"Stuck in the 1990's" ?
 

Sometimes I really wonder what Slackware did to some folks to get such a bad press.

http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/34210/

Her comments are ridiculous; lack of security in Slackware?! She spends all her time tinkering with Slackware? Slackware is wonderful in that once you get it set up it runs perfectly without incident.

Ms caitlyn has always had a burr in her saddle over Slackware. Maybe her hairdresser or bartender knows why.

My experience with her comments is that she is always wrong - that bodes well for Slackware!

How did I know that the "some folks" was Caitlyn Martin? ;)

If you really don't know what Slackware did to her, read the following threads and follow the links you find. Have popcorn handy:

• Slackware Review 12.1
• www.slackware.com Website Down?

If something's gone bad here, it's the press, not Slackware.

I wouldn't care about that. Caitlyn Martin just doesn't like Slackware, although she was distro developer for over four years, for a distro based on Slackware.
The server outage last year somehow not only shattered her view of Slackware as a stable base for her distro, she also began to spread FUD about Slackware's death, for whatever reason. I think that she has done this instead of contacting PV to find out what actually is happening says all about the attitude of that person.

My personal opinion: The opinion of this person is totally irrelevant to me and I can only second your words:

While i mostly disagree with CM's comments again, i disagree more strongly that Slackware is a distribution to watch out for in 2013.
While Slackware is the best linux distribution, even today, it is true that is partly stuck in the 90's. It contains many applications, like xxgdb for example which haven't been touched since 1995, while at the same time lacking some modern applications/features most other distributions have had for years.
IMO this is the most important fact that prevents Slackware from reaching a wider user base which would lead to much better and more frequent press coverage.
It is a fact that Slackware today is a follower of every innovation or advancement that comes out of linux. While most things that happen today are leading towards Windows or Mac behaviour emulation, Slackware is eventually forced to incorporate some of them. Due to the fact that Slackware is diverging more and more from every other linux distribution, it makes it harder and harder to maintain, not to mention its slowly but gradually moving away from its roots, goals and philosophy, without it being entirely its fault.
That's why Slackware as it is now is not 'watch out' material, but the exact opposite.

Also Slackware has many minor bugs that for some reason don't get fixed, like conflicting files in packages or packages that don't get rebuilt when some gets changed in the distribution (eg. look at the /usr/share/hal/ directory)

I also disagree about Slackware being a distro to watch in 2013. But only because the most recent release was late in 2012 and we might well not get another one until 2014.

Given the devolutionary trend that seems to permeate modern OS/software design, being stuck in the 90s is something I look forward to. :)

I don't get the fuss over Caitlyn's comment on that thread. Caitlyn doesn't like Slackware, so what? You might have well just posted something along the lines as "someone on the Internet has a different opinion than me".

Slackware is great, I love it, but of course it isn't a distro to watch in 2013. Part of the reason people like Slackware is because radical changes aren't forced upon users, yet often times radical changes are what make you "one to watch".

Thank You Catilyn
 

I will immediately
su -
rm -rf
apt get install ubuntu
or maybe click the mouse 1000 times to install win8
This nearly 65 year old TRS-80 user certainly does not want to be stuck in the 90's


john

I did manage recently to run Slackware on a very old PC from the late 90s, I installed everything (I always do this) and even KDE loaded even though it was a 350Mhz PII system with 128MB RAM. It had a 160GB HDD and 2 CD-RW drives, but I installed it from USB drive. I had to use plop boot manager that was on a floppy I had to boot to the USB. I might go out and get some parts for a P2/P3 "franken-computer" and do more linux experiments with it.

I disagree with you, if there is no release then we watch the Slackware-current change log
:-)

+1 I used to read lxer for a while and agree about her comments there at least. I don't go there any more because the lxer site appears to be devoted mainly to Ubuntu and it's derivatives, so FUD about another distro is not surprising.