Hello,

I'm running Slackware 8.1 and I've been pondering doing a clean installation
of slack 10.1

Lately i've gotten more and more programs that don't work with 8.1, dependency
problems. So 10.1 looks better and better every month.

My concerns are backing up my data. I assume backing up my home dir,
and /etc should about cover me. I assume once 10.1 is up and running I
could just copy my files over and then reinstall programs.

I also have a bit of a phobia about starting over. Its taken me so long to get
this system where I like it. Not the preferences of programs but the actual
programs. Most didn't work right away and it took me many hours to get
most extra software working. Downloading library files etc,.

Are there any other pointers I could use?

Just a little reassurance, because linux (and slack) has come a long way since then I should expect you won't have nearly as much trouble with programs and such. Of course I could be wrong.

Alot of those etc files could be very obsolete, just a warning. For example the init scripts.

Poor guy, just like me about 12-14 months ago. You are about to give up about MOST stable linux distro ever released, for one of the least stable....
Sorry, I'll get flamed, and lot's, but I think Slackware itself has been on a slow slide ever since 8.1. Each release has just a few more unresloved 'quirks' than the last.
We're all so nuts to upgrade -but there are NEW distros still being made that use gcc-2.95!
Were I you, I'd not go further than 10.0 right now. 10.0 should have been called 9.9 -nearly anything from 9.0,9.1 and 10.0 will interchange, but somewhere before 10.1 a major change in libs breaks that compatibility chain. So 10.1 should really be 10.0. 10.1 was released in a hurry, as was 10.0 and 11.0 is going to be quite different. I think 10.1 is going to be stuck on a limb. Not too many are taking it up...
I'd like to see Pat do like Debian and release when READY and not one day before. Scheduled updates just keep us all busy installing AGAIN, instead of actually using our boxes for something. We LOVE to do it, but whe computer USERS see us they think -Linux Can't be THAT good if you have to keep upgrading and installing 'service packs'. That' what a computer USER wants to avoid.

Thanks for the comments.

Anyone else feel that I should stick with slack 10.0 and below?
I need to upgrade to something... 9.1 - 10.1

I'd like to not have to do a reinstall again for a LONG time
so I'd prefer the newest release.

My System
AMD 1,533 mhz / 512mb ram / 80 gig HD / CD burner

My experiencie was ok with 9.1, 10 and now current. I think like gnashley that 9.1 was more stable out of the box, but I guess that's due to the change to X.org, kernel 2.6.X and some moving software, but they've worked ok with a few minor tweaks, at least for me.

Wow I never had so many multinational responses, great!
Thanks for your input guys/gals.

gbonvehi what minor tweaks did you have to do.
I'm not sure if tweaks = many hours of work for someone
of my linux skill level

By tweaks I mean getting all the stuff working ok like network, vid card, printer, scanner, getting new drivers (nvidia in my case) not a hard work, it's actually normal everytime you install something..
Anyway, I take every fresh install better because it's the only way to remove those files "i like having around" but they're useless :P

Ah, very agreeable. Just wanted to find out.

Me too! Those extra files have been growing.
I've made a mistakes while setting up software or compiling and
files kinda spill over. I'm a 1 year veteran of a full time linux only,
and this is my first install so its a bit messy.

thanks for the help.

i'm not too pleased with 10.1. KDE keeps on stalling on me at random times and I have to wait for the system to settle down and start working again.

9.1 is rock solid huh? Have you managed to install the newest Openoffice on it? I heard some remarks that some people couldn't even install the newest Openoffice on slackware 10.0 because of updated shared libraries so I am wary of heading back to 9.1. Openoffice is essential to me.

I am very pleased with slackware current. BUT, I did not do a clean install. I upgrade as it comes along from Slackware 10.0. Slackware 10.0 was great but some where along the line, gnome got stuck behind a glass wall. There is when problems started for gnome desktop.

I made a migration to fluxbox, and everything is alright again. I love the xorg update for slackware current (6.8.2). Now my fluxbox fonts looks great. Not like the termite eaten fonts before the upgrade.

Warning: I do not use kde, I have remove gnome completely.
Machines: AMD Atlon XP 1800, 1Gbyte RAM, 80Gbyte x 2 HDD, CD-burner, cd-rom, 2xNIC.
P3 500MHz, 512Mbyte RAM, 40Gbyte HDD, cd-rom, 2xNIC

so i suppose you have not experienced any hanging or stalling with fluxbox? well, maybe I will switch over then. Was originally a KDE fan, but ARts and now this random stalling is getting on my nerves.

Cool, gr8 to hear that your fonts are now working. Will give flux/blackbox a shot.

Does Gaim work fine with it? Can you hear the alert sounds while in fluxbox?

Just had to throw in my two cents here.
Slack 9.1 was my first true linux distro and slack has never failed me since.From 9.1 to 10 on to 10.1 it's just rolled along with the only major hitch for me being my recent sound troubles on a Via chip but that was solved with one little # removed in the right place and off it went.

Most other distros were to incomplete [peanut,yoper] or to "on the edge" and a little wonky [fedora,though I like fedora anyways.] or to antiquated [Debian,{ducks}]Mandrake 10 was good as well I thought.

As far as linux goes it's just my opinion that Slackware is the King whether it be 9.1,10,or 10.1.If FreeBSD were linux then it would be king but that's a whole other story.

I started out on topologilinux which was based on slackware 10.0. I then migrated to 10.0 and then used swaret to update to 10.1. I've been very happy with Slackware, I'm a recent XFCE convert too. XFCE will let you use KDE and Gnome applications without the bloat and the problems associated with them. Slackware is such a great distro because of its stability and speed, among its other numerous great features!

Nope no stalling, hanging in fluxbox.

I use gaim. but not the alert sounds. scare the shit out of me in gnome last time. Too loud.

Edited: Tried gaim alert sound in fluxbox. Still scare the shit out of me. Loud and clear.

carbon copy,

You can adjust the sound. I had that problem too. I just set the volume much lower on alsamixer, and when listening to music, i set the volume for the player higher.

Only problem with fluxbox is that when i use xine, gaim alerts stop sounding.