Mepis Talk

[tseliot]

One extra point in favour of Mepis: I compiled a 2.6.16 vanilla kernel in mepis and it ran without a problem - something that I'm still working on with dapper.

Did you read my guide about kernel compilation?

You can compile the kernel in any distro.

[Steve1961]

Did you read my guide about kernel compilation?

You can compile the kernel in any distro.

I did tseliot, and I used it to check the steps I usually do. Very nice how to. Using the kernel source from the dapper repos (2.6.15 + patches) it works perfectly, and I now have a working 2.6.15 kernel optimised for my k8 processor (I know I could install the 64bit version of ubuntu but I've tried that in the past and I prefer to stick with the 32 bit). However, when I use a vanilla 2.6.16 kernel the enterprise volume manager fails to start (I've tried lots of config options but nothing seems to make the difference). I'm guessing that there's a patch in the ubuntu kernel source that I need.

[hermesrules]

I tried MEPIS about a year or so ago, having screwed my Hoary Gnome installation in an attempt to use KDE, as far as I remember. And then MEPIS seemed much closer to Debian than Ubuntu was, and sometimes packages would be slighly outdated. I was satisfied with the stability and the setup (pretty much), but the community support can not even compare to Ubuntu's. In fact, people on these very forums are one of Ubuntu's greatest assets (if not THE greatest). So I switched back, and installed Kubuntu. Never looked elsewhere since.

But now that MEPIS uses the Ubuntu repositories, maybe it's getting more popular?...

[Iandefor]

Yes, Gnome is so dull.

Sorry for the offtopic, but OW! That screenshot hurt my eyes, aysiu!

[shuttleworthwannabe]

I am using both at the moment; and are both equally stable for me. MEPIS id all my hardware ou tof the box, including the wireless LED light on my laptop. Both Kubuntu and MEPIS do not id my volume buttons. MEPIS laptop support for power management I feel is not up to speed with Kubuntu" kpowersave does not have the same effcet o MEPIS.

Multimedia and SUN Java work out of the box in MEPIS. I had to use easyUbuntu to get that working in kubuntu. S

I have both looking and feeling the same at the moment. I prefer the more polished grub, bootup, and login screen in MEPIS. If only kubuntu got this right. Appearance is everything, IMHO, and MEPIS captues you once you start. Granted MEPIS could do better with its logo and desktop wallpaper, but that is a minor thing.

MEPIS has a relatively slow forum support wrt to response. I thus prefer forum support here.

But hey, the power of ubuntu and the magic of mepis is what makes these flavors of linux's one of the most liked distro' aorund!

I can't wait for either to adopt the new kernel 2.6.16, when the rest of the other distro's have: slax, suse, etc.

I like both.

[RAV TUX]

I haven't tried MEPIS and probably won't I currently have a Dual boot on my old computer of Ubuntu/Kubuntu I can see why people like the flashy sexiness of KDE but I prefer Gnome, but hey thats just me. I will get rid of Kubuntu and just use Ubuntu and experiment with other distros. I think I will try something a bit different I downloaded the ISO image of Debian Hurd, I think I will try and help out if I can with the HURD next.

honestly if I really liked KDE I found PC-BSD to be the best yet (I know it is BSD OS but honestly I was impressed but not enough to pull me away from gnome/Ubuntu)

http://www.pcbsd.org/

KDE is the default install but you can enable gnome also.

Lately I am most impressed with " Musix GNU+Linux "
Mostly since it is the only Linux Distro I can get to run on my new computer with no major problems. (Intel EM64T dual core)

http://www.musix.org.ar/en/index.html

pretty awesome OS give it a try especially if you like music.

So to answer your question "Re: Kubuntu or Mephis?"

Neither, if I liked KDE I would choose PC-BSD.(but to be fair perhaps I will try MEPIS and re-post my opinion)

[hogweed]

On the MEPIS vs. Kubuntu issue: I wonder if the Ubuntu forums would be as relevant to MEPIS users now that MEPIS is using the Ubuntu base? I currently use Kubuntu, but can see myself moving to MEPIS (which I actually had on my comp. right before switching to Kubuntu) -- but I would really only do it if I can get all my questions dealt with here in the Ubuntu forums. Of course, I understand that initial install and config issues would have to be through MEPIS forums, but after that?

-- hogweed

[awakatanka]

Lately I am most impressed with " Musix GNU+Linux "
Mostly since it is the only Linux Distro I can get to run on my new computer with no major problems. (Intel EM64T dual core)

http://www.musix.org.ar/en/index.html

pretty awesome OS give it a try especially if you like music.

So to answer your question "Re: Kubuntu or Mephis?"

Neither, if I liked KDE I would choose PC-BSD.(but to be fair perhaps I will try MEPIS and re-post my opinion)

Nice KDE music distro

[Luke]

interesting topic. i myself have been wondering the same thing (i know i can just try them since they're both free...) i have tried the mepis beta 2 and like it. also used kubuntu 5.10 for a little while and thought it was good (forget why i stopped using it. just whoring around i guess)

on the issue of stability:
some have said that mepis is more stable than kubuntu. any idea why this would be?
also, i think i've read in the past people saying that they love ubuntu (w/ gnome) but just find kubuntu too unstable. i don't understand this. is it just that KDE is unstable (according to those people) or is there some other underlying difference between ubuntu and kubuntu that could lead to differences in stability

[mstlyevil]

To clear up the confusion a little, Mepis is still an entirely different disto than Kubuntu. The kernel Mepis uses is based on Dapper but is modified to be different. The default packages and configs are completely different and the structure is different. Mepis also does not use sudo and certain config files are changed or located in different places.

The How to's and guides will work for the most part on this forum.There are enough differences that you are taking a big risk by relying on the Ubuntu forums for tech support for Mepis.

As to the OP's question, Mepis is the overall better more polished and complete distro of the two. Both are equally stable as long as you do not update Mepis as you do Kubuntu. Some of the Ubuntu packages and kernel modules do not play nice with Mepis when you update it through synaptic. This of course will change when both go stable on June 1st and the updates become mainly security updates.

Kubuntu is a lot lighter on a default install then you add what you need. Mepis has almost everything a typical user would want or need installed by default. You still have to add W32 codecs and Libdvdcss to Mepis to get full multimedia support. The downside to Mepis is that it may be bloated for your needs. I also found it is incompatible with the Dapper K7 kernel. You are stuck using the i386 kernel unless you compile your own kernel and headers.

To decide you have to ask what is more important. A almost completely configured distro with less flexibility or a Distro you will have to spend more time on to configure but is extremely flexible.