Found this on DistroWatch, but not yet on slackware.org:

"2009-08-06
NEW • Development Release: Slackware Linux 13.0 RC2 slackware
Patrick Volkerding has announced that Slackware "current", the distribution's development branch, has reached release candidate 2 status: "Hi folks! We're going to call this set of updates RC2. There are still README files to be handled (that's the nature of documentation, I guess), as well as some other things remaining on the TODO list, but X seems pretty stable now, and it seems like a release soon would be in order so that we can march right back into development territory with -current again soon. Enjoy, and let us know about any problems you run into!" Find more information in the changelog. Slackware Linux 13.0 RC2 comes with Linux kernel 2.6.29.6, GCC 4.3.3, X.Org Server 1.6.3 and KDE 4.2.4. As always, there are no official ISO images to download, but those interested in helping with last-minute testing can get these unofficial installation DVDs and upgrade to RC2 with slackpkg: slackware-current-04_Aug_2009-DVD.iso (1,743MB, MD5), slackware64-current-04_Aug_2009-DVD.iso (1,678MB, MD5)."

Wow....it's getting close! Have -current on one hd....guess I'll just keep that going along and install the official Slackware 13 on my other hd when it arrives

From the notes in the changelog regarding QT, it appears KDE 4.3 will not make it in. This isn't really a surprise but, while I'm not really a fan of KDE4, I wonder why Slackware is choosing to stick with 4.2.4 when 4.3 supposedly contains so many bug fixes. Maybe it's a toss-up between a "stable" older version and a .0 release of the next incantation?

I be curious to hear some thoughts as to what went into the decision. Without shipping Gnome, I would think getting KDE 4.3 into the next release might be desirable for Slackware. Was 4.3 too flakey to consider it an improvement over 4.2.4? Or was it more like sticking with the devil you know rather than taking a chance with the devil you don't know.

Not bitchin', just curious.

i think this is the answer.

KDE 4.3 will have new dependencies and lots of new codes which *may* break things, so with little time to test, i think it's too risky to put KDE 4.3 on -Current

Like Pat said, he will see about further changes on Qt and also KDE 4.3 on the next Slackware-Current after 13.0 has been released

By the same token then, why did Slackware upgrade to mesa 7.5.0 instead of waiting for 7.5.1? Even the mesa3d page suggests waiting for 7.5.1 if you want a more stable solution.

Hi,

From the changelog this mourning;

Good news to see this happening, a little bit of feedback from my most recent (last night) upgrade from slack 12.2 to -current:
- xz is not recognized (yet) as one of the tools required to upgrade; this broke my slackpkg upgrade-all; It would see tar, pkgtools and ... (damn, goldfish memory)
- a manual "slackpkg install xz" fixed it, still a sad amount of gigabytes downloaded just to see upgrade fail. (ye, I went slackpkg upgrade-all and went to bed
- kde does not seem to install completely; this got fixed with a "slackpkg install kde"

Then again; since the availability of 64 bits, I assume I'll be going for a full re-install anyway, but still; I love the way upgrades used to go very smooth; and have been a Slacker since September 1995, so have seen a few upgrades in the mean time ;-) Only once did it go wrong, and that was truly wholly my own stupid mistake, following only half of the upgrade guidelines, thinking I had done those...

YDIW. See the slackpkg manual page for how to upgrade the distribution (as 12.2 to -current is classified as a complete upgrade of the OS). More importantly, and what the slackpkg manual page does not and can not cover (as it's dependent upon the specific changes from one stable release to the next), you have to upgrade a few parts of the system *first* before kicking off the global upgrade process.

Upgrading to -current is NOT something that "you just do" - you either follow the -current tree from the beginning (so that you see the changes incrementally as they occur) or you wait for it to become the next stable release (13.0 in this case) and follow the UPGRADE.TXT for it.

Because the (unknown) bugs in mesa-7.5.0 are acceptable compared to the (known) bugs in 7.4.x. In other words, 7.5.0 actually *works* in all of our tests and for virtually everyone else who's tested it; we can't say that for the old combination with mesa-7.4.x.

well
this is good
stable or not it's going in the machine

I'll see if something breaks...

Here we go... Thanks.

See: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...de-4.3-745629/

I admit that I have mixed feelings about KDE 4.2.4 in Slackware 13. It's obvious from testing applications that I will not be able to use any of the desktop effects. There are still too many problems with applications. One of the worst is VirtualBox and I use that a lot. When I disable the desktop effects it is almost as reliable as KDE 3.5 but I'm not sure if I like the new user interface. I'm willing to give it a try.

I have no complaints with Slackware. My criticism is for KDE. It seems the developers never finish one thing before they go off in another direction. I was very impressed with KDE 3.5 but the features of the KDE 4 versions have never been defined long enough to be completed and debugged. I don't doubt that a lot of work will be required to maintain KDE 4.2.4 in Slackware. That is one of my reasons for using Slackware. At some point one has to stop trying to add more bells and whistles and just focus on making everything work. Slackware is a good example of keeping that balance right. Maintaining software isn't as glorious as showing off new features, but maintaining solid releases is what makes Slackware so valuable. Unfortunately KDE has never settled down long enough to pick any one version that is completely solid. Even if I don't like everything about KDE 4.2.4 I will probably upgrade to Slackware 13. There is so much else to like about Slackware that I can live with some KDE problems. Really most of the things that I have problems with are new features (compared to KDE 3.5). I can simply disable them. I am a little disappointed but I don't really need all the eye candy.

Slackware 13 RC1 already impressed me with being very solid. I probably won't install RC2 but I have no doubt it will be another step towards a great Slackware 13 release. I appreciate the extra work required to include KDE 4.2.4 because it implies a commitment to maintain a well defined set of KDE features even when the folks at KDE might have moved on to something else.

Erik_FL,
Very well said.
Thanks.