Greetz
I don't know what it is in the human psyche that makes us feel rejected and abandoned when "one of the crew jumps ship" but I have to admit that it kind of does.... initially. In this case I just had to ask myself "to what advantage?" since there is less difference between distros than there is between commercial loaves of bread. The essential difference between distros is package management and the trend today is "more like windows" for all distros except Slackware.

Frankly I don't want my Linux to do too much for me automatically especially if that means making single applications as or more important than the base system (risking it's overall integrity especially during application uninstalls)through auto-dependency resolution. Shoot! I don't want to cripple compiling from source even a little bit to satisfy all the hoops that those systems must create just to satisfy such package management.... and just what is so hard about Slack Builds ?

In short, I don't desire Free Windows. So really for those of you that do, instead of trying to change Slackware into being just another "also ran" distro mimicking Windows, all I can say is "See ya... hope it works for you". If the juice ain't worth the squeeze, why bother?

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I've given Gentoo a spin from time to time. Presently it looks very clean and stable, and I like many things about it. Unfortunately, I've often to deal with hardware that's a bit older, and compilation times are a no-no.

I've been always a Slackware fanboy although on recent years I've found Windows simpler to use for just getting the work done. Still the Slackware gave me the love towards hands-on approach. Currently I am working as chief sftware engineer and it is all about frameworks like it is about distros in the world of Linux. Some do more automation than others. So on the software field I've learned that with more hands on approach you have opportunity to write your own bugs while with more automated frameworks, you have to stick with those written by others

The effeciency mumbojumbo is crap bedause I've found that it always takes longer to figure out WHAT is needed to be done than to actually write it into program. So even if the manual programming takes a bit longer - the majority of time goes to analysing the requirements and figuring out the best architecture for the program.

Anyway Slackware is still in my heart and just recently upgraded one server from 12.1 to 13.37 It is so simple thing with those superb docs

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I'm switching to slackware today.... Go back to it man!

I forgot about the lack of SysV init scripting on Gentoo. Yes, not having the BSD style scripting files for configuration does make working with the system tricky if you've grown accustomed to it.

Good call. You've inspired me.

I'm going to try another install of Slackware...

I'll update this thread in another few years.

Gentoo...

Recently, I tried it out with the minimal installation disk, but found the complex installation rather problematic as few tools exist to generate default scripts, meaning most of it has to be handmade, and lack of up-to-dates to the handbook as well as the handbook having not enough information regarding the LILO bootloader and other aspects left me with an unbootable system when I rebooted and attempted to load the system for the first time.

The LiveDVD is a different beast altogether and portage is nice, but for a system it's a bit overly complex at times and too often a pain in the butt to get working correctly.

Lucky for me all I wasted was 30GB of Virtual Disk Space on VirtualBox.

Welcome back! Just in time, too - Slackware 14's coming together nicely.

Did you tire of waiting for a stage3 install to finish?

I did.

Slackware is now one of the few major distros not using that horrid Systemd isn't it? might have to investigate more closely.

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CRUX, Slackware, Void to name a few.

Wow, this thread started in 2002? Hahaha! Welcome back to Slackware (said JWJones, posting from his Funtoo ThinkPad )

Distros without systemd.

I'd take you up on that, but having used gentoo myself he may only be about half way through his first system compile in that time

Just kidding, i liked gentoo when i used it, in the early 2000's before i found slackware, it was my favorite distro.

oops didnt realize how old this thread was.

Necro-thredging at its finest. Heh-heh. No harm done.

I see you're running Debian Sid at the moment. I'm a huge Debian fan and run it from time to time. Wonderful distro.

I think Debian is great and I wish them all the best. I used it for a while and liked it a whole lot, just not as much as Slackware. I feel very comfortable suggesting Debian to GNU/Linux neophytes, saving Slackware for those who consent to learning some OS administration.