SlackwareThis Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.
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Why would he need to read anything else?
He went to Slackware.com and noted that it has not been updated since 2013-11-07.
Most people looking for Slackware Linux would arrive at slackware.com as the main representative entity for Slackware Linux.
The News page is what loads as front page.
Seeing that not even one line of text has been added in 3 years, would lead to a fair assumption that the project is dead, abandoned, or grossly neglected.
The lesson I'm trying to draw from this is that Patrick would be wise to put at least one line once in a while (maybe every 6 months or so?) in the news section for the "drive-by" visitors to get some idea what's happening.
It's the practical and professional thing to do
You are missing the point. Intentionally, I think; however, that may have more to do with my dealings with Spring Data and Grails this morning, which puts me in a foul mood.
I would find it difficult to come to the Slackware LQ forums and avoid seeing the topics with stuff like "-current" or "14.2" and so on.
And now that I think about it, the OP must also never, ever, ever get security updates via slackpkg or other means. That would have put the idea of "nothing's happened in 3 years" to rest with a stake in its heart.
1. go to slackware site, see no updates.
2. come here, don't look at a single post (at least half a dozen of which on the first page are specifically about 14.2).
3. post asking if slackware is still a thing.
this is the official slackware support forum. just like any other question asked here, you'd hope that someone did *anything* prior to asking, especially when they're asking in the place where the answer is prominently available.
Why would he need to read anything else?
He went to Slackware.com and noted that it has not been updated since 2013-11-07.
Most people looking for Slackware Linux would arrive at slackware.com as the main representative entity for Slackware Linux.
The News page is what loads as front page.
Seeing that not even one line of text has been added in 3 years, would lead to a fair assumption that the project is dead, abandoned, or grossly neglected.
The lesson I'm trying to draw from this is that Patrick would be wise to put at least one line once in a while (maybe every 6 months or so?) in the news section for the "drive-by" visitors to get some idea what's happening.
It's the practical and professional thing to do
Or simply have as a top line on the front page "For the most up-to-date development news, check the changelogs" or words to that effect.
A couple days ago I've been reading through an online discussion about various Linux distributions in an Austrian online newspaper. At one point Slackware came up, but was quickly dismissed as obsolete because (I quote) "according to their homepage the latest update to this distribution has been made in 2013".
I'd say you can adopt two different attitudes here.
Dismiss a significant portion of users as stupid.
Take their reactions into account and make some changes to your communication policy.
I see it as pure ignorance on the part of a media distributor not doing their homework and making a piss poor assumption.
GNU/Linux has been in a state of turmoil for about the same amount of time since 14.1 came out. Do these people not see that in that tumultuous period, many old school distributions did a lot of testing to see where they would be going, and not just dive into the proposed status quo without looking before they leapt? Only as of several months ago have things calmed and quieted down enough for work to get back to the normal pace.
What's not relevant and is obsolete are news sites that fail to do research even in the most basic of ways to avoid making blind assumptions.
I see it as pure ignorance on the part of a media distributor not doing their homework and making a piss poor assumption.
GNU/Linux has been in a state of turmoil for about the same amount of time since 14.1 came out. Do these people not see that in that tumultuous period, many old school distributions did a lot of testing to see where they would be going, and not just dive into the proposed status quo without looking before they leapt? Only as of several months ago have things calmed and quieted down enough for work to get back to the normal pace.
What's not relevant and is obsolete are news sites that fail to do research even in the most basic of ways to avoid making blind assumptions.
It was an online discussion in the wake of a general article about Linux. There's no mention of an article about Slackware.
I think it's a fair criticism. From the perspective of an outsider who is only going to go to the slackware.com main page and see that the latest "News" is from 2013, it doesn't look promising. I admit that this was a worry for me a couple months ago when I was interested in switching to Slackware, though I eventually dug deeper and found out that my initial impression was false. So I think putting at least something on the main page to notify the average interested person that stuff is still happening is warranted.
On the other hand, maybe Pat is aiming to draw people who are willing to dig a little deeper, as opposed to just the "average interested person," but obviously I wouldn't know about that.
Last edited by montagdude; 05-18-2016 at 07:35 AM.
Reason: typo
On a side note, I've worked as a webdeveloper before (which got me into Linux in the first place). On my bookshelves I've got books about website ergonomics and web marketing, with tons of good and bad examples. While I admit I've somewhat grown fond of Slackware's bone-headed website, I can understand why some aspects of it may drive people away. Which is a bit of a shame, since Slackware is a great distribution (my favorite actually), but it feels like a Jaguar that's advertised like a Trabant.
Distribution: Slackware/Salix while testing others
Posts: 1,718
Rep:
It is the Slackware way. The Tao of Slack perhaps.
If people are discouraged by the plain, boring, "unchanging" Slackware website, then good...job well done...let them go elsewhere. For those who still investigate further then: Welcome, Wilkommen, Huānyíng, i mirëpritur, 'ahlaan bik, Bienvenue, kalosórisma, Velkommen, Bienvenido, etc....
OpenBox has a similar issue with the latest released version not being obvious from the homepage. The latest version (3.6.1, last I checked) was quite recent, but I see a lot of "but OpenBox has been dead for years! posts.
Here's a few examples of nice homepages with all the information easily available. [...]
I agree with you, these are nice. The main motivation of my suggestion (using the changelog as home page) was to require no effort from Pat and keep offering fresh news to occasional and regular visitors. The style wouldn't be as sexy and consumer-oriented as your examples, but as good and characteristic as the current one.
Quote:
it feels like a Jaguar that's advertised like a Trabant.
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