Review: Mepis 8.0

I AM a little conflicted about Mepis.

It is part of the family of Debian-based Linux distributions which I tend to favour, and it is a distribution I used for quite a lengthy period in the past.

Plus, there is much to like about version 8.0, released recently to coincide with the launch of its parent distribution, Debian 5.0 'Lenny'.

Mepis (http://www.mepis.org/) uses the stable and vast Debian Lenny repository of more than 23,000 packages, so you know that your Mepis system is going to be reliable and will have a tool for every PC task imaginable.

Mepis 8.0 is also much nicer looking than previous versions - the inky/liquid metal desktop, dark blue window themes and contemporary white-silhoutte logo are very nice and very welcome.Finally, the Mepis community (http://mepislovers.org/forums/index.php) is one of the friendliest, most helpful around and, in Warren Woodford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Woodford), the distribution has a highly - and justly - respected leader.

So why am I conflicted? Well, the (red) devil is in the detail. Let me walk you quickly through my installation and subsequent usage and perhaps you'll see the source of my concerns.

For this review I was using an admittedly old, under-powered machine: a Compaq Presario with a 700MHz Duron processor, 512MB of RAM, 10GB HDD and a Sitecom WL113 wireless NIC (using the zd1211 chipset), all hooked up to a Compaq 17inch CRT (incidentally, this pin-sharp old monitor puts my more modern LCD displays to shame).

I had some obvious reservations that Mepis, which uses KDE 3.5.10, might be too sluggish on the old girl, but those fears actually proved to be unfounded and, anyway, I'm fairly sure the problems I encountered had little to do with my hardware, so to speak.

Mepis 8.0 comes in live CD format (http://www.mepis.org/mirrors) which, given that I only have USB wi-fi networking on this old machine, proved crucial in helping me discover if the wireless adaptor would work with Mepis before I bothered with a full install.

It did; the Mepis Network Assistant correctly identified the adaptor and all that was required was my encryption key.

With that happy knowledge in mind, I set about the full install.

Mepis comes with a custom-built installer, accessed through a desktop link, which hasn't really changed much over recent years and, in the past, has shown itself to be reliable and efficient.

So, imagine my surprise when I had repeated problems at the partitioning stage.

First time round, I chose to let Mepis take over the whole 10GB HDD and let it handle the partitioning automatically: It failed to create the partitions.

Second time round, I did the same thing, double-checking that I had selected the correct drive (sda), and got the same result.

Third time round, I ran GParted at the partitioning stage, deleted all the existing partitions and tried the auto-install again, and got the same partitioning failure.

Fourth time round, I ran GParted again and created an 8GB ext3 partition manually, along with a Swap partition, but this time I chose the custom install option and directed root to /mnt/sda1 and Swap to its own partition, and this time the install proceeded without a hitch.

The install after this went pretty much as most do - GRUB to the MBR, choose services, domain, localisation, timezone, user and root admin, reboot.

To my absolute delight I found that, once into my desktop, Mepis had retained the wi-fi details from the live CD, which meant I was immediately online.As I said earlier, the new look of Mepis is quite lovely and very professional. What's more, there are desktop links to a detailed Mepis User Guide (it lives in /usr/share/mepis-manual) and the Mepis online community, both invaluable resources for new users.Amusingly, I also had a desktop icon for the Compaq's floppy drive, which tells you how old this machine is!

The KDE panel along the bottom of the screen contains an icon for handling automatic updates - click on it and, after entering your root password, the Synaptic package manager launches (I didn't expect any updates so soon after launch, and I was right).

It's good to see Synaptic on board because it's probably the easiest way for those new to Linux to handle software installation.

And continuing that line of thought, I come to my major concern about Mepis, its menu structure and configuration tools.

Using a Linux system for basic, everyday tasks is fairly straightforward, but administering one - getting it configured and keeping it up-to-date, secure and stable - is another matter.

Mepis 8.0 doesn't help itself, or its user, by the way its muddled K menu presents the tools you require.

There are entries for System, Utilities and (KDE) Control Centre, each of which launch a multitude of utilities and configuration tools, then there is a separate section, entitled 'Actions', which contains Settings, Print System and Network Folders.The main System folder links to, among other options, the various Mepis custom configuration tools: Network Assistant (works well but not as user-friendly as, say, Network Manager in Ubuntu); System Assistant (for repairing partitions, creating a USB key install etc); User Assistant (for repairing user settings, copying or syncing files and folders, adding or deleting users); and x_Windows Assistant (for copying your current xorg.conf, changing your screen dpi, managing your mouse and monitor and handling Nvidia or ATi drivers).

Add to that little lot all the things that KDE's native control centre does and you can see how a new user might start to feel confused and overwhelmed.

To be fair, this is not just a Mepis issue: It's the same for pretty much every distribution that uses pre-KDE4 setups, but that's no excuse for not putting a bit more thought into how you present the vital system tools to your user.

In other words, one single point of entry to everything that is needed to get/keep things working properly.

I mentioned earlier that Mepis 8.0 links to the huge Debian software repository, and while it comes with some good, contemporary software pre-installed - Firefox 3.0.6, OpenOffice 3.0, Amarok - there are quite a few that I would instantly replace for better options - KMail (Thunderbird/Claws), KMPlayer (VLC/Kaffeine), Kopete (Pidgin).

Mepis comes well-equipped to handle multimedia out-of-the-box. My usual review routine saw it playing MP3s, YouTube and Apple videos and BBC streams without any problems (BTW, check out the Apple trailer for Will Ferrell's latest film, Land Of The Lost - it looks a hoot!).

I did, however, have problems getting KMPlayer to play my commercial DVD, it returned a 'Xine not running' error each time I tried.

Another minor annoyance, given that I had correctly chosen my timezone during the install, was that the system clock was set to New York time - I'm in the UK - but this was easily fixed.

All the other routine stuff - sound, correct configuration of my display, networking - are handled beautifully well by Mepis, which makes these minor annoyances all the more puzzling.

That said, Mepis 8.0 is still a very strong distribution. Bearing in mind the few niggles I have pointed out, I doubt it is a distribution that a new user might take to immediately - even given the inclusion of that useful guide.

More experienced Linux users may well look past these minor issues and find a distribution with a great heritage that they can tailor to their own needs.

It won't let them down, that's for sure.