[ale] slackware, the most...LINUX-like?

[Jim Kinney]

Slackware on CD?!?!? That's the _NEW_ method!!!  :-)

I have tossed my older-than-dirt Slackware _floppies_ downloaded over a
1200b modem line connected to Prodigy several years back. 7 floppies to get
kernel, base system and networking installed. Another handful for X. Another
handful for gcc. I recall a number of "21" or "27" as the total image count
for the entire distro.

Ah, the joys of having _no_ tools to do image checking on DOS before writing
to the floppy and trying the install only to discover the image was crap or
the floppy was crap.

Since I only had one hard drive it was reinstall MSDOS and Prodigy, download
another image (which took all night) and try again later.

Once Walnut Creek started making CD sets of everything Linux on the pre-'net
I ordered the subscription immediately and the first set of 2 CD's arrived
before I had the funds scraped to buy a CD drive! That was an agonizing 2
weeks!!

Slackware is still amazing.

On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 4:40 PM, Paul Cartwright <ale at pcartwright.com> wrote:

> I must admit I have my very first slackware CD's still..
>
>
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/spotlight-linux-slackware-linux-13?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed
> :
>
> +linuxjournalcom+(Linux+Journal+-+The+Original+Magazine+of+the+Linux+Community)
>
> Spotlight on Linux: Slackware Linux 13.1
> Jun 01, 2010      By Susan Linton
>  indistributions Slackware
>
> People sometimes ask which distribution to try if they want to learn how
> Linux
> works. Common answers are Gentoo, Arch, or Debian. However, I disagree.
> Each
> of these distros teach users their particular brand of Linux. There's only
> one truly pure Linux, and that is Slackware.
>
> Slackware is the oldest surviving Linux distribution. In its early years,
> Patrick Volkerdin rolled up a kernel, init, libraries, desktop, and
> applications to make Linux easier for users. And that's still what he is
> doing today. He doesn't change anything, he doesn't customize anything.
> Every
> component is exactly how the original developers intended. For example,
> users
> get a vanilla kernel and default desktop configuration.
>
> Version 13.1 was released May 25 with Linux 2.6.33.4 and KDE 4.4.3.
> Slackware
> ships with other desktop options, such as Xfce 4.6.1, and lots of handy
> software. As expected, it comes with Web browsers, office applications,
> multimedia software, personal communication tools, image management, and
> more. Slack usually includes Java, but most other browser plugins and
> multimedia codecs are left to the user to install. 13.1 still uses HAL and
> udev in order to grant users access to removable media without root
> privileges or sudo. Along those same lines, this release also brings
> ConsoleKit and PolicyKit to allow even more convenience in running the
> system
> without elevated permissions. This release should be easy to use for users
> of
> any experience.
>
> Slackware's original package management system - or software installer and
> uninstaller - neither resolves dependencies nor downloads from online
> repositories. However, some third-party attempts came along to address this
> and one, slackpkg, has recently been added to Slackware to bring the same
> capabilities as APT on Debian and Debian-based distributions. However, if
> you
> install the full range of packages on the Slackware install DVD, there
> isn't
> much extra on official mirrors. That's why some recommend the community
> repository hosted by slackbuilds.org. Between slackpkg and slackbuilds,
> Slackware has moved into the 21st century of software management.
>
> Once upon a time Slackware was a favorite because of its hardware
> configuration method. In the tradition of keeping it simple, it had one
> file
> that users needed to edit (for most purposes). Most drivers were listed and
> users just uncommented whichever was used by their hardware. But even that
> isn't necessary anymore. Just like any other distro today, most hardware is
> automagically detected and configured.
>
> Finally, the installer is another area of Slackware that gets some negative
> comments from time to time. It isn't very pretty by today's standards and
> it
> is keyboard driven, but it isn't difficult to use. It asks a few questions
> during the process in a similar manner as other Linux installers. Perhaps
> the
> most difficult aspect is the need to partition your disk prior to beginning
> the install setup. The installer disk comes with fdisk and cfdisk for this
> purpose.
>
> So, all in all, besides the partitioning requirement and the lack of
> multimedia support, Slackware is just as up-to-date and easy-to-use as any
> Linux distribution. Like a split personality, today's Slackware is steeped
> in
> tradition yet surprisingly modern.
>
> Advantages:
> 1. True Linux experience
> 2. High Performance
> 3. Extremely stable
>
> Disadvantages:
> 1. Off-putting partitioning and installer
> 2. No live CD/DVD
> 3. Still uses Lilo for boot management
> 4. Lacks multimedia codecs
>
> --
> Paul Cartwright
> Registered Linux user # 367800
> Registered Ubuntu User #12459
> http://usdebtclock.org/
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-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III
Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness
Doing pretty well on all 3 pursuits
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