Some thoughts for Slackware 13.2/14
 

I have some thoughts from this weekend when I installed a couple of PCs with 13.1. The installer works brilliantly, and no problems, but I see some little things that might be done better in a new version, especially for new users to Slackware.
This might be some input for the next version of Slackware(13.2/14?)::

1. Slackware should brand itself more, at least in KDE Desktop. There should be a Slackware wallpaper when you login in the first time, would look much cooler than some KDE standard wallpaper. Maybe something like this:

http://www.mononeurona.org/photos/view/aarkerio/412

2. The installer should ask if you want to add a user account after you have have made a root account. This account should get the standard permissions the user need to get up and running.

3. When the user log in there could be a README file at the Desktop like the one in the root mailbox, as well as icons for the DVD, CDrom, printer, pkgtool and File Manager.

4. In KDE there should not be activated anything like Akonadi which starts indexing at the first login. This makes older PCs horrendously slow. This can be an option to install or activate afterwards when everything is up and running.

Anynmore input to this?

Just adding my current thoughts while I read your post...

1. Not sure it's really necessary, but why not. Personaly I like Tux with the pipe.

2. This is mandatory if there is an installer. At least according to the little thing I am. ;-)

3. Not sure for the icons. Are there any default icons in KDE? I'm not using anymore. But I like your idea about the README. I enjoyed to have a mail from Pat when I logged the first time as root.

4. This is why I gave up KDE. I think it's becoming to much complex for no real reason.

But I am sure other people will disagree with me ;-)

1. Slackware does not modify unnecessarily from stock.
2. It's simple enough to use adduser. Just hit the UP arrow to easily select the most common groups. This is actually one of the best features of Slackware.
3. No opinion
4. See 1.

Hi,

I don't expect 'PV & Team' to custom things of this sort. Especially since a user can modify Slackware to suit. 'KISS' is the Slackware way.

"Wisdom is only found in truth."-Goethe


:hattip:

If you are running an older PC then I suggest that you run a different DE/WM. I am very happy with XFce on my main box and Fluxbox runs very well on my oldest Slackware unit.
Regarding your other observations. Slackware is designed to stay out of your way; our distro does not presume to know what you want. We are very lucky that Slackware allows us to precisely configure our systems to meet our individual needs. I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

1. I could go for an official Slackware wallpaper.

2. I like it the way it is. On my 1st boot I nav to a partition/folder where I keep my packages
and install multi-libs, my packages, VirtualBox, nvidia driver.
Then I run
"removepkg akonadi" (eliminating 4.)
and
"adduser".
If I had to add a user account during the install the "vboxusers" would not exist and therefore I would have to go back to edit the user account.

3. Icons if wanted can be set up by the user.

4. See 2.

I like the installer the way it is, but a Flashy Slackware wallpaper would be cool.

Opinions and experiences vary. I'm having great luck running KDE 4.4 in Slackware 13.1 on my Pentium III laptop -- with Strigi, Nepomuk, and Akonadi running. XFCE is only marginally faster on the same hardware, though it is a nice DE.

Don't write off KDE for older hardware.

Having said that, I do with the KDE folks would turn off the file indexing and semantic desktop features by default.

But that's something that needs to happen upstream, not at the Slackware level.

Regards,

Is there anybody that uses Slackware as their first Linux experience?
That would be a lot of up front reading for sure. I would hope that by the time people try Slackware, they already have enough Linux experience to add a user and use startx.

Branding should be left up to the users. Maybe if somebody really wants to, they can create a Slackware branding site with packages to install.

As for the installer, I like that the installer doesn't make any assumptions... but I've outgrown the capabilities of it and I also don't think it should have the things that I do. Salix tried to add things to the installer and it doesn't quite work right... but that was a while ago.

Either way, partitioning is still left up to the user outside the installer and, rightfully so, luks with or without encryption is outside the installer as well. Users should rightfully be out side the installer as users are not 'installed' and initrd images have to be processed then lilo needs to run again...

Now what about the person that uses a usb key to auto unlock an encrypted partition but would still like to use a usb keyboard for entering a password. I wouldn't expect the installer to get all that right. But then again, there could also be a blank space for entering in extra modules.

The last two are kind of the same note. If Slackware makes no assumptions about installing, why is it going to configure your desktop? At this point, why don't they a customized fluxbox menu? At least that would be more useful than the one that gets packaged with fluxbox.

I vote to not change anything - keep it just as it is. There are plenty of other distros that have flashy boot graphics and such. I like how slackware is non-branded. I hate the distros that have their logos plastered every where. Let' just keep to the natural flavor as intended by the writers of the software and leave customization up to the user.

Akonadi isn't the file indexer, Strigi is.

first and only
 

"Is there anybody that uses Slackware as their first Linux experience?"

Slackware was my first and only love since 1996

John

don't know hoe to quote yet. LOL

I agree with keeping Slackware pure and as it is. On the other side it is also important to keep KDE from slowing down the box at first login. Running a heavy indexing at first login will give an impression that everything is slow. Using another Window Manager is of course an option, but that does not suit everyone.

There could also be some more information in the installer after the root user is created, f.ex a question if you want to add a user. I am an experienced user, so this is easy for me, but this can be confusing for a new user or someone migrating from another distro. As for the branding just a teeny icon in the right corner or something would help. As well as a readme file that is somewhat easier to find.

This should not be necessary if one "reads" the documentation before installing. :D

Agreed (see above), but I think that's a better comment for the KDE developers, not the Slackware developers. File a bug report or send a suggestion to them.

More to the point: a default Slackware installation doesn't boot into into X. Wouldn't instructions for adding users be better in the e-mail from Pat that shows up in one's first log in with a new Slackware install?

It's true that people often miss reading the information that's available (I've done it myself from time to time), but I'm not sure additional documentation in yet another place is the answer.

It may not be a perfect solution, but people doing a web search on "adding users in Slackware" brings up this page from Slackware.com. :cool:

Those are some pretty good instructions.

Regards,

Hi,

There's more than enough documentation for Slackware. Look at the install media for this information;

Slackbook
Slackware-HOWTO
ANNOUNCE.13_1
CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT
README.TXT
RELEASE_NOTES
UPGRADE.TXT
:hattip:

My first distro was Slackware (I was a lot younger back then). Granted, my dad was holding my hand pretty much all the time, but that was back in the days when we couldn't simply google for "add user Slackware" and "start X Slackware". Looking back, I don't see a distribution that could have provided me with more structured and thorough learning experience. IMHO, the same is true for people who wish to learn GNU/Linux system today.

What you say about branding, in my mind also applies to initial configuration. It would be trivial to repackage Slackware with a post-install script that does these and other things for a user, but why? adduser is a pleasure to use, and the days of writing X configuration file by hand are long gone.

If there are questions/suggestions for the way KDE behaves by default, you should turn to the KDE development team.
They decide what the defaults are in there software. Slackware just installs the software.

@ KDE
besides doesn't KDE even warn you it start indexing files if you don't already have a .KDE directory?

Slackware should always be 'Vanilla' - it would be a good idea for a website to host custom-slack packages that could contain scripts, SlackBuild packages and theming all rolled up with one or more 'makepkg' so they could easily be 'installpkg' or 'removepkg'.

examples are:
> system-wide thunar custom-actions
> system-wide applications defaults
> fluxbox theming
> additional gtk styles/icons (shiki & shiki-colours)
> /etc/skel theming so new users auto-magically have things like .bashrc, .Xmodmap, well-known homedirs (~/Documents, ~/Downloads, ~/Pictures, ~/Projects, ~/Music, ~/Videos)

all easily maintained with a simple installpkg/removepkg.

They should only be additional scripts/packages and compatible with a full install (less [kdei] language pack's) without changing anything else in my experience.

I do this with every new slack install.

This works great with things like fluxbox theming and fluxbox menu - saves me hours (days?) doing this with any new slack version - obviously being aware of prebuilt packages and potential issues (ndiswrapper built to specific kernel as an example).

I sure did. It was years ago (ca. 1999) and I'm still very glad I did. I'm still learning lots of things. :)

me too, back in march 1994.

I've read this whole thread and agree with the "vanilla" principle of Slackware.
IMHO it is an "unsaid convention" to do a full install with Slackware (like I did in most cases) only skipping the kdei-series.
But refering to KDE, I'd like to have the packages arranged in a way, that I can see which of them are necessary to get a basic KDE running.
With Gentoo I can build a package named "kdebase-meta" which results in a basic installation of KDE. I find this a very useful approach.

Markus

You should realize that Slackware has been around a while and there are many people that have gotten started with Slackware. But then reading the intent of the comment others would see that the comment was probably directed at new users in the 'now' sense and not directed at those who are pre 11.0 users. And stating that you will see that any arbitrary number stated, be it version or year, somebody will come forward stating that they got started using linux with Slackware 13.2. Not to say that 'Is there anybody" isn't a real question but an arbitrary statement to start a long rant about 4 questions that every Slacker loves to debunk even thou they were valid points that work for any other distro.

There are only so many different ways one can state "Not in my house." which is to say "Not in the house that was built for me and love to claim as mine" through some form of possession of donation or that precious amount of time spent downloading and installing.

Yes and I would only add BACK in the installer. I missed that back when I was starting with linux.

Hmm... As a matter of fact, the "Back" button in the install wizard is a great idea... ;)
But, there is allways a "but" ;)

You can allways step into the specified part of install wizard running once again setup script before final reboot ;)