OK, I'm a huge Star Trek fan, and I loved TNG. But DS9 is hands on the best. I was sick of the wooden, 2d characters in the original and tng that were just in awe of the captain, sick of Picard's let's talk when people are shooting at me, sick of the lack of action and the human centered crews.I got everything I wanted in DS9.
First, the characters. They are all well written, developed, and wonderfully dark. Everyone either has a secret or does something wrong, nobody is perfect. And the children aren't annoying, Nog or Jake never made me want to bust the TV the way Wesley did. Of course, the captain was important, and Avery Brooks does a good job, even if he over-acts, much in the way Shatner did. My personal favorite: Garak, the Obsidian Order Cardassian, exiled on the station, full of secrets, hidden talents and charm. His lines are always good, sometimes brilliant, and funny when they have to. Let's not forget the villain, Dukat, by far the best villain on Star Trek.
Next, the setting. To me, a starship exploring was a way to get a good series without having to develop characters.You don't change characters, you just change scenery. LAzy. A STATION will force you too get creative to advance a show and keep people watching.
The aliens have a bigger role in this. TNG didn't feature so many aliens, it was very human centered. Troi was basically human, and Data wanted to be. But ds9has truly memorable characters, from Garak and Dukat to Quark and Odo, to the Jem'hadars Ikat'ika and Remata'Klan and Weyoun the Vorta. And there is no message humans are special, frankly, they are not the smartest, fastest or strongest in the galaxy, and they have a dark side to them :"let me tell you about hew-moons...". And Worf is in DS9 the meanest person in the Alpha Quadrant, not the voice of a more aggressive stance in TNG.
Finally, this is a show with real action. Space battles, a huge war, explosions, people die, star ships are ripped to shreds, and the Defiant, the meanest ship in the galaxy. OK, sounds like Babylon 5, and I guess it is, but that is what makes it great. No shame in emulating a great show.
In essence, it i the only Star Trek to work without Roddenberry because it is nothing like Roddenberry. I think he would have frowned at this idea, because he had a vision of a happy-go-lucky show, squeaky clean characters and the like. Nothing wrong with that, but he made it work, and honest to God Enterprise seasons 1 and2 and that train wreck Voyager proved that it wouldn't work. DS9 was different and brilliant, better because it finally had the guts to change the perspective on a great universe. It kept the franchise alive, allowed voyager to exist,enterprise and two Tng films to be made. Now if they want to revive this franchise,they should take it in a different direction, just like ds9 did.
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