Ubuntu has a 6 month stable release cycle that will enable MEPIS to offer its
customers a dependable release schedule. Woodford states “The switch to the
Ubuntu pools was made to provide our users with a more stable underlying
system. Of course it’s important for our users that MEPIS remains true to
its unique vision. I believe this release demonstrates that we can combine
the magic of the MEPIS user experience with the goodness of the Ubuntu
foundation.”
Woodford comments on the experience of porting SimplyMEPIS; “At the time we
built SimplyMEPIS 3.4.3, the Debian Etch package base was very similar to the
final Ubuntu packages in Breezy. So I suppose the port was not much
different than upgrading Ubuntu from Breezy to Dapper. Of course there are
implementation and artistic differences. We’ll incorporate the Ubuntu
differences into MEPIS when it fits our model and vision, likewise we’ll
offer our ideas and changes back to Ubuntu. We hope this is the beginning of
a fun and productive collaboration.”
MEPIS believes this step will improve the flow of code between MEPIS and
Debian. Woodford says: “Ubuntu and Debian are closely related. Periodically
Ubuntu grabs a snapshot of Debian unstable, makes improvements and bug fixes,
and then contributes those bug fixes and improvements back to the Debian
source code tree. If we work with Ubuntu and Canonical to help improve
Ubuntu as a foundation for MEPIS Linux products, then ultimately Debian
should also benefit.”
Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, said “Collaboration with MEPIS will
help Ubuntu offer even higher quality desktop packages for KDE users, and
expands the number of people who can benefit from our work on system
integration, desktop polish and Linux kernel reliability. The MEPIS
community is vibrant and energetic and it will be exciting to be able to work
more closely with them, while still respecting the ways in which Ubuntu and
MEPIS are distinct.”
Woodford continues, “This release is a sneak peek, if you will. There are
integration issues and new features that have not yet been addressed for
SimplyMEPIS 6.0 and the Dapper pools are still being improved. However, we
want to make it available to our subscribers now, so we can get their
feedback before proceeding any further.” This experimental release is
available for download in the ‘snapshot’ directory at the MEPIS Subscribers
ftp site. Feedback should be sent to dev@mepis.com.
About MEPIS
MEPIS LLC was founded in 2003 by computer industry veteran Warren Woodford, to
realize his personal vision for a version of Linux that was easy to try, easy
to install, and easy to use. Today MEPIS offers innovative Linux solutions
for home users, businesses, hardware vendors, and vertical market early
adopters.
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.
