I had a random thought and wanted to see what other people's experiences on this were.

Every distro has it's fanatics, but with most of the loyalists the call is "I think my distro is the best because..." On the other hand with Slackware the predominant theme seems to be "I stopped using Slack for a while but I came back."

I started out in Redhat, moved on to various distros, and settled on using Slack about two years ago. Sometime in the last year I started using Mandrake 8.2 on my client machines and it was nice, but it just did not feel right. I have yet to figure out the mish-mash of config files for Mandrake. I prefer to change configurations the way God intended, using a text editor. By no conscious decision that I am aware of, everytime I upgraded/replaced a machine it got installed with Slack. Now I am back to an all Slack network and happy about it.

I came back because Slackware just feels right. It sure isn't the easiest but I never seem to be limited by the distro, only my ability. ne?

So my question to the Slackers out there is this. Once you started using Slack did you ever abandon it for another distro? Did you come back to Slack? Finally why did you leave and/or come back.

Nope. I mainly used Redhat for the longest time, though on the side I installed different distro's, always usually had a Slack machine running. But I started to dislike Redhat more and more from 6.2, I still like them but I liked Slackware more and more cause it was easier for me to configure, it was simplistic and just felt right. Now I only really use Slackware and never use anything else for getting stuff done purposes, only one other machine I use to install other distro's and OS's to play around with.

I started with Slackware way back when it need ~30 diskettes and you
had to pull an all-nighter to install, and then had to pull another one to
rebuild the kernel. I was encouraged to install a non-Slack distro at my
first real (read computer admin) job, tried Debian, Redhat, and some
others. I disliked all of them, and finally put Slack on. Many years of
Slack later (with occasional forays into other Linux distros), and at a
different job, I was once again asked to install RedHat on some
computers. The reason for this was that others in the department were
using RedHat and it was thought that it would be easier for everybody
if all the computers had RH on them. Well, I tried, but I had problems
getting either the CD or the floppy disks to boot correctly, so in the end I
booted with a Slack boot floppy, fixed the stupid RH diskettes, then
rebooted with the RH disk. As the machine was POSTing, I swapped
the RH disk for the Slackware one and installed Slackware instead.
Everyone at work who is still using RH comes to me for help with their
Linux problems, simply because RH (et al.) hide how to actually
configure the computer with GUIs. I understand that using a GUI is
nice once you know how the computer works, but I still like to know
exactly what's going into my configuration files.

I suppose I would be considered a little in both camps. I started with Slackware back with version 3.6 for my servers. For server based units I have never left Slackware. As the X system matured and the apps became something more than futuristic. I started migrating as I could all of my operations to Linux. I think that was with Slackware 7.0 for desktop type machines. I worked with a couple of other distros back then for awhile. Returned back once again to Slackware with 8.0 for my desktop machines as well.

I'm a newbie and I like the learning opportunities that Slackware offer.

I got into some problem and abandon Slack for RedHat. Installation for RedHat is easy. Configuring seems to be a challenge. So I'm back to Slack. And of couse the problem I faced last time with Slack was my lack of ability.

But I still find installing Slack a little difficult. For eg, I got my usb mouse working but not my usb thumb drive, etc.

I starded with Red Hat, but then I changed to Slackware 8.1 and now to Slackware-Current. Slackware just feels good and is very nice to use and configure.

Im new to slackware in respect of TryckyKid, moses and the rest of "old school". I started using it with 7.0. I started with SuSE but it hides it's configuration behind GUIs as someone said, and it just makes it all more difficult because it hides the command line, trying to make everything possible in GUI, same with RH (i tried 6.2 i beleive). Whenever i need to do something, like configuration or sorting of many files, etc.. i find it so much faster and easier to use the console not a file-manager. But other two distros i tried, SuSE and RH tried as much as possible to hide the console, and until i switched to Slack i hardly new any commands, just the basic such as ls, cd.

Why do i prefer Slack? Because it's simple, it doesn't try to be something it is not. I like using programs that do one task, and do it well, not something that tried to perform many things but can't do them all well. And Slack is the equivalent for a "Small, simple and reliable program" in terms of Linux distros, Slack IS THE linux distro.
I'm also planning to check Debian, but i somehow already feel i'll be back with slack in no time.
-NSKL

I've been mostly using windows for as long as I've been using computers.

I tried red hat 6 about two years ago but I had some serious problems installing programs and I couldn't get my soundcard to work so I quickly installed windows again.....

Till about a month ago when I decided to install slackware 8.1. Why? because I felt that since I'm going to learn linux I might as well learn a more advanced distro than RH.

Also, I want to be a service technician (a person who helps people with their computers). I figured that maybe I'd run into people using linux so I have to learn it as well if i am going to be able to help them.

It's working very well now so I'm happy I tried slack.

Ironically, I found it EASIER to get Slackware working than any other distro I've tried. I guess the "advanced" Gui installers of RH & Mandrake get in the way. Slackware just seems to work better than the others, though I still have "nut behind the wheel" problems.

I started with RH6.2 on my first attempt with linux, but found that I didn't like the init scripts, and the way that other things started up. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to not have it start the sendmail daemon. Plus, all of the free advertising that they did on my system, I kept seeing Red Hat everywhere I looked. So, I got tired and started looking at other distros.

After some searching, I decied upon slack because of everyone said that it was the hardest to learn, and that only hardcore users ran slack. I think slack 7.1 was out , but I waited a few days to get 8.0, and I've been hooked ever since.

I've tried other distros like Peanut Linux, Rh 6.2--8.0, among others, but I don't mess with them for more than a few hours at the most. I know slack pretty well, I like the way the init scripts run, I like the lack of bloat that I find with slack. I guess saying that I like CLI instead of GUI would sum up my love of slack.

I love slackware. Once upon I time my primary os was mandy 8.2 linux, I had debian for expermentation. I had wanted to dump mandy but couldn't pick between debian or mandy, I realized I had for some reason a gig of untouched space so I dumped in slack for fun, I spent a day configuring it and lerarning its config files. Next day I moved all my important files outta way and zapped my mandy and debian parts then joined them and copied to slack to it. I have used it faithfully since, almost a year and a half now I think. I still have the one gig version as a a rescue linux. Hehe it must be so far outta date. But I love slack, nothing better

I started using slack just on weekends, Friday night, sometimes Saturday.

Then I started using on Thursdays as well and pretty soon I was using slack nearly every night. I wasn't hanging out with the old crowd so often anymore - WinExplorer, IE, notepad and the other fellas. We were still mates and that, but, you know.

One day in the computer lab this dude whips out some disks of this stuff called Mandrake, three disks worth and starts installing up. I wasn't sure at first but he offered to let me have a go. Truth is the stuff tasted like lemonade and I didn't even get a buzz.

Must have been all the slack I was using still in my system.

Hi! Well actually I started using Linux 3 months ago. I installed Red Hat 7.2 and it was great. Before instaling Linux I read very much about this beautiful OS and was ready for it. When I installed Red Hat I didn't have a connection to the internet and I felt quite boring. I had read a lot about Slackware and everybody was saying that it was only for computer geeks and super pros. So I just felt very curious about what Slack has to offer. The first night I had my unlimited internet connection I downloaded Slackware 8.1. (only about 1.5 week of using Red Hat) I still remember that cold, uncolorful install menu But I must say that now it's the best install menu I can imagine. I don't regret coming to Slackware. It just feels right Although I will try Gentoo when version 1.4 will come out and I will install OpenBSD this night, just for fun But I don't think that I'll leave Slackware because of these two beauties

Hmmm... my first experience with Slack was version 8.0 but I had problems with it so I went to Redhat and used it a while before going with Mandrake. I've tried the last three versions of SuSE (before v8.1), but had lots of problems with all three of them. Once Slack 8.1 came out, the install went pretty smoothly for me, and I've been using it ever since.

I do still play around in Redhat 8.0 and Mandrake 9.0 some, but I always return to Slack as my default. It's super-stable, and seems much snappier in operation than the others on my machines.

ive been using linux almost a year now, and i tried red hat 7.0 (crap), mandrake 8.1 (good), 8.2 (better), and then last night i grew the balls to destroy months of hard work in 8.2 to install slack 9.0b. So far, i am far from disappointed. its quite a challenge to set up since im used to all the GUI frontends that mandrake offers to use the terminal for everything. i used it quite a bit, but not nearly as much as now. slackware is the best, by far, but it all depends on your level of understanding. im very glad i started with mandy because i would have been truly lost with slackware at first.

icy