SimplyMEPIS 6.0-beta4 Release: Incorporates Ubuntu RC Components and MEPIS fixes
Morgantown, WV, May 27, 2006 -- Warren Woodford of MEPIS has released beta 4 of SimplyMEPIS 6.0. The ISO image is available for download and test in the mepis 'testing' subdirectory at the MEPIS Subscriber's Site and public mirrors. For up to 7 days, please send feedback to
Beta 4 includes some new and/or updated applications including amarok 1.4, xaralx 0.5, and ksudoku. Digikam plugins were added to make Digikam and showFoto much more powerful and fun to use. To make room for xaralx, it was necessary to remove tvtime and the GIMP from the bootable CD, but for those who need them, they are available for download and install via the Synaptic download manager or apt-get.
Warren explains why this was done "The SimplyMEPIS bootable CD is a starting point, and not always a complete solution. There are many applications we would like to include on the CD, but they won't fit. The OpenSource edition of Xaralx, formerly Corel Xara, is a well known Windows app for vector graphics drawing that is an exciting addition to Linux and MEPIS. Likewise, the new plugins make image manipulation in Digikam and showFoto a piece of cake. We want the new Linux user coming to MEPIS from XP to see right away that Linux has apps that are fun and easy. For the experienced user who wants or needs a powerful image manipulation program like the GIMP or any of the other apps we don't bundle on the CD, we ask for their understanding."
For this release, cpu speed management and suspend-to-ram have been improved. KDE configuration have been fixed for time format and other localization elements. The fontconfig configuration has been improved, so some web site fonts look better in both Firefox and Konqueror. Floppy support has been changed to be more reliable. Spamassassin has been tweaked to give very good results out-of-the-box, and then excellent results as soon as it has learned from a sample of user emails.
SimplyMEPIS 6.0 Beta 4 runs a reconfigured version of the Release Candidate update of the 2.6.15.7 kernel from Ubuntu. The kernel source has been verified to give the best possible compatibility with new Intel hardware. The MEPIS configuration maintains compatibility with the extra "restricted" drivers provided by the Ubuntu team in the Ubuntu pools. MEPIS builds extra drivers for the 386, 686, and k7 flavors of i386 including bcm4400, bcm5700, Intel536, quickcam, spca5xx, usbvision, and, new in this release, ivtv. These drivers are available in the MEPIS pool and they are compatible with the matching Ubuntu kernels.
Beta 4 was synchronized with the Ubuntu Dapper pools on May 26. MEPIS package updates are available from the MEPIS pool. SimplyMEPIS 6.0 is scheduled for final release in June 2006. One more beta will be released approximately June 4 then a Release Candidate is scheduled to follow in about one more week. Final release is planned for around June 18.
About MEPIS
MEPIS LLC was founded in 2003 by computer industry veteran Warren Woodford, to realize his personal vision for a computer environment that was complete and secure, while also being easy to try, easy to install, and easy to use. Today MEPIS offers commercial Linux solutions for home users, businesses, hardware vendors, and vertical market early adopters. MEPIS products are also available free of charge to not-for-profits, K-12 schools, and private users not requiring support.
About Ubuntu/Canonical
Ubuntu is a free software GNU/Linux distribution that aims to provide a high quality desktop featuring the best of the free software application universe. The project is primarily funded by Canonical, Ltd, which also runs Launchpad.net, a free software web collaboration site. Canonical, Ltd is headquartered in Douglas on the Isle of Man.
