Status

[malspa]

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...

No, you aren't alone on this. Well, I started to write that it's both good and bad, and that it's neither.

I think I might be the only "active" member here who isn't running either Mepis or MX-14, although I do keep my MX-14 flash drive handy; as was once the case with Mepis, MX-14 has become my favorite choice for live sessions. I still drop in at these forums just about every day, but I guess now I'm a former long-time user, and a lot of times I feel like I'm on the outside looking in.

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.

Why not now, I wonder?

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, I totally agree with everything you wrote there -- that's exactly how I'm seeing things.

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.

.
Seems to me that something like this would help tremendously.

[NGIB]

I'm just pleased that everyone doesn't see me as an outside agitator. I spent my working life managing business operations so I understand the impact of "branding" both positively and negatively. MX-14 is in limbo as it does not have a brand of its own. It has ties to MEPIS which is for all intents and purposes dead; and antiX which is seen by many as a niche distro for techie users with old machines. I am an outsider but I do bring the perspective of a normal Windows convert that is looking at alternatives. I appreciate MX-14 for what it is but I don't see a "path to the future" with it as it's "marketed" now. I enjoy the conversations I have with many folks here but I wonder how long it will take, if ever, before what I say isn't immediately thrown out as an outsiders unjustified complaint. Que sara, sara. The way I see it, I donated my hard earned cash to MX-14 so I have a right to express an opinion...

[asqwerth]

But right now there are still people using Mepis 11 and 12, and the core members who help, answer questions, contribute to the community repo, etc, are all here.

If there is a separate MX14 forum, not everyone may want to visit and answer questions on 2 or even 3 (anticapitalista?) different forums. Just a practical issue. Would splitting Mepis and MX into 2 forums spread things -- numbers, liveliness of forum, quality of support and contributions - too thin?

Separation/differentiation may become more pressing in the future, when security updates for Squeeze (for Mepis 11) are discontinued and assuming Mepis 12 still looks to be stalled indefinitely.

But for now is it really a big issue? Perhaps we are underestimating the intelligence of new users of MX.

And I still see some value in the Mepis name for now at least, as something that is stable and reliable, which works on a wide variety of different hardware.

[GuiGuy]

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...

Hey, NGIB, are you being oversensitive?
IMHO your posts are very useful contributions, and I believe most of the members here would agree with me.
Please don't "shut up".

[Jerry3904]

I enjoy the conversations I have with many folks here but I wonder how long it will take, if ever, before what I say isn't immediately thrown out as an outsiders unjustified complaint. Que sara, sara. The way I see it, I donated my hard earned cash to MX-14 so I have a right to express an opinion...

Cash or no cash, you have a right to express an opinion on this Forum within the Forum Rules--and I see nobody saying anything to the contrary. I don't think this is an issue at all, so I recommend just letting it go.

I appreciate MX-14 for what it is but I don't see a "path to the future" with it as it's "marketed" now.

That may well be, and your question is a good one.

For me, as I have posted at various times in the past, suggestions of making MX an independent distro, creating a new forum, etc., are premature at the tender age of 2 months. If nothing else, I am not sure who right now could do the work. MX has quite a bit still in the pipeline, antiX is involved in a new release cycle, and our volunteer webmaster is buried in work. My suggestion, once again, is to keep the topic alive with posts like yours here, try to make some decisions about what next to do, and then figure out a reasonable timeline for that work to be done.

[dolphin_oracle]

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.

Or point the new mxcommunity.org domain to these forums and rebrand as mxcommunity (or even have both names on top of the page for a while), keeping legacy MEPIS support to a subforum similar to the way MX is a subforum. Its actually almost that way now, its just the mepis name is a lot more prominent.

and mepiscommunity.org already talks a lot about MX...that would be easy to switch to mxcommunity.org.

mxcommunity.org, the place for support for MX Linux (MX-14) and legacy Mepis M11.

Whatever steps are taken, if any, I think we can all acknowledge they would be big ones for the community to take.

[dyfi]

It's probably not the correct thread to post my comment, but, I would like to mention that I am chuffed to bits with MX14! Thank you very much.

[BitJam]

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...

This is a great topic even if it touches some sore spots.

I wish there was more clarity about the future plans for the Mepis distro. I think that would make things easier for people who now have to live with hypotheticals.

As you rightly point out, the current situation is awkward but I don't think it could have been avoided. The problem we faced was a lively development and support community focused on a distro that was, at best, in hibernation. There are some people here who still feel a strong loyalty to Mepis and just tolerate MX. They should not be abandoned.

The HUGE benefit we got from keeping MX support here was a seamless transition. People didn't have to create new bookmarks or new login identities; existing relationships remained intact, etc. IMO, PR concerns pale in comparison. Now that the birth of the new distro was a success and we have a happy, healthy 2-month (+ 4-day) old distro, perhaps these secondary considerations will gain prominence. Thanks for starting this thread. Sometimes insiders get so accustomed to the way things are, they forget how it looks from the outside.

[lucky9]

Way before MX14 came along I broached the subject of a broader-based forum. This was just after Mepis 12 Beta 2 became the last release. It's a valid discussion still. The fact that MX14 eventually came out is really immaterial. Unless something changes in Mepis development we're going to be a much broader-based Linux forum.

[The Boy Wonder]

I would be very sorry to see Mepis go away, and I never knew it was "dying for all practical purposes" until I read it in this thread!

My own MX-14 experience was just great, but I found that some of the "components" (I guess) that I was used to in Xubuntu are missing, and I had to throw a persistent Xubuntu stick in to boot from just to get some of the less usual content from web pages I need to access for my college courses. All of the codecs and whatnot that I could install didn't let those web pages load, and I'm taking "short courses" that I must hurry through. It was just easier, in my rush to stay ahead of the school assignments calander, to install Xubuntu again just to get that dagnabed content to load.

I'm almost feeling apologetic about needing to use another distro after finding MX-14 and such cordial and competent support here in this community. I'll be back, God willing, when I'm not having to hurriedly enable stuff and settling for "the quick and easy path" that leads to the Dark Side. I hope, when I return, to find MX-14 and it's community still going strong.