I've been using ubuntu for about a year and made the decision to "up the ante" as it were and install Slackware (12.1)... besides the fact it took me most of a day to get it installed and then figure out how to correct a few problems and install some programs I'm quite happy with it.

The biggest challenge is the lack of apt; i'm now reasonably comfortable installing programs but i've still got questions.

1) If you're installing a new version of something like java, or firefox, presumably you need to uninstall the old version first? Ok, so I uninstalled firefox 2 using pkgtool then I installed a package of firefox 3 once again with pkgtool. now that is fine, but what about programs that aren't installed from a package or don't appear in the pkgtool menu?
I installed flash for the firefox 2 install but now, unsurprisingly it doesn't work in firefox 3, I can't find flash with pkgtool to remove so how do I uninstall it before installing it again?
I guess I could just install again anyway but I don't want to litter my system with redundant programs, nor do I want to create any conflicts.

You don't need to uninstall first, just use "upgradepkg" on the new package.

As for software that isn't installed via Slackware packages, the best answer is to avoid using it. Whenever possible, create Slackware packages out of the software you wish to install by using Slackbuild scripts (you can find many on SlackBuilds.org) or by creating them using "makepkg".

thanks for that, so packages are definitely the way to go then? I've been experimenting with various options just to get a feel for whats out there. So far as packages goes these are the two sites I've found:

http://www.linuxpackages.net/

http://www.slackbuilds.org/

Would you say I'm best off limiting myself to software I can get from these sites?

Going back to my original post, I'm going to assume that the flash install is gone (I can't find it) because I installed into the firefox folder which was presumably removed when I uninstalled firefox.

You have apt like (remotely) things in slackware: slackroll, swaret, slapt-get