Mepis or Mandriva

Discussion in 'Linux, BSD and Other OS's' started by StimpE, Jun 29, 2006.

  1. StimpE

    StimpE lol, Internet!

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    Looking for some advice on which linux distro would be best and easiest to configure (WLAN above all) on my new laptop. It's a Toshiba Satellite M70, here are the specs.

    Toshiba Satellite M70 - Pentium M Processor 740 - 1.73GHz - 1024MB DDR2 - 80 GB 5400RPM SATA - DVD Super-Multi Double Layer +-R Drive - V.92 56K Data/Fax Modem - 10/100 Integrated Ethernet LAN, Wireless LAN (802.11a/g) - 15.4 in. TFT (1280 x 800)

    All I will be doing on the laptop will be word documents which I'm planning to use OpenOffice for, and music which XMMS can take care of.

    I've tried both distro's on desktop platforms and I'm leaning towards MEPIS. Will the wireless device be auto-detected in both distro's? Any insight is appreciated :)
     
    StimpE, Jun 29, 2006
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  2. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    I personally don't like Mepis because it is, to be frank, a bastardized Debian. There is no clear update path, a very short support cycle, and binary support with standard .deb files is abysmal. If you want a Debian-based distro, my advice is to try either Xubuntu or Kubuntu. Otherwise, Mandriva is a good choice for a laptop distro. It has 'laptop mode' scripts which detect laptop hardware and automatically optimize your system for battery life and portability. It also has one of the best WiFi config tools available on any distro.
     
    Anti-Trend, Jun 29, 2006
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  3. megamaced

    megamaced Geek Geek Geek!

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    LOL

    StimpE, XMMS is quite old and I don't think it's supported anymore. You might want to check out Beep Music Player which is a derivative of XMMS, but much better and it uses GTK+2
     
    megamaced, Jun 29, 2006
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  4. sabashuali

    sabashuali Ani Ma'amin

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    [ot]
    I am not sure why anyone would want to use anything but Amarok....
    [/ot]

    I just installed Mandriva One on my main box and it was easy peazy. And it looks like it's bursting with the usual stuff like wireless and bluetooth... yadi, yadi ya.

    Anyway, I do not know Mepis and personaly I do not want to either.
    I cannot think of a scenario where *ubuntu's and Mandriva will not answer.
    They both can be as light as you need them to be and have amazing, solid and mega rocking repositories and software managment. Have I left anything out?
     
    sabashuali, Jun 29, 2006
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  5. megamaced

    megamaced Geek Geek Geek!

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    I agree with you. But if I was going to run Linux on older hardware and use the XFCE, iceWM or WM window managers, i'd probably opt for Beep Music player to keep with the lightweight theme of the rest of the applications
     
    megamaced, Jun 29, 2006
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  6. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Yes, I second that. There's also a variation called Audacity.
     
    Anti-Trend, Jun 29, 2006
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