Status

[NGIB]

Well, I've been running MX-14 for a while now and it is boringly stable and reliable. Everything works just fine. My wife is now running it as well and she hasn't noticed any problems. Simply because I'm bored, I've been working with a 64 bit version of Lubuntu on the 2nd partition of my main working box. I got remastersys installed and operational (have to do it manually as there is no support for 14.04) so now I have snapshot capability that works. The available software for 14.04 is of course newer and fresher and the system seems a tad "snappier" in day-to-day use although that might be just perception. I like being able to tie PPAs to the system as it's a nice feature. I have both MX-14 and Lubuntu configured exactly the same and I'm going to leave it like this for a while as both will be my daily drivers. We'll see in time which system I use more and that is the one I will likely stay with long term. I'll be around here as I read the forum every day and of course I'm interested in what MX-15 will be.

A question for the long time folks. Is MX-14 being tied to a basically abandoned system a bad thing? The main support for MX-14 is here and it's hard to avoid reading about the state of MEPIS itself and in a recent thread a Mod said it was basically defunct. It doesn't inspire confidence for sure even though the developers and packagers here are active and helpful...

[anticapitalista]

MX is not tied to MEPIS - it is collaboration between the MEPIS users community and antiX. There is zero input from MEPIS development. Even if the dev of MEPIS (Warren) continues with MEPISX this will still have zero effect on what happens to MX.

[NGIB]

My only point was the project page directs folks here and not to the antiX forums and while visiting here you'll learn quickly that MEPIS is all but dead. Is that what you want new users of MX-14 to read about? If so I'll just shut up and sit quietly in the corner. It seems every comment I make is seen as unfounded criticism and I'm just stating the obvious...

[richb]

Of course they are directed here. It is the support forum for MX-14. We do not control the message of Mepis. It is reality and is what it is. One can think of MX-14 as the child of Mepis and Antix, that has taken the DNA of both and will go forward, as long as interest remains. In a sense what happens to Mepis is not germane to MX-14, except that its current state was probably one of the motivators to develop MX-14 in the first place.

[NGIB]

Well, I must be the only person to think that being connected to a dead system is a bad thing. Maybe I just see things differently...

[Jerry3904]

My only point was the project page directs folks here and not to the antiX forums and while visiting here you'll learn quickly that MEPIS is all but dead. Is that what you want new users of MX-14 to read about?

I see your point, but find it a little hard to answer. An analogy for me might be a Windows forum, where the W8 documentation pointed to a subforum that was thriving, but which also had other subforums dicsussing the death of the beloved XP and decreasing support for W7. I don't myself see why a user should necessarily be put off from MX by the stagnation of Mepis. We may eventually turn to other solutions in the future, but right now after an entire 2 months of existence this seems to be working reasonably well.

[dolphin_oracle]

My only point was the project page directs folks here and not to the antiX forums and while visiting here you'll learn quickly that MEPIS is all but dead. Is that what you want new users of MX-14 to read about?

I might point out to the community that we've been making the distinction between MEPIS (Warren & co.) and the MEPISCOMMUNITY for a long time, and its not one that is real obvious for new folks, who don't have all the back story and history between the two groups. I've wondered about this as well since the release of MX. MEPIS brought me to this community, and to antiX (which was based on MEPIS originally for those that don't know).

Now I for one think there is value in keeping some association with the MEPIS name, as its an old name in the community at large and known for stability and ease of use. I like to think MX continues that tradition.

The boards still continue to support MEPIS M11, and there are several that are using the M12 beta. The fact that people have put up with stalled development for YEARS speaks volumes of the loyalty and quality of the MEPISCommunity/MEPIS combo.

But NGIB raises a fair point. Support on M11 (and M12) is for a dead end system at the moment. I don't know how to combat that in the forums (and I do believe the mepiscommunity forums are the right place for support for MX, the antiX boards tend to be a little technical and weird, and the mepiscommuntiy forum software is better), but the point is fair.

[Jerry3904]

But NGIB raises a fair point. Support on M11 (and M12) is for a dead end system at the moment. I don't know how to combat that in the forums (and I do believe the mepiscommunity forums are the right place for support for MX, the antiX boards tend to be a little technical and weird, and the mepiscommuntiy forum software is better), but the point is fair.

One possibility that Rich and I talked about once might help: to restructure the Forum, making MX-14 the top entry and changing Mepis to a subforum. Might be too much hassle, and now is not the time.

[Adrian]

I understand the worry, there are two things that go against MX, one is the image of MEPIS and the other is the image of "special antiX distro" that make sites like Distrowatch to dismiss it to a link and make it harder to find info about it. Type "MX" or even "MX-14" in Distrowatch search and it won't even return anything. Even on antiX page on Distrowatch http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=antix the only info about MX is a link that somebody might not even find. Sure, that's Distrowatch business how they present the info, but it is also the result of how we position MX.

At some point MX will need to stand on its own legs.

[Adrian]

But NGIB raises a fair point. Support on M11 (and M12) is for a dead end system at the moment. I don't know how to combat that in the forums (and I do believe the mepiscommunity forums are the right place for support for MX, the antiX boards tend to be a little technical and weird, and the mepiscommuntiy forum software is better), but the point is fair.

One possibility that Rich and I talked about once might help: to restructure the Forum, making MX-14 the top entry and changing Mepis to a subforum. Might be too much hassle, and now is not the time.

At this point I think it makes more sense to get a new domain mxlinux, mxcommunity, or something like that and just copy the MX forum content there.