Morgantown, WV, March 21, 2006: MEPIS founder Warren Woodford has announced a test release of SimplyMEPIS 6.0, incorporating software from the Ubuntu Dapper package pools. This is the first version of SimplyMEPIS with an Ubuntu base.

Ubuntu has a 6 month stable release cycle that will enable MEPIS to offer its customers a dependable release schedule. Woodford states "The switch to the Ubuntu pools was made to provide our users with a more stable underlying system. Of course it's important for our users that MEPIS remains true to its unique vision. I believe this release demonstrates that we can combine the magic of the MEPIS user experience with the goodness of the Ubuntu foundation."

Woodford comments on the experience of porting SimplyMEPIS; "At the time we built SimplyMEPIS 3.4.3, the Debian Etch package base was very similar to the final Ubuntu packages in Breezy. So I suppose the port was not much different than upgrading Ubuntu from Breezy to Dapper. Of course there are implementation and artistic differences. We'll incorporate the Ubuntu differences into MEPIS when it fits our model and vision, likewise we'll offer our ideas and changes back to Ubuntu. We hope this is the beginning of a fun and productive collaboration."

MEPIS believes this step will improve the flow of code between MEPIS and Debian. Woodford says: "Ubuntu and Debian are closely related. Periodically Ubuntu grabs a snapshot of Debian unstable, makes improvements and bug fixes, and then contributes those bug fixes and improvements back to the Debian source code tree. If we work with Ubuntu and Canonical to help improve Ubuntu as a foundation for MEPIS Linux products, then ultimately Debian should also benefit."

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, said "Collaboration with MEPIS will help Ubuntu offer even higher quality desktop packages for KDE users, and expands the number of people who can benefit from our work on system integration, desktop polish and Linux kernel reliability. The MEPIS community is vibrant and energetic and it will be exciting to be able to work more closely with them, while still respecting the ways in which Ubuntu and MEPIS are distinct."

Woodford continues, "This release is a sneak peek, if you will. There are integration issues and new features that have not yet been addressed for SimplyMEPIS 6.0 and the Dapper pools are still being improved. However, we want to make it available to our subscribers now, so we can get their feedback before proceeding any further." This experimental release is available for download in the 'snapshot' directory at the MEPIS Subscribers ftp site. Feedback should be sent to dev@mepis.com.

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