Mepis, a somewhat popular distribution based on Debian may be changing roots soon. Founder Warren Woodford is considering using Ubuntu sources rather than Debian for future releases. Apparently, Debian is at fault.

"It's taking up all my time, fighting the Etch pool... We've had a lot of trouble, because the Debian community has become so active, it's been difficult to get this out, so I'm looking at alternatives to getting out stable releases."

Woodford started working on MEPIS in 2002. At the time, the Debian project moved more slowly. Debian Sarge had been in development for a few months after the release of Woody, and would stay in development for almost three years. Ubuntu, on the other hand, has a predictable release cycle and roadmap.

A poll has already been inserted on mepis.org, asking for opinions on a move to the Ubuntu kernel. Of the 149 people who voted, 49% agree with the change to Ubuntu, 7% agree with the change to the Ubuntu kernel, but nothing else. Of the remaining votes, 44% are for sticking to Debian.

"I'm not committed 100 percent to Ubuntu yet, I'm looking at Ubuntu... I need to vet it before I can say that absolutely," said Woodford. "I am trying to be sensitive to the needs of the MEPIS community and MEPIS users, and will be considering their input while making a decision on this."