Okay, I got Slackware 10.2 installed on my computer and I just found out the unofficial port Slamd64. I'm thinking to moving to use it as it would give better performance as the current slackware edition. So my question is, what should I take in consideration before moving to use the Slamd64. Are there good package amounts, does they work good, any problems compared to Slackware etc...

I tried to find reviews of the Slamd64 but found only a few short ones. So what's your opinnion of the distro?

Good question, Zmyrgel!

For the most complete response of this nature, you should probably check out the slamd64 forum (forums.slamd64.com) and see what sort of bugs you're likely to come accross. In general, I have found it to be exactly what it says on the box: 64-bit version of Slackware.

It's not totally Slackware (hence the lack of "Official Port" status), since Slack needs to work on older hardware and be rock solid stable, while 64-bit hardware (x86_64) is still very new (compared to x86) so a lot of older code doesn't actually work on it, so Fred uses a lot of newer packages for x86_64 compatibility reasons.

There are some packages on linuxpackages.net for the x86_64 architecture, which will run on slamd64, but obviously there will be less packages generally for the architecture than for the 32-bit stuff. As for the core install packages - well, they're pretty much all there and those that aren't can often be made easily by hacking the .slackBuild scripts from the Slackware source disks.

I feel there are three major hurdles in moving to Slamd64:

1) The installer can still be a bit flakey on swap drives and formatting. In the last week I believe everything was updated heavily in -current (to fix this amongst other things), so your best bet is to make a set of Slamd64-current cds from that repository, and ignore the ISO downloads for 10.1/2.

2 & 3) Understanding the difference between mono-arch, bi-arch / x86 and x86_64. What they can do, what they can't do and how they interact. A lot of people get very lost when trying to move from one to the other and expecting it to work the same. Changing ./configure --prefix=/usr to ./configure --prefix=/usr --libdir=/usr/lib64 and messing with linker paths (LDFLAGS=-L/usr/lib64) aren't spelt out clearly enough for those used to "./configure && make && make install", especially when 32-bit compatibility libraries are installed. I personally keep my 32-bit libraries down to an absolute bare minimum and install everything I need to from source or with slackbuilds.

I think there are two points to be made in that last bullet point, but I can't seem to separate them enough to make it clear

Most of the time we get compilation errors on the slamd64 forums, that and driver issues ... but relatively few of those. Ok, I'm gonna stop waffling - go check out the forums and see if that helps and feel free to quiz me if I've not answered the question well =)

- Piete.

Where can I find the Slamd64 packages?

This would help me a lot as I have only one empty CD which I can burn the 1. installation disc.... hoping there won't be any errors.

Good post piete. I have to add that you probably won't notice much of a speed increase going from a x86 to a x86_64 distribution. There is a very small improvement, because of processor optimizations (just like when you compile software with '-march=i486 -mcpu=i686', rather than just '-march=i486'.

To win in the 64-bit area, you will need applications that do a lot of 64-bit int math. Most general-purpose applications don't. The primary exceptions are RSA encryption/decryption and Java when long ints are used (does not happen often either).

So, I'd say it is best to stay with tried and tested Slackware Linux from Pat, until he releases an official x86_64 Slackware.

It would be solid choice as I just installed Slamd64 but I can't boot into it at all. Screen goes all dark after I choose to boot into Linux from LILO. Doesn't give very positive image about Slamd64

I'll think to test the Slackware little more to check how it feels and if it's good I'm thinking on getting the SlackPack.
Btw, Does anyone have any experience about that book? Is it any good?
I just finished reading Linux System Administration - A Users's Guide by Marcel Cagné. Pretty educational book. Sadly I have to return it to school library so I'm going to need some own reference book to aid in my delving to linux.

Good points, GlowGlow. I'd like to add that I found booting and compiling faster under slamd64 (more GPRs than x86, iirc), additionally, the chip runs cooler.

Slamd64 is harder to use than Slackware, just because x86_64 hard is that much more complex than x86 - I'm sorry you've stalled on the install! If you want to give it a proper go, we'll need to know about your set up. bare.i is often the kernel you *don't* want to use in slamd64 because of all the obscure hardware that isn't in bare.i!

Use Slackware a while more until you're more comfortable with linux, then give slamd64 another shot ... imho the jump is worth it for those really wanting to learn about computers (at the architecture level), because you're exposed to a lot of errors that having a bi-arch system brings. For those who just want "something that works" and don't have time/inclination to mess around, stick with Slack.

Ok, I'm done - stick a fork in me =D

- Piete.

PS: I'm afraid I tend to learn by trial, error and googling so I can't help very much with the book department. I understand that http://www.slackbook.org/ is quite good, and you can have that as a pdf =)

Nah, I don't like PDF, I don't like reading from the screen compared to a normal book. I think I get the SlackPack continue with it and jump to Slamd64 or perhaps Gentoo when the support for 64-bit arch is greater than it is today. Thanks for your info for the matter.

It is a good book, and it is handy to have Slack on CDs (I have a subscription). As a bonus you support development of Slackware Linux .