| MEPIS tests "lite" distro |
May 23, 2005
By popular demand, MEPIS LLC is developing a distribution tailored to make the most of PCs originally designed for Windows 98. The latest version, MEPISLite 3.3.1-test01, is now available for download via FTP.
Similar to SimplyMEPIS, MEPISLite includes a number of "minor tweaks" to reduce "disk thrashing." Also, a few packages notorious for hogging disk space, like the OpenOffice suite, have been replaced with trimmer alternatives.
MEPIS developer Warren Woodford hopes that MEPISLite will prove light enough to bring back the MEPIS Traveller Disk feature, missing since 2003. Still in the experimental stages, the Traveller Disk creates a home directory on a USB key drive, and aims to allow data portability independent of hardware, allowing access to files from public terminals or data continuity even in the event of a hardware failure.
"When the Traveller Disk was introduced in 2003, we had problems with USB key write speed and autodetection," Woodford notes. "Those are vastly improved now, thanks in part to the work of the Linux kernel team."
So far, MEPIS has worked most of the kinks out of the Traveller Disk feature, but has not yet implemented data synchronization, according to Woodford.
MEPISLite 3.3.1-test01 is available for download via FTP. MEPIS LLC asks that any feedback on the test distro be sent to support@mepis.org.
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