Emails Regarding MEPIS vs Kubuntu

I received the following emails from a Kubuntu user, regarding my September 2, 2006 Journal entry about switching my PC from Kubuntu Linux to SimplyMEPIS Linux. The author of the following email messages is the same Kubuntu user who posted several questions about MEPIS in the MEPIS support forums (see a link to his questions in my September 2, 2006 Journal entry).

September 2, 2006 - 8:32 AM

I've been very vocal about my issues with Kubuntu, specially regarding speed and optimization. Sometimes you have to make your voice heard so that people would take notice, and then both you and others would be able to exchange views and information, and learn from each other. Just make sure you don't raise your voice too high. :-D

I tested out SimplyMEPIS 6 more out of curiosity than out of a real need. I admit that at that time, I had a few "issues" with Kubuntu, but more of them ideological rather than technical. I didn't expect much from MEPIS, aside from what's common knowledge, like out of the box support for most multimedia codecs/plugins, an annoying (but entertaining) KAquarium, etc. I was actually surprised that MEPIS performed faster than Kubuntu. Although it was not as fast as Xfce (or GNOME), the difference was noticeable. KDE itself started faster, apps started faster, some things in Konqueror worked properly (Java), and K Menu updates properly. In short, I was very impressed. I have not had problems with nvidia and sound in Kubuntu, so I really couldn't compare the two.

So I was in a pickle, trying to decide whether to move to MEPIS because of this and leave what I liked in Kubuntu, or just bear with Kubuntu since it's still growing up (compared to MEPIS). I also tried to investigate why it's faster, and tried what I can, with the limited technical knowledge that I have, to make Kubuntu faster, too. In this I have failed. Yet I have decided to stay with Kubuntu for some reasons. Again, they're more theoretical than technical:

MEPIS is mainly developed by one person, and just 2-3 others, from what I've heard. I would prefer a distro that's more community-oriented in development. Although both MEPIS and Kubuntu are backed and funded by one man, Kubuntu's development isn't solely dependent on Mark Shuttleworth alone.
A more active community. MEPIS's community is not inactive, but I've grown to love Kubuntu's community. We also have a local Ubuntu community so that's an added plus. Maybe this is just a side effect of having more users compared to MEPIS. But the MEPIS community is still very good, from what I've experienced myself.
Installing multimedia codecs/plugins is no issue for me. I had to do that every time in Windows, so it's not an issue. Actually I personally prefer to do it the Kubuntu way. At least I'm aware of what I'm trying to add.

So I decided that rather than just complaining about how Kubuntu is slower than MEPIS, despite being developed by a larger (and well funded) group, or trying to "optimize" Kubuntu for myself, I realized that it would be better if I actually helped solve the problem from within Kubuntu. Of course I can't code or package yet, but I'm working towards that. In the meantime, I'm helping in anyway I can, and hopefully I can eventually bring this issue of mine up to the developers.

Long story short, I'm still in Kubuntu. I haven't closed the doors yet for other distros, even if they are RPM-based. But I'm starting to settle down in Kubuntu. Don't ever be afraid of trying or even moving to other distros. Kubuntu is very open to others. In fact, there are some who aren't using Kubuntu at all, but they're welcome anyway. And you can still help in some ways, specially now that MEPIS is using the same base as Kubuntu. The most important thing is you're happy with what you're using. In the end, it will be YOU who will be using your computer.

September 2, 2006 - 12:51 PM

Just read your writeup. Sounds good. Yes. you may publish my e-mail. But I would like to add some things:

MEPIS does boot up faster for me, even with Splashy on. But Kubuntu never took more than 37 seconds on my system, 1.5Ghz, with 640MB RAM. MEPIS, on the other hand, usually took less than 30 seconds. I think it has something to do with the number of modules that are loaded and started at boot.
Kubuntu includes less software than Ubuntu. Kubuntu has no games, for one. And yes, MEPIS has definitely more apps than Kubuntu or Ubuntu. More apps for one job means more choices. But it could also mean more confusion. I think Kubuntu aims for presenting a desktop that is clean and usable and simple, a desktop that is easily usable by anyone. If you're a new user, will not be overwhelmed with details. If you're a more experienced user, you will know where to start. Defaults are a tricky thing. There's really no pleasing everyone. (I may be wrong, but I don't agree with you about Kubuntu having less software than Ubuntu. One of the things that I liked about Kubuntu was that, even though it didn't come with any games, I thought it had far more menus/submenus containing several more software applications than Ubuntu had in its 3 little menus at the top of the screen. --CB)
I agree about the fonts. I'm not sure how they do it. Probably something that's pre-installed.
Yes, it's quite more difficult to install the binary drivers for video cards and some wireless cards in Kubuntu, but this fact is due to note #5.
I think it's only fair if you mention why Kubuntu does not ship with out of the box support for "popular" multimedia codecs, and even some drivers. This is an area where Kubuntu/Ubuntu has taken a sort of stance which differentiates it from MEPIS, KNOPPIX, Linspire, etc. This stance is Ubuntu's commitment to Free software. There are also some legal hurdles that prevent it from providing these things out of the box. MEPIS doesn't have this commitment, so they could easily put these things in, or make it extremely easy to install it (in the case of drivers). This is an important aspect of Kubuntu that people don't know when they start using Kubuntu. Admittedly, Kubuntu could probably make it easier to install these things, or at least make it easy for absolute newbies to find out why these are not even included. They're working on that now. (Thank you. I have updated my Journal entry to mention those things. --CB)

I'm really impressed by MEPIS' performance, specially its speed and optimization. For someone who shuts down and boots his computer everyday, I can feel the slowness of booting. (I was able to successfully make Kubuntu boot for 17 seconds without U.S.plash, that I had to bend over and do a lot of stuff.)

Anyway, I have chosen to stay with Kubuntu. One thing we all have to remember when comparing distros is that different distros have different goals, different policies, and different communities, even if they use the same base. This can be seen in Kubuntu and MEPIS. I can't call MEPIS as "what Kubuntu should have been". It wouldn't be fair to Kubuntu, because it is heading towards a different road. It wouldn't also be fair to MEPIS because it has it's own identity, and saying that makes it seem like it's just a Kubuntu wannabe. We could just say that "MEPIS is something that I would have wanted Kubuntu to be". Yes, it's longer to say that, but it's true.

September 2, 2006 - 11:25 PM

For one, Ubuntu comes with tons of games, while Kubuntu does not have a single one. Ubuntu has two image viewers (gThumb and another one I forgot), while Kubuntu only has Gwenview. A default installation of Ubuntu has 1000+ packages, while Kubuntu only has around 900 or less. There are a lot of programs in Ubuntu that are not shown in the menus by default. You need to use Alacarte Menu Editor to see which ones are not visible.

ComputerBob's Reply

Thank you. That explains why I thought Ubuntu came with fewer software applications than Ubuntu. I will correct that part of my original Journal article.