7.0 discontinued the use of Ubuntu binary packages in favor of a combination of MEPIS packaged binaries based on Debian and Ubuntu source code, combined with a Debian stable OS core and extra packages from Debian package pools.
Warren Woodford released the source code for the MEPIS Installer and MEPIS System Assistants under the Apache License, in the Fall of 2008.
Major releases occur about six months to one year apart, based mostly on Warren's availability to produce the next version.
MEPIS Community now has a repo team that strives to keep packages up to date between releases, by maintaining a separate 'Community Repository' of various application packages, and has become a major player by producing the artwork and documentation for each release.
Current variants
- SimplyMEPIS, the most popular MEPIS variant, is designed for everyday desktop and laptop computing. The default desktop environment is KDE-based, although Gnome and/or other GUI-environments can be installed. SimplyMEPIS 11.0 includes Linux 2.6.36.4, KDE 4.5.1 and LibreOffice 3.3.2, with other applications available from Debian and the MEPIS Community. It was released on May 5, 2011. It is based on Debian 6.
- antiXAntiXantiX is a Linux distribution based on MEPIS which itself is based on the Debian testing distribution. It replaces the Mepis KDE desktop environment with the Fluxbox and IceWM window managers, making it suitable for older, less powerful x86 based systems...
, a fast, lightweight and flexible distribution available in full, base or core editions and based on SimplyMEPIS for x86 systems in an environment suitable for old computers that features the FluxboxFluxboxFluxbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System, which started as a fork of Blackbox 0.61.1, with the same aim to be lightweight. Its user interface has only a taskbar, a pop-up menu accessible by right-clicking on the desktop, and minimal support for graphical icons...
and IceWMIceWMIceWM is a stacking window manager for the X Window System graphical infrastructure, written by Marko Maček. It was coded from scratch in C++ and is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License...
window managerWindow managerA window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment...
s. Version M11 was released on 2 May 2011, It is now a true 'rolling-release-cycle'Rolling releaseIn software development, a rolling release development model refers to a continuously developing software system; this is opposed to a standard release development model which uses software versions that must be reinstalled over the previous version...
Linux distribution, and thus continues to remain current. It is based upon the standard Debian repository named 'testing'.