I know some pilots, and as one who works on the systems they use (I'm Flightline Avionics), ease of use has everything to do with it. In the F-16, they can literally flip one switch and go straight to trying to lock-on to a target with a missile. The whole aircraft configures itself for what he is doing (this is called "master modes"). Ease of use is not just for newbies.

I know someone who is a military photographer. He uses a Nikon, and praises it for staying out of his way while he takes pictures. Ease of use is not just for newbies.

It is this way when I play guitar also. I can flip a switch and go to a face-melting solo on my bridge pickup. They also have multi-effects-pedals that have a solo switch for this same reason. Ease of use is not just for newbies.

Slackware is easy to use because it is predictable and stays out of my way. For me, since I've been using it since 9.0, configuration is extremely easy (I can be up and running on a new install in like 5 minutes).

So I don't know where you got this from, but ease of use is not just for newbies.

It's kind of hard to tell when it sounds just like the real thing, but that was sarcasm.

Not just sarcasm . . . super awesome, well-crafted sarcasm. It fooled me, too, until I was about two-thirds of the way through the post.

I never understood why people have such a hard time with an ncurses install lol. It takes you step by step through the whole process and usually already has pretty safe and explicit defaults as well.

Especially since half of a Windows install is text-based. It's been that way at least until Windows XP.

could not agree with u more. I prefer a text installer because its much more informative and intuitive.

Plus gives you more control in many cases, like fine tuning your installation details, with GUI you don't have much transparency or control over the entire process.

I find it interesting that about 100% of reviews are written from the view point of some abstract "user" who likes/needs GUI configuration and other Windows like features like software distributed in binaries. Thus the review inevitably concludes that the best Linux is Ubuntu and the ultimate Linux possible is Windows.

What makes it interesting is that the view point is never explicitly stated, just as recommended in mind washing and marketing. Caitlyn consciously wants to be different. This results in the view point shift to that of a power user doing Internet, email, office, and review writing.

However, the natural question "why people choose Slackware and stay with it" is not answered. I checked a few latest reviews on Distrowatch and this question is never answered. It's a pity. Why should I try, say, Arch if I do not know what fun should I find there? It is possible to try to reverse engineer that based on the few facts found in the review, but I doubt the results could be accurate. It may be tempting to think that any Linux is viewed from the Ubuntu perspective, but I guess Ubuntu is in the same boat. Reading Ubuntu reviews does not help to understand why people choose Ubuntu and stay with Ubuntu. BTW, if they do how come the Linux desktop usage is that small?

This is in sharp contrast to any other kind of review. Consider a review of a USB stick. All the joys of having it are presented upfront while the number of writes to a cell can be found only on the producers site, sometimes. I am starting to think there is a well hidden disinformation campaign underway.

Thus all those reviews are really pointless except for us reading about what features we may get without actually installing the distribution.

One thing to point out: this is one person's experience with Slackware. It's not everyone's, it's not even the norm because we don't know how everyone experienced/experiences it.

I'll give three stories.

1) User asks for Linux. I only had Slackware 13 so I handed it to him. Forgot about the whole thing. A little while later he hands me two DVDs back and says thanks, and that he is enjoying it thoroughly.

2) User needs Windows XP reinstalled. I have no legitimate copy and they don't have the money for that plus office plus antivirus, so I put Slackware Linux on there and spend time making it easy to use. They get frustrated easily (they aren't the patient or open-minded type) so they buy a new laptop.

3) User needs a laptop. Friend in #2 hands laptop to them. I walk user through a Slackware install. Over the period of about two months he comes in every so often needing help with something, and I show him how to fix it. He loves Slackware even though he is a very new computer user (much less Linux user) and continues using it gladly.

Points:

- Not everyone is the same.
- Not everyone's needs are the same.
- Not everyone has patience.
- Not everyone can try something without pre-judging it.
- Some people are hopelessly stuck in a rut.

So, since not all people and computers and situations are the same, one can deduce that while reviews are important, they must refrain from casting too much personal judgment because not all users are the same.

My story is that I am an early adopter and tried Corel Linux in 2000 (but it didn't work on my laptop so I forgot about it until Slackware 9).

Reviews are good but ultimately not a science, nor fully trustworthy.

Cool. You started with Linux a few years before me. :)
My first distro was Caldera OpenLinux 2.3 which I used in 2002. OpenLinux later morphed into the dreaded SCO....boo...hiss. I moved from OpenLinux through a varety of distros settling on Slackware as my favourite. I started slacking with 10.0.

Ironically, the best review of Slackware I've read is from Distro Watch. While the details are somewhat out of date because it is from 2003, the review does a good job of explaining why Slackware is useful and why people would appreciate it.

I agree wholeheartedly. I've been running Slack for over 14 years and I upgrade about every other year, simply because it works so well, upgrading isn't necessary. They have to change the libraries to the point where other software won't build without the new libs. Then I'll upgrade the entire system. :)

Another thing I forget to mention, please use slackware for a few days to understand it rather than reviewing it :P

I agree, it totally depends upon the preference of the user. I know some people who have never used linux because they think its complicated to set up and are generally afraid of screwing up their computers, they are to used to the ease[pun intended] of GUI tools.