Why do you use Slackware?

Whether as a server or desktop, Slackware just works. KISS principles at their best.

To quote something I read somewhere, "Slackware always works, and it never breaks." Though I must confess, I broke it once (but I fixed it too!).

I started with Slackware in November 1995. I set it up using Windows for Workgroups 3.11 to get to bulletin boards and such! Figured out how to use PPP and everything associated with it. I am a Software Engineer with 3 years left to retirement.
I used Digital VMS systems and loved command line. My first computer was a VIC-20; the Commador 64 came out a couple weeks later so I didn't buy another computer until I bought a 486. I put Slackware on it within a couple months and totally removed Windows. (I have a strong dislike of M$ and its products to say the least!) I have played with different distros but like others have usually had Slack machine sitting somewhere. I was using Kunbuntu until they updated grub and totally messed me up! I know I could have replaced the offending file but was totally tired of the constant updating. It is Linux and should not need constant updating. To me that is a sign of poor coding.
Anyway, back with Slack on my main machine and it will never leave again.
Long Live Slackware!
Mooshiner54

I use it because it is easy to use, stable, not as much as a headache as Gentoo. I can find the software I need or compile it. My most important reason for using it however is it has nothing to with SYSTEMD!.

Slackware is a great system for teaching Linux. My new book about Linux basics is entirely based on Slackware 14.2.

Cheers from the sunny South of France,

Niki

Hi,

Slackware is stable & easy to use for a knowledgeable user. I started with PV's first release and never looked at anything else since I did want a UNIX-like OS and Slackware provided that for me. I used Slackware within the LAB and found the reliability there. Tools available for development to create the control/interface of various LAB equipment.

Early releases were on Floppy disk sets with boxes of floppies to get the download complete. Our University had Thick Ethernet at the time and I would get my student aids to do my downloads. Their costs per hour were a lot cheaper than using my time. Let them do downloads an write the floppies. My first personal server used Slackware. Don't get me wrong, I loved UNIX but a license off campus was expensive so Slackware met my needs.

To date, I do use other Gnu/Linux for diagnostic work or experimentation. Since my retirement, I use Slackware within my personal LAB to keep my mind sharp and tuned to provide interfaces that I build for various sensors. Love to keep up to date but some of the hardware that I wish for is just too expensive. At the University LAB I would purchase hardware via my LAB budget to provide Bench experiments for student LABs. So I would have many types of hardware to experiment with that I could not personally afford.

We were granted several pieces of equipment that we would develop LAB interfaces and control to acquire experimental data then post process or Live process via multitask on LAB built PC hardware.

I have been working with ARM lately and find that platform would be great for instrumentation and computer analysis. SlackwareARM and other Gnu/Linux would fit perfectly. DAS would be cheaper as compared to a Nicolet. Not that I would like to build a Spectrometer or scope interface but I sure could build a User device to interface with a Nicolet DAS or even Spectrophotometers to allow a remote experimental data acquisition or even a User device to interface with Laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). At the time of using LDV we would build our User interface using a PC but the ARM of today would be the way to acquire data for that experimental setup for the wind tunnel models. Things have changed in a few short years and will continue to improve as Slackware grows and provides the means for stable equipment experimentation. I could use some shields with new ARM boards to provide GPIO, DAC and ADC for control and collection of experimental data and process that same data. Process and collection could be simplified using a good OS like SlackwareARM along with tools with new ARM devices with proper sensor interface devices.

So I use Slackware every day and will continue to use it. Thanks to PV and team for a great Gnu/Linux that is very useful to me over the many years.

Slackware on everyone!

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

Oh god.. I didn't read any other posts. Let me sum it up.

I use Slackware because it doesn't suck /end

Originally Posted by slackb0t Oh god.. I didn't read any other posts. Let me sum it up. I use Slackware because it doesn't suck /end

Well said. It really comes down to one thing: when you want something done right, do it yourself. That, ultimately, is what Slackware is all about; administering your computer, your way. Would we really want it any other way?

I use Slackware because it was my first taste of Linux back at the beginning of 2002. It was Slackware 8 back then and I got it set up connecting to my then NT4 Server running everything 'Serverish' just to see what it was all about.

Was using XP until Oct last year but decided to go Full-out Linux as Windoze had too many security holes and bugs.

Am on Slack 14.2 64 & it's such a refreshing experience using a decent solid operating system. It took me a long time as I'd been out the Linux game for close to 15 years plus I do have health issues.

Slackware was my first thought when deciding to move to Linux and it'll always be one of my systems. It's tough for Noobies but that's part of its charm. Makes us think & learn.

I suppose technically my first taste of a GUI was PCTools PCShell but my first full-fledged GUI was not Windows but rather IBM's OS/2. I found and bought a boxed set of floppies for OS/2 2.1 after reading about it's development and advantages over DOS-based OpSys in a great, huge book entitled Hardware Bible. I upgraded through Warp and Merlin to finally Warp Server for e Business (WSEB) and somewhere along that line emx runtimes became available and I began running Enlightenment for a Window Manager. That was my first taste of Linux.

Windows came my way in an odd manner. I diskcopied as friend's 3 floppies for Win 3.1 before I discovered that was not legal. OS/2's 24 floppies came with WinOS2 for free, after all. I bought Win 95 and it was a big leap from Win 3 but didn't even come close to OS/2. When I couldn't get support for the AGP bus on Win95 and found it needed a 32KB file called USBSUPP.DLL and couldn't find that DLL I called MS and was told that one 32KB file for USB/AGP hardware support would cost me 50 smackers.... OR.... "why not be smart and just pay $80 to upgrade to Win98"? Maybe it was because mean old corporate monster IBM provided as many as 30 major revisions for free but that did it for me. I never paid MS another dime and never will.

So it was 1998 that I began looking into Linux. My local CompUSA had Mandrake CDs for sale so I bought one. I was a wretched noob and because I didn't yet understand the right and proper role of permissions, I couldn't get my modem to run for User, so I stupidly got online as root and began surfing IRC channels for Linux help. I asked some dumb question and was insulted and then REALLY insulted when someone stated "It's not my fault you have a ghetto box". Instantly I listed all my cool hardware and was told it wasn't my hardware that was ghetto but that I was "a ghetto Admin".

At first I was highly offended but then I realized it was actually true so I vowed to learn how to properly admin my boxes. I got O'Reilly books like Running Linux and Linux in a Nutshell and got Mandrake working decently, went back to IRC and began to converse intelligently and get solid answers as well as contribute some. Then one fateful day an RPM System Upgrade trashed my Mandrake and it took me 2 days to limp back to IRC from CLI (Thank You, BitchX) and I began asking in my favorite channels for distro recommendations. Four of the guys I respected and admired most told me "Slackware. Stuff just seems to compile right".

So I downloaded the images for v7 but after days of study and pre-planning v9 came out. So I got those and installed v9 and quickly learned stuff did "compile right". I absolutely loved the freedom and control and especially that no auto-bot would ever again do a system upgrade behind my back and assuming it knew better than me how I wanted my system to work. I knew that if anything ever broke, I did it and it was most likely the last thing I'd done that broke it, so I would know where to look for fixing it.

Having begun with DOS, Windows and OS/2 I was used to and very comfortable with multi-booting and Slackware played nicely with others, unlike Windows. Over the years I have tried perhaps as many as 20 full installs of other distros and countless Live systems. In many early cases I ruined them trying to make them behave like Slack. Then I decided to stop doing that and let them stand or fall on their own merits/limitations. At first I did learn from them because many were better at setting up hardware automatically back in 2x kernel days and I learned how they did that, but still they all had that auto-dependency thing which was terribly convenient when it worked but absolute Hell when it didn't, plus, in order to prevent conflicts they had to put things in odd places, making control, let alone recovery, more obtuse and difficult. Meanwhile, with kernel 3x, Slack had become just as adept at discovering hardware but without all the convoluted hoops to jump through.

So, TLDR, after trying just about everything, Slackware is the one simple, direct freedom and control with the fewest compromises by far. I hope I die before it does, since I sincerely doubt any other OpSys will ever adapt to what I want so well.

My first Linux was Debian, but I switched to Slackware randomly about a year later (I think, version 8.0?). At that point, around 2004 I think, Ubuntu etc, was not yet a thing and there was no expectation of point and click installer - it was, if I remember well, pretty new even for Windows.

So I installed Slackware, spent considerable time customising everything the way I like it and never gave it a second thought since. I am familiar with it, it does everything I want it to do, does (almost) nothing I don't want it to and, basically, it works for me. I was never into trying out distros, if something works good for me, I have no intention changing it (I only last year decided to switch from Win XP to 7 on my laptop, for example. and only two months ago changed my phone from 2010 to a "smarter" one).

I've only been a 'Slacker' for little over a week, so I thought it'd be good to jump in on this.

Beginnings

My first brush with Linux came in the late 90's, as I flirted with the hacking scene. By the time I'd gotten proficient on Windows/DOS, Ubuntu had started making waves.

And for 12 years I ran Ubuntu. Version after version.

Why Did I Move?

Now, at 33, I've long outgrown Ubuntu. I feel its 'user friendly' approach patronizing. How many Ubuntu users run a minimal system as their daily driver, using 90% CLI programs and only have Blackbox WM running on X. It was time to look for something more UNIX-like.

I feel that Ubuntu & its variants, in their quest to achieve user friendliness, are doing little more than emulating Windows, and that I can't abide. They're dumbing down the system in order to make it more palatable for the masses. Linux is better than Windows. It deserves more than that.

I'm not big on eye-candy. Even as a developer, I prefer systems programming over applications. Definitely a 'function over form' kinda guy.

So, given my circumstances, my choice was clear: Gentoo, or Slackware. Yes, there is BSD - but I wanted to stay with Linux; it has become a firm friend over the years.

Conclusion

After a week on Slackware I'm totally in love with it. It's Linux at its best. I spent hours setting up OpenVPN and SSH on Ubuntu 16.04, and it was fairly unreliable most of the time. Took me 10mins on Slackware. It runs at boot-time. I don't have to think about it. Nice, friendly little daemon that it is.

Moral of the Story

Give me a good honest config file ANY day of the week!

Originally Posted by Slack-The-Planet Conclusion After a week on Slackware I'm totally in love with it.

Great to hear!! I also love Slackware; it is my primary desktop. I started Slacking in 2004 (version 10.0).

Originally Posted by Slack-The-Planet I feel that Ubuntu & its variants, in their quest to achieve user friendliness, are doing little more than emulating Windows, and that I can't abide. They're dumbing down the system in order to make it more palatable for the masses. Linux is better than Windows. It deserves more than that. I'm not big on eye-candy. Even as a developer, I prefer systems programming over applications. Definitely a 'function over form' kinda guy. After a week on Slackware I'm totally in love with it.

I totally agree, on all points. Windows was made for the masses, to do as Microsoft wants, and that, by and large, is what the masses are forced to comply with, as they know little about the ins and outs of computers, and just want them to work. However, those of us who like to dig a little deeper find Windows to be a bit lacking, and the automagic config of most distros do much the same thing as Windows, and with much the same result: fighting the user on custom configurations.

I run KDE 5, and while it has a little eye candy, still gives me enough manual control that I am comfortable giving KDE some rein in automatically managing some functions. I am fine with that. What I'm not fine with is the auto-managing of system administration, with the resulting clusterf*** if it guesses wrong. Guess who has to clean up that mess? That's right, the user. It's sure not going to be the developers.

I've no intention of ever giving up Slackware. Like finding nirvana in operating systems, once you've found it, you stay there. And stay there I will, until it is no longer maintained (may that be never!)

I had a bum computer that would not stay up for for than a couple of days. Windows 3.1 was on its way out and this, my first computer was Windows 95. Quickly I learned to format and reload and that is what gave me the courage to try Linux. Got a Learn Linux in 24 Hr. book with a RedHat 5.0 disk and tried Linux but did not like it at all.

I then went back to Windows and looked for another Linux distro to try. Found a disk set at Business Depot in among the Shareware and bought it. It was a Walnut Creek disk set of Slackware Linux. I had not heard of Slackware at this point but I dual-booted Windows and Slackware for a little while. Finally I ended up going back and forth from Windows 95 to Slackware to Windows 98 to Slackware to Windows XP to Slackware to ... NO MORE WINDOWS FOR ME.

I download and try live Linux distros all the time but nothing appeals to me like Slackware does. Now I am comfortable with format, load Slackware, configure Slackware and so no fear now.

The only other disto/s I like are Puppy Linux but Slackware is my daily driver