Developer Warren Woodford Working state Current Update method APT | OS family Unix-like Initial release May 2003 (2003-05) | |
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Latest release 11.9.90 / July 29, 2013; 3 years ago (2013-07-29) | ||
MEPIS /ˈmɛpᵻs/ is a set of Linux distributions, distributed as Live CDs or DVDs that can be installed onto a hard disk drive. MEPIS was started by Warren Woodford and the eponymous company MEPIS LLC.
Contents
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 DVD, 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.
History
MEPIS was designed as an alternative to SUSE Linux, Red Hat Linux, 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.
Major releases occur about six months to one year apart, based mostly on Warren's availability to produce the next version.
Current variants
SimplyMEPIS, 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 is based on Debian 6 and 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. Development halted during beta testing of Mepis 12.
antiX, a fast and lightweight distribution, was originally based on SimplyMEPIS for x86 systems in an environment suitable for old computers. It is now a true 'rolling-release-cycle' Linux distribution based on Debian Testing, and thus continues to remain current.
Name
According to Warren Woodford, the name MEPIS is pronounced like "Memphis", with the extra letters removed. Originally, the word "MEPIS" didn't mean anything in particular; it came about by mistake. When Woodford misunderstood a friend over the telephone, he decided to use the name because it was a simple five-letter word and there were no other companies or products with that name.