[SOLVED] The Urge To Distro-hop

slackin1stimer · 01-09-2013, 02:17 AM

About a month ago I installed Slackware for the first time--14_64-bit--and have finally quelled my desire to frequently change my flavor of Linux. I will always have room for Gentoo, when I have the time, but Slackware has satisfied this system-tweaker's hunger. So far I am impressed how stable Slack14 has been. I've been running it on my older Core2/DUO HP dv6 1375dx laptop and am very pleased with the performance. I primarily use my laptop for music, movies, internet, modest video editing, and some remote admin. Although I needed quite a few items from SlackBuilds.org it wasn't long before I had all my regular applications. And I must say that I enjoy being able to fine-tune the SlackBuilds through the convenient "sbopkg" interface, as well as having the option to try a build from a previous release. Just for kicks I threw in some items from Salix via "slapt-get" and haven't had any weird version or compatibility issues(yeah I've enabled too many RPM repos before and paid the price

. With Slackware it seems like it's hard to go wrong, and if you do think you went wrong somewhere there's always "slackpkg clean-system" to remove certain external influences.
After spending the last year on Arch Linux and now onto Slackware(as long as I get to keep my beloved initscripts

I am sold on the more "vanilla" distros. I make vanilla ice-cream a lot and still think it is the best flavor out there. Maybe I sound like an old man but you'll never find Ben&Jerry's Marshmallow-mint-ubuntu-rainbow-surprise with caramel swirl in my freezer! Peace and Slack y'all!

Habitual · 01-09-2013, 07:34 PM

Quote:

...you'll never find Ben&Jerry's Marshmallow-mint-ubuntu-rainbow-surprise with caramel swirl in my freezer!

OldGuysRule!

Code:

while (true)
{
    SelectDistro($distro);
    $boredOfDistro = false;

    while (!$boredOfDistro)
    {
        ScrewUp($epicFail);
        SolveProblem($solution);
    
        if (NowBored())
        {
            $boredOfDistro = true;
            $distro = FindAGoodDistro();
        }
    }
}

My name is JJ and I am a recovering Distro-whore. I have used Slackware for 176 days and OpenSUSE 11.4(?) for 495 days prior to that.

Welcome!

linuxpokernut · 01-09-2013, 07:45 PM

I just like it coz' it gets the most chicks.

the3dfxdude · 01-09-2013, 09:02 PM

I have used slackware for about 3835 days. If only had I found it sooner. And actually that is longer than I had used Windows by this point. Weird.

slackass · 01-10-2013, 10:45 AM

Indeed Slack is where I wound up after I tried everything else.
I'm not real sharp on computers and Slack is easier for me to fix when I screw something up.

gargamel · 01-13-2013, 04:42 PM

@slackins1timer: Nice post, could have written by me, if I could write so well in English.

Really, same (hi)story here, and same feeling of arriving at a safe harbour, finally, with Slackware.

gargamel

speck · 01-13-2013, 05:15 PM

I think most of the people who distro-hop don't use Linux as their primary OS. Once your computing life is built around a specific Linux distribution (for me it's been Linux, specifically Slackware, since 1995) then it makes the act of switching to another distribution or OS much more difficult. There would have to be a very compelling reason for me to stop using Slackware at this point.

hitest · 01-13-2013, 05:42 PM

slackins1timer,

Awesome post! Over the years I've also sampled quite a few distros: Red Hat, Debian, FreeBSD, Arch, and OpenBSD to name but a few. Even though other distros run well enough they never quite feel like home. At the moment I have three Slackware 14.0 stations and one Slackware-current box. It is all good. Slackware forever.

perbh · 01-14-2013, 01:49 PM

@slackins1timer.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Slackware was my first linux ever (around 1996 or so) and I've never really left it - always had my servers run slack. Turned into a distro-hoe and have just about tried them all - my longest relationship was with arch (guess that lasted for about 7 years), but the incessant change for the sake of change finally got to me - so it's 'good riddance' - I'm finally back for good to my first love ...

Mercury305 · 01-17-2013, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speck

I think most of the people who distro-hop don't use Linux as their primary OS. Once your computing life is built around a specific Linux distribution (for me it's been Linux, specifically Slackware, since 1995) then it makes the act of switching to another distribution or OS much more difficult. There would have to be a very compelling reason for me to stop using Slackware at this point.

Yea but ur talking about 1995. Back then it was easy to choose and stick to one. Also slackware kept things unchanged and unix oriented so its natural to end with slack if u began with it during that time.

Now in 2013 there are so many distros. I have my self been through a great distro search this past 2012... reason being i had been away from the computer world for over a decade... Originally started Slack in late 90s. after getting back into the linux world... things were quite different. As a matter of fact it all started because i didnt wana pay wireless so i learned how to use aircrack which brought back my nice memories of using Linux. Then I started Ubuntu and got stuck. I realized that Ubuntu was a very superficial distro... I tried Suse. But Suse had way too many bugs and asked for passwords for evyerhting thing. I really didnt like it. Then I tried CentOS and it was like a breath of fresh air of stability and lack of crazy needless complications. But later suffered from hardware issues to to its old kernel and also limited repo to use for desktop. So I decided to try Slackware again which I liked as well but was bothered by lack of docs and how everything was so different from other distros. At that point I entered into a time when there was some major plumbing changes going on in linux and I did not know where to go?
It seemed like the Redhat distros seemed to be calling all the shots as far as the Linux Plumbing. So I was in a cross roads between Slackware and Fedora. I thought I might get some sound advice from a Slackware Forum to share my concerns. which later turned to end up as a Flame War. So that is when my Love and Hate for Slackware relationship started.

Overall I am still using 2 distros. Red Hat Based (Fedora mostly) and Slackware. I find both distros with advantages in totally different areas. I like them both but I admire Slackwares design over Fedora any day. The problem for me is I am not the biggest Shell Scripting fan. And Slackware is a distro that isn't to kind to those that are Shell Script illiterate. Even though systemd is more complex then slackware init... at least it stays out my way. I am in all honesty not the biggest fan of either systemd or the ol school init scripts. I want to focus more on Python. I don't like GUI stuff. I dont like complexity. I like stability. So I am in a mix between the 2 totally different distros. If there was a distro that resembled both I would go with it. But until that day Im using both until I gradually start using 1 distro over the other more frequently...
So I'm still distro hopping but only between RHEL/Fedora and Slackware.

Would love it if someone started a distro called SlackHat where you get certain R.H. things I like mixed into the Slackware UNIXy CLI oriented environment.

gnashley · 01-17-2013, 12:35 PM

The real way to stop distro-hopping forever means building and using your own. That way you only have to keep up with any changes that *you* implement.

jtsn · 01-17-2013, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speck

I think most of the people who distro-hop don't use Linux as their primary OS. Once your computing life is built around a specific Linux distribution (for me it's been Linux, specifically Slackware, since 1995) then it makes the act of switching to another distribution or OS much more difficult.

That's an appropriate assessment. From 2000 to 2008 I had some desktops and servers running FreeBSD. The (hardware-imposed) switch to Slackware Linux was a two-year process.

Quote:

There would have to be a very compelling reason for me to stop using Slackware at this point.

By using FreeBSD I became so much of an unix lover, that I can't really use anything but Slackware in Linux land. ;-)

jhw · 01-18-2013, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnashley

The real way to stop distro-hopping forever means building and using your own. That way you only have to keep up with any changes that *you* implement.

Actually, that's what drove me to Slackware. I successfully built my own LFS, but when it came to building X.org, I quit. It just took too much time. With Slackware I found a distro, wich is very easy to manipulate to make it fit your needs. Don't like a packet version shipped with Slack? Just rebuild it using the provided SlackBuild. Missing a package? Look for it on SlackBuilds.org or write your own.

Sandlin · 01-29-2013, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitest

slackins1timer,

Awesome post! Over the years I've also sampled quite a few distros: Red Hat, Debian, FreeBSD, Arch, and OpenBSD to name but a few. Even though other distros run well enough they never quite feel like home. At the moment I have three Slackware 14.0 stations and one Slackware-current box. It is all good. Slackware forever.

Reply:
I have jumped all over the place with distros of various flavors. Since I moved from Windows to Linux (now ancient history), I was at first hesitant to take on the big dogs that required command line work. Since I'm also self-taught, not college educated in computers, I have had to stumble around, testing, learning, testing, looking for the right distro that's rock solid. I have sort of "worked my way up" to the distro that is solid and works right all the time and that would be Slackware. I still have lots to learn about Slackware, but once you learn how to do it right, everything just works. And, it something does get out of whack (usually user error or plain ignorance), at least there is a sensible, reliable, way to fix it.