SimplyMepis

[KanotixUser]

Has anyone else tried SimplyMepis live cd? I obviously use Kanotix but I have just switched my laptop (IBM T40) to Mepis (HD Install). The live cd worked great and really impressed me.

*Everything worked including the Centrino Wireless. Even with the hard drive install I don't have to modprobe ipw2100 and pump, ipw2100 is loaded normally and all I have to do is pump to get an ip.

* The fonts are wonderful without running additional scripts. Never to small to read, etc.

*The installer is great

*The install is a bit leaner, which I like, APT makes it easy enough to GET whatever else you want.

*My ATI 7500 mobility which I could only get 300-450 fps in glxgears with Kanotix, I now get 1000+ fps. 3D enabled which I could not figure out how to do . Mepis did it for me!

*Only negative-The Forums are not as extensive as Knoppix, and there is no Kano (Kanotix Forums) to answer every post himself!

Give it a try, and post your results on what equipment.
www.mepis.org

EDIT: Please excuse my ignorance and speaking too quickly about the Mepis Forums. After spending some time there, they are excellent and the community is very helpful. There is no reason not to try out this excellent distro.

[baldyeti]

Mepis would indeed be my first recommendation for a HD install. If only the main debian-based live CD's could unite, we'd get the top-notch hw detection of knoppix, modularity of morphix, excellent fonts and overall polish of mepis, and useful extra scripts and drivers of kanotix in one perfect package...

I am currently running mepis 2003.10, with Kano's kernel 2.6.8 and KDE upgraded to 3.3 from the regular debian pools. And it all works fine, which btw showcases debian's superior package management.

[markb]

I started with Knoppix and still trawl these forums but after trialling Knoppix, Kanotic, and Mepis I switched to Mepis about 4 months ago and think it is the greatest. If nothing else, the better fonts won me over from the start. (I guess I could stuff around and get knoppix to use the same 100 dpi ttf xft fonts if I tried? But why doesn't knoppix look as good by default?).

Certainly, the HD install GUI is much superior to the script based Knoppix installer. I frequently do an apt update and upgrade via synaptic and have never had problems. BTW, mepis.org and mepislovers.com are quite active and very helpful.

I don't wish to degrade Knoppix at all. I think Mepis has just been through an enormously active period of work and is probably the most "state of the art" live CD at present.

[nishtya]

I liked Mepis but found Kanotix way ahead (kernel-wise) and the installer I have been using for ages - fabian's script I have no problem with.

May I ask what version of Mepis you say is state of the art? Is it perhaps the purchased one? The free download found on mirrors now, 2004-4 is using kernel 2.6.7 which many have found to be slow and I believe has a security flaw as well.

[markb]

I liked Mepis but found Kanotix way ahead
May I ask what version of Mepis you say is state of the art? Is it perhaps the purchased one? The free download found on mirrors now, 2004-4 is using kernel 2.6.7 which many have found to be slow and I believe has a security flaw as well.

Most Live CD users wouldn't give a toss which kernel version they are running - so long as it is reliable and fast. I haven't noticed any slowness in Mepis 2004.04. When I say "state of the art" I was referring to the attributes which distinguish these live CDs - e.g. automatic and comprehensive hardware detection, look and feel, functionality out of the box, hardrive installer, and update facilities.

[monkymind]

I like them both. They seem kinda similar on the surface but actually meet different needs. IMHO SimplyMEPIS is a "Desktop Linux" while Kanotix is more of a "Desktop Workstation Linux".

SimplyMEPIS (Family friendly): I use it for friends, family and neighbours who had become frustrated after their PC crashed or became infected with a lot of the things that seem to happen to windows users on the net lately .

Great multimedia support with realplayer, flash and mplayer configured and ready to go. Saves a lot of time not having to do the post-install tweaking particularly when there are a lot of users sharing the same PC.

Based on a mixture of Sarge and Sid (testing and unstable).
Released 4 new versions this year + several pre-releases earlier in the year. It is the companion CD to the recently released book "Point and Click Linux".


Kanotix (Geek friendly): What I personally use. Perfect for tweaking and personalising. Easy to download kernel sources and setup vmware, lm sensors etc. but not so easy that it becomes boring . Also Kano provides neat scripts, patches and releases a new version regularly.

Based on Sid (unstable).
Released regularly and frequently - every month or two (9 this year + 2 fixes)

Just my 2 cents worth ( and less than expert opinion )
Cheers
rob

[markb]

OK nishtya, I see that Kanotix has released a new version yesterday (Bug Hunter X) which includes KDE 3.3.1. Now that is a version change which I think users are very interested in! So, yes, I agree now that Kanotix is very arguably the "state of the art" live CD atm (i.e. today!).

BTW, I ache to get away from KDE 3.2.3 (as on current Mepis/Knoppix/etc) as there are are many little bugs/defficiencies. From the debian forums, it *seems* that 3.3.1 is much better. Let's hope.