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I got a dry seedcapsule last year ( Gymnocalycium multiflorum) that has been laying in a paper for about six months. Two weeks ago I decided to sow these. I sowed them on a monday and on sunday there were already several little green dots to be seen. Now even more seed have germinated and they have grown quite a bit.

There were space left in the container so I picked a couple of fruits from the Rhipsalis ramulosa ( last summers flowering) and a couple of fruits from a Mammilaria elegans ( ID a bit uncertain..) and sowed these the same day as the Gymno seed. So far, zero germination..

I am aware that there can be several other factors than the ‘straight from fruit‘ explaining the lack of success so far but not a single seed germinating?

As a general rule, do dry seed have better germination than straight from the fruit?

As you mentioned there are several factors that can affect germination, but as a rule I always rinse freshly harvested seeds and allow them to dry for several days before sowing. My thinking is that any fruit pulp residue will invite fungus or other nasties to grow and rinsing and drying should eliminate most germs. The fruit pulp may also be a germination inhibitor and would normally be washed away by the rain or digestive tract of animals.

It also depends on the species. Some seeds have to be fresh (Frailea) and others prefer to be sowed some time after harvesting. For different reasons: like to allow growth inhibitors to be rinsed or to pass some stratification. Generally 1 year old seeds are not so "old".

Or maybe different seeds have different requirements to germinate so sowing into the same container with seedlings is not the best idea. But these seeds can germinate at some point later: after months or even years.