Is Slackware a good Idea for a newbie?
 

I have just started in the IT field and have little to no experience with programs that require more than a windows point and click. What I am looking for is a distro that will force me to learn linux, is highly stable, and teaches me as much as possible without wanting to throw my lap top through a window. Is this an unreasonable request given my limited abilities? I do not know any if commands or coding and have almost no experience with terminal commands. I have used ubuntu 10.4 and 12 but they are too much like windows for me.

I suggest that you read the book and see if Slackware is something that you would like to try. Partitioning your HD can be a bit daunting at first glance. The book recommends fdisk. You may wish to use cfdisk as it is a bit more user friendly.

Preparation is key to a successful first install of Slackware.

Slackbook

It depends on you capacity for reading information. Try the sticky thread "So you want to be a Slacker..." near the top in the forum.

Hi Gulrick,
well, then Slackware is exactly the right choice for you.
This depends on you, Linux and even more Slackware is much about reading the documentations.
Well, Slackware was my first experience with Linux and I've learned much with it.

Markus

Whenever Slackware fits the needs of a new user depends on the new user in question.

For Slack, the hard part is to install the system at first, as the installation process is not intuitive for novices. Partitioning is only easy if you are familiar with text mode partition tools, otherwise it can be a hard time (many people uses a "graphic and easy" tool like Parted Magic for partitioning, then boots the Slackware installer). Once the system is installed and tunned, the end user experience is basically the same -desktop applications work more or less the same in any distribution. Third party software installation is usually easy, as there are many applications prepared for Slackware by side projects like SlackBuilds.org

Basically, do some research by yourself, read the install process in the Slackbook and try to do something useful out of Slackware. The best way to know an OS is to fiddle with it. After two weeks, you'll will either get burnt or love the system.

That said, when I install a system for a newbie who is supposed to administrate it, I set Debian because it seems to me more easy-going for unexperienced people. Yeah, I know it is a matter of opinion...

thank you all for your advice and help. I have done a few partitions and had pretty good luck minus the one that said it had no data so I erased the partition and the machine would not run any more. I had to rebuild with disk and start over. Lesson learned.

Slackware is as suitable for a *motivated* newbie as most other distros. Admittedly, it is more stable than many other distros but it will NOT FORCE you to learn anything. No distro will. Slackware's installation process may be a problem for a newbie but there are lots of tutorials (with screenshots) out there so theoretically you could install slackware without understanding much of what's going on. Once you've installed slackware, it's rather simple to administer it. It might be command line but all the necessary commands (slackware-specific) to administer it can be learned in 30 minutes.

The point I'm getting at is that the fact that there are not many GUI tools on slackware is not a guarantee that a user will automatically learn much (copy & paste). If a user is motivated enough to learn BASH or the inner workings of linux, any stable linux distro will be good and no GUI will stand in the way.

Well, it doesn't force you, but if you don't learn you will not work with Slackware for a long time. Ubuntu is another thing, you learn to click here and there and don't have to understand why, and if you don't learn anything you can do very well with Ubuntu or Windows as well.
I think the problem can be the partitioning, especially if there is Windows running on the machine and should not be damaged.
The big difference between Slackware and most of the others is, that here all programs are vanilla, no patches, everything works like the manpage says. Additionally the system is very transparent, one can relatively easy "see" how things work together. On other distributions you have a assistant for everything, but when the assistant fails you're lost.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention Slackware's great community which is both, knowledgeable and helpful.

Markus

Good point about transparency. Wouldn't it be possible, though, to administer Ubuntu using the traditional CLI method without resorting to GUI assistants?

sycamorex - while I understand that Slackware is playfully irreverent, I consider your signature offensive and insulting, not to mention inappropriate in this forum. It depresses me to see it here day after day. There are more than enough platforms in your country and on the Internet today to attack the intelligence and rationality of people who believe in God. Please use one of those platforms instead. We are not stupid. We are not irrational. And we have many solid *reasons* for believing in God. As a senior member of LQ, you should not be using this forum to promote an agenda that says otherwise.

Your post is totally off-topic in this thread. If you find my signature offensive, please report it to the mods (or PM me).

Just as your signature is totally off-topic in LQ.
I have no desire to take it further; I have made my point. If you are not prepared to remove a signature which scoffs at the intelligence, rationality and capacity for critical thought of people who believe in God then it is no longer my problem but yours.

It's not only acceptable but also relatively common here to have signatures that are not related to Linux.

See my previous post.


@Sorry Gulrick for messing up your thread.

Mod Note: If any user has an issue with another user's signature, the appropriate route to take is to discuss it rationally off-line (using the PM or email contact details) and escalate it to a mod if you cannot agree. That said, signature blocks are only visible to logged in members - search engines and anyone browsing the forums who is not logged in will not be able to see them.

Signature blocks are traditionally, and as used on LQ, a small area that members can use to express themselves. In line with the global internet community, LQ is also global and so levels of offense are impossible to judge. On LQ we have a wide ranging audience with wide ranging beliefs with both believers and non-believers. Taking offense is a very personal thing and we cannot and will not police that. If any member feels that their LQ experience is damaged by signature blocks that may cause them to feel offended, it can be easily dealt with by going to My LQ > Thread Display Options and unchecking the box next to "Show Signatures". This will remove all signatures from view.

And now back to the main thread subject...

@Gulrick
I recommend you to read slackbasic and slackbook first