Simply MEPIS - My Entry into Linux

 Simply MEPIS - My Entry into Linux

Linux is over 34 years.

As of August/September 2025, Linux is 34 years old. Created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 as a personal hobby project, it was famously announced in a Usenet post on August 25, 1991, with the first version (0.01) released shortly after on September 17, 1991.

I probably entered Linux 25 years ago, a decade later, in 1999, having discarded Microsoft Windows for good, at the age 50.

Simply MEPIS 7 in 2003 was probably my proper entry into Linux Domain 4 years before PCLinux, judging by my blog entries.

Simply MEPIS (later known as MEPIS) began in 2002 when Warren Woodford established MEPIS LLC, with the first official release of the operating system launching on May 10, 2003.

Mandrake Linux 10.0 in 2004 would have been my other entry into Linux. I cannot remember which one exactly was the first. It is most likelyMEPIS due to its live CD version and easy graphic installation.            

I would not have bothered to install one on a dark terminal, especially, early in my Linux career.

Below is one of my blog entries at Google Blog spot.

What is written below was before the download of Mepis DVD.

Thanks to Guys and Girls in Mepis for sweeper (which I call a Mind Sweeper). Making me happy Mepis has introduced a package named Sweeper to clean up the system.

It is most welcome.

I had being waiting for a long time. I had been doing this cleaning manually until now even with PCLinux. This utility should be developed into Mind Sweeper for others to follow. I use PCLinux (now 2010-01) on daily basis and it does not give any problem because it has the nice habit of deleting unnecessary files in tmp on a regular basis (at boot up) and there is no clutter or clogging due to large log files. Large log files that are essential for a server and should not be used obsessively on a desktop. I of course on a regular basis look at the available memory after three or four downloads and having archived the images,              I delete the big files keeping the running distribution robust and up to date. Whereas, my wife and daughter use PCLinux-2009 on two different desktops on a regular basis.

The cardinal mistakes everybody makes is that, not running the box over 24 hours at least occasionally and to let the Cron jobs run. that do the clean up jobs on servers and desktops. I think a utility of this nature is essential for laptops. What the Linux developers should do is to send a message at random, while when the desktop is being used and asking the user whether it is safe to activate the cron jobs (name it the clean up jobs) without compromising the downloading and downloaded files still in the tmp.

Coming back to MEPIS, it is one of the best distributions in a single CD and has everything one needs and sometimes things that are missing in PCLinux.

Mepis is something one ought to have to get the fresh and Debian feel.

My objective was “Why pay for a bad commercial product?”

Linux had many free products for productivity.

 

1. Firefox for web browsing.

 

2. OpenOffice 3 for office work.

I use AbiWord for all my writings.

I changed to LibreOffice briefly which is also becoming bulky.

 

3. GIMP for photo editing.

As a Photoshop alternative.

 

4. VLC for videos and films.

 

5. Audacity and Alsa mixer for audio.

 

6. Blender for editing audio and video files.

 

7. Scribus for desktop publishing.

Ascii Doc which I have not used, is a similar application.

 

8. Besides there are lot of command line applications.

LateX was the best but it seems nobody is supporting it.

Vim

Emacs

Kile

TexWorks

TexShops

Lyx

Windows base had very little to offer.

No one is too old to learn Old Tricks.