Five Most Popular Posts

Just curious – what are your five most popular posts? I’m not referring to the most comments, just the top five posts hit-wise. Nothing scientific here at all; this idea comes from an observation on my own blog.

The subject matter on this blog is eclectic; there are topics that cover a variety of categories of interest to me, and, hopefully, you. They are:

• Family
• A Christian Life
• Bibles
• Computing
• Goals
• Politics
• Sermons
• Sports

This is at about 7:40 this morning. I’ll start the discussion.

1. Simply Mepis Keeps Getting Better – This post was about Mepis Linux making improvements as it moved forward in the testing cycle.
2. Simply Mepis 8 Is Looking Good – Another post about Simply Mepis in the beta testing cycle. Warren Woodford was doing a fine job.
3. Linux – Is It For You? – This post is about the concept of the Linux operating system. Is it suitable for your needs? In all likelihood, the answer is a resounding “yes”, but there are some who just don’t even want to try. Sad, but true.
4. Chocolate Brown Allan and Sons ESV1 Bible – This post is about probably one of the most well-made bibles on the planet. R. L. Allan and Sons crafts quality bibles in Glasgow, Scotland. There are a few pictures, but you have to hold one of these masterpieces to appreciate the craftsmanship.
5. Simply Mepis 8 Is Finally Here – This post is about Mepis 8 going gold and my experiences installing it on my computers. I must say, this version is rock solid and a breeze to set up. You should give it a try.

Now, lets get the fingers typing and share your most popular posts.

Simply Mepis 8 is Finally Here

Finally, after months of betas and release candidates, the wait is over. In my opinion, the finest Linux distribution a person could possibly use is ready for download and use. Simply Mepis is the superlative work of Warren Woodford, known for creating rock solid distros for beginners and more experienced users, too.

According to an announcement on Mepis.org, Simply Mepis 8 was released on Sunday, February 24, 2009 to the delight of people from all over the world.  It didn’t take me long to download both 32-bit and 64-bit iso images, burn them and begin installing them on my HP 6449US laptop. Actually, I had been testing all the way from the earliest betas through version 8 gold, but wanted to do a clean install on both partitions.

If you’d like to read my other posts on Simply Mepis Linux, follow the links: Simply Mepis 8 Is Looking Good, Simply Mepis 8 Keeps Getting Better and Mepis 8 Replaces 7 – A Good Plan. None of the posts are very technical; they are, however, my views and experiences with a wonderful product. You might find something of interest if you care to read.

Installation was simple and without any hiccups. It takes more time to add all my favorite packages than to complete the installation of the OS. Warren has done a great job with the installer; just answer a few questions and it produces the desired results. I did not have to manually partition my hard drive, as it’s already done.

As always, there is a lot of customization that goes into making each desktop a personal computing experience. It’s so easy to make Simply Mepis look just the way you want; a person is limited simply by imagination or lack thereof. Here’s what I generally do to personalize Mepis (in no particular order):

• Aptitude
• Remove Openoffice.org and replace with the one from OOo’s official site.
• StarOffice
• BibleTime
• SuperKaramba and certain dependencies for Liquid Weather
• KEdit, KGet, KGamma
• MySQL-Admin, server and everything else it takes to make OOo and MySQL play nice together
• Swiftweasel, Opera, Thunderbird, WICD
• gtkpod, gPodder
• Kaffeine, k9copy, SMplayer and themes, VLC, xine-ui, codecs, xmms from package sharing
• Acroread
• Kuickshow
• WINE
• Compiz
• Fonts
• KDMtheme – a theme manager, ksplash-engine-moodin

There is a possibility I’ve missed some packages, but you get the general idea. With a list like the one above, you can see how a person can customize the desktop quite easily for personal tastes.

With everything coming together so smoothly, it’s surprising to run into even minor problems, but this time I did. Honestly, this is unusual for me, but the great people on MEPISlovers Forums are some of the best around. They are helpful and courteous, always willing to lend a hand if you can’t figure something out.

I ran into an issue with my Maxtor 250GB USB hard drive not working properly and even flash drives not being recognized. After some experimenting, I tried changing permissions on the USB devices, and everything cleared up. Now, it’s no problem using any or all of the devices on a regular basis. I don’t know why it happened, but it did, and now it works perfectly.

One more issue I have not been able to fix up to this point is the screen saver. It only works intermittently and I have to change to another one, apply the change and then it functions properly. There is probably a fix on the Mepis forums, but I just haven’t pursued the answer yet. It’s annoying, though, to have to manually tweak the settings several times during the day. With all the positive things I have experienced with Simply Mepis 8, this is a very minor problem.

My laptop came with a web cam, and I’ve never really tried to make it work. Oh, I tried once a long time ago, but that was long before beginning with SM 8. Just for grins, I think I’ll see what it takes to get the web cam up and running; there’s some helpful information on the Mepis wiki, and that’s as good a place to start as any. Many Mepis users report success with this issue, and I might just get to add my name to the list.

In summary, I am extremely pleased with this version of Simply Mepis. It is rock solid, easy to use and easy to maintain. I must not forget to give credit to the guys from the MEPISlovers forums who worked tirelessly producing quality artwork, giving valuable input to Warren. My hat is off to everyone who had a hand in making this distribution the excellent product it is.

If you want to use an outstanding Linux distro, you could do no better than trying this one. Give it a whirl, and you will be glad you did.

Simply Mepis 8 is Looking Good

As some of you know, Linux is what my computers run on, and Simply Mepis is the particular distribution. I have been using Simply Mepis for a number of years, and would not go backwards into a Windows environment for anything. There is no need to, really, as all my computing needs are met in Linux: safe, secure, virus free, and easy to use. For more on Linux, you can read my post Linux – Is It For You?

I have been using the 32-bit version since December 2007, and have been extremely pleased with it. The base install is great, but limited in a few areas. It comes with enough software to get most people up and running in about 20 minutes or so, unless you have to do some partitioning work. If I ever have to reinstall, the whole process is only about 10 minutes or so.

Warren Woodford, the creator of Mepis, has been working hard on the next version of his incredible distribution. Currently, I have version 7.9.8 beta installed on my laptop, and couldn’t be happier with what I see. Everything is working very well, with the exception of the built-in webcam, which I have never used. Sound, wireless, 3-D graphics and more are working just right. Keep in mind, this is still a beta version; when this becomes gold, it will be Mepis 8 and rock solid as usual. Warren knows how to put a Linux distribution together.

Here’s a partial list of programs included with Mepis:

• Openoffice.org – a MS Office replacement
• Firefox – Browser
• Thunderbird – e-mail client
• GIMP – Image editor
• Amarok – Music player
• digiKam – Photo management
• Kopete – Instant messeger
• Akregator – RSS feed reader
• Kontact – Personal information manager
• Kino – Video editor
• KPDF – PDF viewer
• More programs than you could possibly use

Linux is highly customizable, too. Switching desktop backgrounds couldn’t be easier. Changing the look and feel is just a matter of firing up the KDE Control Center and changing settings to your heart’s content. I must say, the guys who worked so tirelessly on the new art for the upcoming release of Mepis 8, did an outstanding job. Here’s what the desktop looks like. Don’t like that look? It’s not a problem, as I already mentioned. Change the looks to what you want.

For those of you who have one of the newer iPod Classics, Nanos, iPod Touch or iPhones, you have little recourse for their use in the Linux world. Mepis 8 works well with these devices, though, as I already know first-hand. All I had to do was install a few packages (programs), answer some questions, and now I’m happily using my iPod Classic 80GB Silver, knowing I don’t have to use iTunes or fire up Windows to get the job done. BTW, the two packages are gtkpod and gPodder, which is a media aggregator or podcast receiver/catcher.

I use a package called BibleTime, which is Bible study software. It’s extremely easy to use, and installing is a breeze. If you want to read more about it, look at my post entitled Bible Software for Linux. Admittedly, this is not my favorite software, but it works very well for my purposes. I wish Bible software makers would port some of their excellent products to Linux; that would make me a very happy camper.

This is not meant to be a complete review of Simply Mepis Linux, just a quick overview of the upcoming full release. Mepis 8 appears to working on most cylinders, but, according to the MEPISlovers Forums, there are some bugs. This is completely natural; after all, we are talking about a beta release. On my equipment, this beta is working exceptionally well, and I would not hesitate making it my main system right now. I will wait until Mepis 8 goes gold, which is not that far off anyway.

You should give Linux a try. If you are currently using MS Windows, you should download the .iso image, burn it to a CD, stick it in your optical drive and reboot the computer. You won’t have to install right away, unless you want. This way you can look at Linux and see what it’s all about. There’s more information here. Give it a shot and you’ll probably like what you see.