SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 Released by MEPIS LLC

SimplyMEPIS 3.4-3 has been released by MEPIS LLC.

The new version includes over 900 preinstalled packages such as Xorg 6.8, KDE 3.4.3, OpenOffice 2.0.1, Firefox 1.5, and a 2.6.15 kernel. Hardware detection and configuration is now handled in the kernel with the dbus/hal/udev/pmount suite of apps. However, some Linux applications are not yet 'udev aware' which caused unexpected challenges during development. Warren, founder of MEPIS, explains that the community has been anxious for this release and that several times they thought they were ready but encountered problems with new technologies developed by others or lack of resources to involve the community early on in their test cycle. He plans to change this for the next release and start a blog where he answers questions from the community, explains what MEPIS is doing, shares his experience, and gives his opinions. SimplyMEPIS used to be built on packages from the Debian unstable (Sid) pool but has now switched to Debian testing (Etch).

Warren continues that even Etch is becoming too unstable for their users' needs and they will have to find a different solution for the future. For more information about MEPIS and SimplyMEPIS, please contact Erin Melbert at news@mepis.com. About MEPIS LLC: MEPIS LLC was founded in 2003 by computer industry veteran Warren Woodford, to meet his personal desire 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 solution providers.

MEPIS was a founding member of the DCC Alliance where it contributed the Intel and LSB compatible kernels offered with DCC 3.0. About SimplyMEPIS: SimplyMEPIS is available as a free download from public Linux mirrors. MEPIS subscribers also have access, sometimes early access, to MEPIS ISOs at the MEPIS subscribers ftp site. For a subscription or other products available directly from MEPIS, visit store.mepis.com. Boxed MEPIS products are produced for retail stores by TAFusion, see www.tafusion.com. MEPIS does NOT authorize third parties to sell MEPIS at Ebay!