9 , 12 now ...14
 

Hi, these numbers are magic for me.

Well they simply describe the Slackware realeases I used
for very long time and personally consider them as one of the best.

Do you see any rule or a law here?

Greetings.

no
:)

From what I see on the mirrors: 8.1, 9.0, 9.1, 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 11.0, 12.0, 12.1, 12.2, 13.0, 13.1, 13.37, 14.0

Version numbers often vary along with how different the versions are. Minor changes mean the versions are closer in version number.

Arithmetic progression suggests that you will use 15 next.

samac

I would bet on 14.1 and then maybe 14.2 or 15.0.

Changelog for -current:

12.0 was the one I used for the longest. I ran it for almost 3 years, from early July 2007 through until June 2010.

Up to then, 10.2 had been the record holder at a shade under 2 years.

Up to 10.2, I was upgrading with each release. I've started doing the same again since 13.37. The current '-current' is looking pretty good... :)

The Law of Diminishing Returns ?

Absolutely. I was using the same computer as my main desktop for almost 10 years. There hasn't been much benefit in upgrading the OS on it for some time now. It also took me a while to come around to KDE4, which was standard in 13.0.

I bought a new 64 bit laptop earlier this year, and it has become my main computer now. On this one, there are some noticeable differences between 14.0 and -current, both in terms of performance and hardware support. Eg: the way KDE handles 'lid closings' in the -current version is a lot slicker than in 14.0. I suspect that once the hardware is fully supported, there'll be longer periods between upgrades for me... :)

1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8....

You have to admit at least the Slack version numbers are always numbers and they are increasing for the next version.

What are you complaining about, many distros do worse :grin:

jlinkels

Indeed! I'm running -current on three of my Slackware boxes and running 14.0 on my 4th Slackware box. When 14.1 is released I will gear down a bit and run 14.1 on all but one of my work stations. :)

Thanks for your replies. Each very interesting. Well ...I mentioned only major numbers. Those after the dot are minor.
Also thanks for suggesting to switch on -current. I don't want to complain but I have a small performance issue with some apps. For example interaction with gnuplot is very slow. Even on a very simple 3D mesh.

Seriously probably the 3-4 years period is needed for all core components to develop and fitt well with each other. I mean
thinking about kernel development, X Server, desktops, window managers, libraries...It is like building a new huge airplane..

As an aside, and since one of the main concerns here is praising Slackware's perennity. I just wrote a little piece about it on my personal blog (since I'm down with the flu and have too much time on my hands).

So the next time someone asks you if Slackware is any good, you can just show him or her this:

http://www.kikinovak.net/index.php?p...lackware-Linux

Cheers,

Niki

A wonderful read. Thanks for this! :)