m8 -- end of life

I still have Mepis 8 installed here even though I have the current version, Mepis 11, as well. Since around '06 when I first started using Mepis, I've been using its grub to boot any other systems installed on the same computer. So, whenever a new version comes out, I usually keep the old one, at least for awhile, just to have something there that I know I can count on while I check out the new version. I think I started doing this back with Mepis 3.4-3 and 6.0.

Mepis started out based on Debian Stable. They went to an Ubuntu base for 6.0 and 6.5, then switched back to a Debian base after that.

Mepis 8 is based on Debian 5 (codename "Lenny"). Debian 6 ("Squeeze") is the current "Stable" version. Lenny reached its "end-of-life" on February 6th, when its security support was terminated; this, of course, affects Mepis 8.

The Debian "oldstable" distribution was moved from the main archive to the archive.debian.org repository after March 24th 2012 (see http://www.debian.org/distrib/archive). Accordingly, the "official" Mepis 8 sources.list was changed to reflect this (see http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php?title=Sources.list_MEPIS_8.0).

I'm probably gonna keep Mepis 8 running until the next Mepis version comes out. It's working just fine, and it's the only Linux installation I have here that still has the old KDE 3.5. So, I edited my Mepis 8 sources.list to reflect the "official" one, although I've commented out some of the repos that I don't use:

# See sources.list(5) for more information

# This file should be edited through synaptic

# MEPIS improvements, overrides and updates--the MEPIS magic
deb ftp://mepis.mirrorcatalogs.com/mepis/packages/mepis/ mepis-8.0 main 
# MEPIS master pools, please use only if mirror is slow or down
# deb ftp://ftp.mepis.com/mepis/ mepis-8.0 main

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free 
# deb-src ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian-security/ lenny/updates main contrib non-free

# deb http://volatile.debian.org/debian-volatile/ lenny/volatile main contrib non-free

# Some Debian Multimedia software might be illegal in some jurisdictions
# deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ lenny main

Kind of sad to see Mepis 8's "end-of-life." It's been one of the most solid, stable Linux installations I've had. I don't log into it much anymore, though, and I've found that I really don't miss KDE 3.5 at all (I'm actually typing this from Xfce in Mepis 8). But I'll still feel comfortable using it every now and then, even without the security updates.

Mepis is a great distro; I love Debian Stable, but it's nice to have something else around based on Stable that comes with a live CD or DVD, and that's quicker and easier to install than Debian. It's also nice to see some other distros coming out recently that are like that, such as SalineOS and Crunchbang. My only complaint about Mepis has always been the lack of communication coming from its developer, Warren Woodford. He doesn't participate at the forums, and you rarely hear anything about what he has planned, or what he's up to. But he always seems to churn out good, solid releases, so I've found that I don't mind the lack of communication too much.