Slackware 10.3(11?) and Slapt-Get
 

That's called slackware-current and people are doing it all the time.
I haven't had any significant problem since I switched to current.

slackware-current will eventualy become slackware 11 at on point. So take your pick...either go right now with current or later with slack 11 when it comes out..it's same thing

Yes, just follow the changelog and you'll be fine. It should be mentioned that current is officially unstable, but I've been running current for quite a long time and never had any problems. If you want to be extra sure on your system's stability, then you can just wait till Slackware 11 comes out. I haven't used Slapt-Get, but usually when upgrading from one version to another, UPGRADE.TXT tells you to drop into runlevel 1 before updating packages. I'm not sure how Slapt-Get handles that.

Edit: When upgrading X or KDE you better drop to runlevel 3. (Seems obvious but I don't think the changelog always mentions that.)

When a new version is released, Pat always includes an "upgrade.txt" file. Read that before you upgrade. You may have to do some packages in a certain order, which using Slapt-Get might not do correctly.

Cheers,
Eddie

This is a great tutorial: How-To Upgrade Slackware Versions

I use the SlackPkg tool to keep my systems with -current. Very easy to use.

# telinit 3

switch to runlevel 3

# slackpkg update

get the latest PACKAGES.TXT, etc..

# slackpkg upgrade x11

and I'm running X from -current.

# slackpkg search all | grep upgrade

tells you all of the packages that need to be upgraded.

-G

There's a much easier way to fully upgrade your System and keep it Current: Install slackpkg (for example from ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/slackware/pu...2-noarch-2.tgz (Reload if "Server busy" is responded)),
install the package with installpkg,
go to /etc/slackpkg and
edit "mirrors" and uncomment your slackware-current mirror of choice, then
execute "slackpkg update"
and "slackpkg upgrade-all".
Not sit down and wait. :-)

WARNING: Note that this will upgrade ALL System packages found in -current that differ from the 10.2 ones, so, if you've compiled something custom, it will be overwritten; you can blacklist packages (man slackpkg). There's no warranty for this guide here , I'm not sure if there is any other initial procedure needed for slackpkg.

Greetings,

Seppel

I have not done an upgrade-all with slackpkg. There are certain packages that cannot be upgraded while the system is fully running. You can't upgrade bash if it's running. Packages such as aaa_base, aaa_elflibs and util-linux can be broken if you dont know what you're doing. Probably the most difficult package is aaa_elflibs. The system cannot be running when upgrading critical system libraries. Ok, well, not that it can't be running, but you should definitely be in run level 1.

What I do to upgrade things that can easily break the system is this..

# slackpkg download $package

then reboot with a neat little rescue system called RIP Linux. It's based on Slackware which is PERFECT! And just a ~20MB ISO that can be burned to a mini CD-R. Mount your root partition to /mnt/hd. Run upgradepkg -root (I think that's it) /mnt/hd/var/cache/packages/$package. upgradepkg/installpkg has the ability to change the root file system for this reason. So you're basically running from the rescue system and can upgrade the system on your HD. I find this to be the safer way to upgrade critical system components such as bash and aaa's.

-G

Forgot to add, the /etc/slackpkg/blacklist file can be used to stop packages from being upgraded during an upgrade-all. I believe aaa_elflibs is in that file by default. I also blacklist kernel and alsa. I have a custom kernel and alsa build, so I do not want to upgrade those.

-G

I've never had a problem upgrading from runlevel 1. The basic rules I follow are as follows:
If I know what it is, and it's a simple program (like Firefox), I just close all instances of the program and upgrade.
If it's X and/or KDE, I drop to the CLI (since I boot to runlevel 3 it's really easy).
If I'm not sure what it is, or I know it's important, I go to runlevel 1.
So far it's worked for me.

Edit: I know runlevel is "safe" because in all of the UPGRADE.TXT files that are included, the directions are to go to runlevel 1. Nothing fancy like booting off of a CD (although that is a perfectly fine way of doing things).

Read the other opinions. I upgraded this way from 10.1 to 10.2 without any problems except the need to recompile the nVidia driver. If it's no critical machine, give it a try :-) - and backup your files! This should be done every time you upgrade.

Greetings,

Seppel

To answer your first question -- no, that is not the proper way to do it.

That ChangeLog is never up-to-date. For instance, as I post it's
and that ChangeLog has --
so it's over a month behind right now.

The official Slackware ChangeLog is the ONLY one you should use -- and it is ALWAYS ahead of the mirrors.

A good way to keep up with -current is to run a cron job and rsync a server. Here's a script by Alien_Bob in LQ which will get the -current packages for you. Also, if you want, it will create CD/DVD/both for you.

That Updating Slackware guide is the best I've seen. Even Pat's UPGRADE.TXT file, as someone posted, does not tell you everything you need to do.

My favorite environment is Fluxbox, but recently I've run KDE and XFCE on a couple of boxen so that I'll be able to know more about them when I deliver a Slackware box to Windows and Mac refugees who aren't yet weaned off of icons. However, the two KDE boxen that use LCD monitors got their fonts messed up by the upgrade, done verbosely following Pat's official UPGRADE.TXT in -current. I knew some things to save, but didn't know the KDE (Krummy Desktop Excuse) stuff.

I'm going through Darrell Anderson's guide very carefully, and wish I'd done so before upgrading from Slack-10.2 to -current on a KDE box.

Kernels are blacklisted AFAIR - but it's better to have a look at /etc/slackpkg/blacklist.

Seppel

Don't upgrade alsa, aaa_elflibs and kernel headers.

what about aaa_base and what if you have the 2.6 kernel, headers, modules, source installed? by default slackpkg does not exclude those in the blacklist file, they are there but the only thing that is excluded by default is aaa_elflibs. i added aaa_base and alsa-driver and uncommented the kernel lines cause i dont want to upgrade the kernel to current cause that is still 2.4 right? i want to keep my 2.6

Yes, Current kernel is 2.4.32.

In the /etc/slackpkg/blacklist file, by default kernel is there but commented out. If you have a line with kernel on it, slackpkg will disallow any package name that starts with kernel. It's like kernel*, but without the *. So "kernel" on a line will blacklist kernel, kernel-headers, kernel-source, etc..

I have these in the blacklist..

kernel
alsa
aaa_elflibs
kde-i18n

Damn I love Slackware!

SlackerDex,

This is your system. Don't let everyone scare you about what to do.
You can check if you have the packages in your system now like this:
If they are in your system now, and you don't know if you use them,
then why not upgrade? If you blacklist and need them, you're in trouble.

As for the kernel output, if I am using a custom built 2.6.16.2 kernel,
I would NOT want to go back to a generic 2.4.32, would I?

Don't let people scare you. Backup your system and try some things. If
this is a machine that you cannot afford to mess up, and it is working
fine, leave it alone until you learn more. If it's just a box you play
around with, go for it!

You are going to have to make your own decisions. Read about those apps
and see what they do.

You do make a good point.

Yes, that's a very good point. I do it the way I do because... that's ME. If the system you have running is for learning, not your every day PC, then play around and if you kill it, try to fix it. That's the beauty of Linux.. You are in control. None of us are saying "don't ask any questions, just figure it out your self" because that's not the movement behind linux. Ask questions because I can tell you that there's a lot of people willing to help another to learn. I put in my $0.02 to lend a hand as others have. Just have fun and learn.

-G