I CAN'T BELIEVE IT

I have tried Suse and have to say that it is one of the best distro. User friendly oriented with modest kernal and custom tweak of Openoffice and Evolution mail, nice polish GUI. IMO, the reason why Ubuntu and other distro are going to leave Mepis behind because it too convervative while other distros use KDE 3.4 and kernal 2.6.12. Mepis is killing itself by trying to be conservative distro which highly conflict with most of the Linux users nature
that they like to try a new stuff (and free, why not?)

I really like mepis but it does not even recognise my serial ata, ATI video card, LCD monitor which Suse, mandiva, fc can do a superb job on it while mpis keep spiting there is the error here, error over there, error code those and stop working. You can say that these problem can be fixed by complieing a new kernal and pull up the console and on and on and on. I am linux newbie and looking for XP replacement but I think I have to fading away from mepis because it is no longer the best distro as it used to be.

The advertising word like "excellent hardware detection" need to be removed from mepis website because mepis was already obsolete distro.

Mepis is just a newer distro, those other ones have all ready been around for a while and have had a chance to fix certain things. mepis is still young as distros go but it is ever changing and i have no dought it will prove to be the better choice. if u look we do have kernel 2.6.12, but the kernel dosen't make the distro that not why we use it. also the new mepis does support ATA and raid. it's all a matter of time if mepis was around that long it would blow them away. MY OPINON!
(P.S. if you can't help the problems don't be the problem)

IMO, linux is in between the war of marketing scheme like digital camera which in order to attract new user, you have to know how to play with the number like high mega pixel, number of capacity, shutter speed on and on.
I worry about mepis start to be over looked and forgotten. The newbie will always seek the modest distro with modest package which is the basic instinct to guarantee that they will get the best of linux at that time (and whatever their choice, it all free!!) If mepis happy with the same old and small group user then fine but i doubt that it going to survive on the next year??

I've only been using linux for about 8 months and have used about 300 cdr's testing all the different distro's i could get my hands on, i will still download and burn the new ones to try but have always come back to mepis, there's a reason why they have been at the top of the list that long. So what if the other distro's have just come out with something new mepis is still working to be the best for there users. while the other guy's worry about what's best for there wallets. they don't release every thing to the users and always hold something back that u must buy. everything mepis has made has evetually been released to the users. but hay it's free so stick with what u like.

Monkeyz, seems you're simply not lucky if something did not work for you with Mepis... I'm totally agree with Kerry, and I've "converted" several my friends already to Mepis, and all for the same reason: everything works at once and out of the box! I'm using Linux for more than 10 years no, and move to Mepis with my new laptop because it's the _only_ distro which worked correctly it! And even more - for the first time I use Linux distro where _everything_ is worked after first boot! I have so long a habit "at least boot, and let's fix things one by one" - today it's still hard to believe for me I changed/fixed _nothing_ to run Mepis! I even afraid now to broke something (for the first time!) It's like a realized dream!

The most important problem for Mepis today (for me) is a luck of wide external communication: all people I asked around never hear about Mepis, very surprised after first try, and always finishing by "How did you find it? Nobody saw it before!". So, there is a way again to be widely popular distro, but I think if things still continue as before - it's only question of time!

Rgds,
-dim

monkeyz, I have been a user of SuSE Linux from somewhere around rev 7 something. The last version that I used was 9.2. I may buy rev 10, but I haven't decided yet. Yes, SuSE is very nice and has LOTS OF STUFF. But it's also big. I had it on my laptop, and when I looked around for a smaller distro I eventually landed with Mepis. I won't mention any other small distros because I don't want to give any negative info at this time (nor invite flames). So yes, SuSE's nice, but I like Mepis better for most of the functions to which I'm applying it (including as a special server for a client).

Jon

I've been using Mepis as my "home" OS for years now. I try a bunch of others, but always come back to Mepis because I can count on it working, period.

The DW rankings are meaningless in the short term, but might reflect Mepis's one big failing: communications. There doesn't seem to be anyone involved who has a good sense of publicity and communicating. For Win refugees, Mepis's ability to let you run from a CD and then do a ridiculously easy and painless install makes it almost unique, but you won't find any persuasive hype that spells out what a huge difference that makes. Compare the Mepis homepage with those of other distros and you just don't get excited the way you do with theirs.

The communications problem also shows up in the docs area. The forums are great for problem solving, but there's really no good place to turn for a compact, detailed guide to getting started and using Mepis, so people aren't going to feel comfortable taking the plunge with Mepis when there are so many "hand-holding" (too much of it sometimes) distros available.

I don't think any decline in Mepis popularity reflects the OS's quality or capabilities. It reflects a lack of communicating those virtues. I hope Warren makes a bunch of money on his new ventures and decides to invest some of it in better communication.

DaveW, I guess you're right. On the other hand: Mepis is #5 at Distrowatch, so what? At this moment, like it or not, Linus is still an OS that is being used by a select group of people. My guess is that most 'converts' fall into two categories: those that are computer savvy, are fed up with Windows or just interested in trying something new, and start looking on the internet what the options are. The second group is the not-so-savvy people with friends that urge them 'to try this and get rid of spyware, viruses, illegal software and all'....

For the first group, there's plenty of information on the internet to give them a point to start from. Although Ubuntu has an edge here, Mepis is mentioned enough with enough positive feedback for it to be an interesting choice. The rest is up to the individual.

As far as the second group goes, that's a circuit you can hardly influence. My guess is that the actual userbase of Mepis is not really so much smaller than Ubuntu's, and I believe that for absolute newcomers Mepis is more impressive than Ubuntu, especially because of its out of the box multi media support and the live / install CD combined into one. Moreover I tryly believe KDE is more capable of dragging windows users over than the Gnome.... But that's just my opinion

Communications are getting important when it comes to business applications, and I expect a lot of the Debian Consortium in this respect. Mepis is a full blown member of this group and will surely get its share of attention in due time as a spin off of this initiative.

Although sometimes it makes me wonder when I read yet another glorious Ubuntu / Xandros / Mandriva / Suse story howcome some things that are so common in Mepis get such glowing criticism from the umpteenth so called critic, at the same time I realize that, alas, the majority of the Linux oriented sites cannot be qualified as objective, professional media. The shake out is yet to come, and within a couple of years we'll probably all look back in amazement at what is happening now.

Right now, all that matters is making a good product and using shared initiatives that help Linux get better and more integrated. Mepis is definitely playing an important role here, and as users, the best we can do is be enthusiastic about it and expand 'the second circuit' as much as we can.

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Carlops I think you hint at hitting the nail on the head with this part:

"Although sometimes it makes me wonder when I read yet another glorious Ubuntu / Xandros / Mandriva / Suse story howcome some things that are so common in Mepis get such glowing criticism from the umpteenth so called critic, at the same time I realize that, alas, the majority of the Linux oriented sites cannot be qualified as objective, professional media."

but I see the problem, not one of bad/impartial/unobjective media coverage, but a question of clout.

Ubuntu, Xandros, Mandriva and Suse have a lot of financial backing behind them, unlike Mepis. And in this world, sadly to say, money talks before quality.

There are lots of really good distros out there, produced by talented individuals or small groups such as DSL, Puppy, Feather, Slax, Kanotix, PClinuxOS and others, of which Mepis IMHO is number 1, all produced on a limited budget.
Of the above mentioned "small" distros, only Mepis has stayed in the DW top 5 for any length of time. The others in the top 5 are the "big players" in the game.
I think that in the future, linux WILL make a great breakthrough into the desktop/home user market as well as the business server market, that will seriously challenge M$. But, and this is really my point, UNFORTUNATELY only the big financial forces within linux will be able to sustain it. This is the nature of capitalism. The big fish eat the small one. Nothing to do with quality.
Mepis is a great distro and it has acheived a lot in the last 2 years and I hope it will acheive a lot more in the future, it deserves to succeed. Whether it does or not, I feel, is largely out of its control. So called market-forces are to blame.
Size( of the bank balance) does matter lol (not to me, but in the business world)

my 2 bobs worth.

anticapitalista

Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

Hey anticapitalista, I afraid I share your pessimist view of what makes this world go round (wasn't there a song about that??)... However, in the meantime, I DO believe there's room for pioneers like the guys that build the distros you mentioned (although admittedly I do not know all of them, I know some that are indeed quite good). These pioneers are now partly responsible for keeping the 'big ones' on edge. For server farm markets, I bet it's hard to beat Red Hat (though Debian has a fair share I believe), but what is going on in the desktop area now is mostly due to people like Warren et al (and OF COURSE big projects such as Debian, KDE, Gnome, Mozilla, OpenOffice) who have succeeded in creating a Linux that seems to be getting ready for a breakthrough. I can only hope that within the emerging Linux market there will always be room for guys operating in the niche, so that they keep the 'big uns' on their toes. If that is going to happen, that will be a major difference with the MS dominated scene we are witnessing now. Till that time, well, enjoy being part of an avant garde of some kind

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

"Ubuntu, Xandros, Mandriva and Suse have a lot of financial backing behind them, unlike Mepis. And in this world, sadly to say, money talks before quality."

No Kidding!@

Look at every windows "upgrade" in comparison to the strides that open source has made? Not only that, but you have media that hypes windows and deny's talking about anything else, because gates has his fingers in it all.

Ever seen a *nix distro reviewed in PC Mag? What about G4 tv? (besides the lame 'hack this and put linux on it' segment)

Hey Carlops
I just want to say that I agree with you that the "pioneers" DO keep the 'big ones' on their toes, and it is due to these very same people that has made linux such a wonderful choice as an OS.
Problem is though, that these same people don't really get the benefit of their labours they really deserve.
AND, just as important in my opinion, I feel it will mean that linux in the future could go the "lower common denominator way" (like M$) as the "big guns" put their profits before quality, meaning that guys and gals such as the pioneers and the linux users will lose out.
I really hope that the "niche" of Mepis stops and Mepis becomes a mass OS replacing windoze. BUT........................................

anticapitalista

Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

Mepis is doing just fine I believe, given its target market. The two things that need to be certain for desktop or soho market acceptance is end user viability (read functional capabilities) and stability (read minimizing the need for technical support - professional or your own). Make these 2 criteria rock-solid, then you've got a horse that's ready for the race. Mepis is getting closer to this than any Linux distro I've come across.

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Running dual boot
SimplyMepis 3.3.1-1/Win XP Home
Acer Aspire 3000 laptop.