i don't know what it is about slackware... i was a mandrake user before trying it out. i was actually a little afraid of "taking the step" to using slackware due to it's reputation as a "install it yourselfer".

but once i gave it a shot, and went thru the not-so-deep learning curve, i found i liked the extra amount of control you got from being much closer to the system and not hiding or depending on so many package management systems that try to automate the installation process for you. among the many benefits were the ability to resolve, by hand, anything that was missing and i found that slackware perfers you to compile things from scratch. seems rather a crude way of doing things, but it proved to be easier to do than expected.

(for some strange reason, i'm thinking about my last girlfriend as i type this. as i left her in order to spend more time fooling around with linux... sad but true!)

(but boy how i wish i had joanne back.... so much easier to get along with than the jenny object)

cheers

- perry



ps.
i wonder... what are the chances that "jennifer" is just a computer program gone out of control... ...it boggles the mind.

[Not a flamewar] ... that's like walking by the police station and yelling "I didn't just kill someone, I swear, I didn't", then running off ...

I like Debian, can't say I don't it is stable has an awesome repo, and I like the logo. I choose slack over and above all because it just feels right for me.
Just like choosing a car, sit down, buckle in and test drive. So I guess I like Slackware because it has that new car smell. :]

Seriously though, i have been using linux for about 5 years now, I have tried a TON of flavors, they stay on my hard disks for maybe a month max and then get wiped off, yet slack always remains.

Really though, if you have waining faith you should consult Bob he will point you back to the church.

Why did this thread resurface after more than a year being dormant?

Oh well.

I don't think faith should have anything to do with Linux in general or Slackware in particular. In my ideal world, software decisions would be mostly rational. That's not always the case -- Microsoft's overly-competitive tactics have bothered me for years -- but basically software choice should depend on the answers to a few questions:

1. Does this software meet my needs?
2. Is it stable?
3. Would I enjoy using it(do I accept the underlying philosophy of the software)?
4. Do the positives of the software outweigh its negatives?

If the answers to those questions are all yes, then I'm willing to put up with a steep learning curve or other inconveniences. I did it for Photoshop and Illustrator. I'm doing it for Slackware and Emacs (neither of which have a terrible learning curve).

I tried Ubuntu and just didn't like the way it felt -- I didn't enjoy using it. I really didn't like that I couldn't simply log in as root to do administrative chores. The Ubuntu forums had instructions for doing that, but they warned that bypassing sudo would break the GUI configuration tools.

I'm lukewarm on OpenSUSE 10.2, which I have installed on my laptop. The installation identified and automatically configured pretty much everything correctly. I was also pretty quickly able to install the Madwifi drivers for my PCMCIA wireless card. But now that things are up and running, I'm finding it harder to configure that OS to my liking. Things are easier with Slackware 11 on my desktop computer.

I'm particularly thrilled with the Slackbuilds repository at Slackbuilds.org. There is something truly satisfying about building Slackware packages from source, but with community support.

Oh dear Lord!

Regards,

-Drew

I haven't read the whole conversation yet, but this point struck me. I agree whole heartedly, the slackware site is very simple and invites you to explore it. Its very sensibly set out and gives a clean solid appearance which is echoed throughout the distrobution. Other distros websites are horrible, try and find the page with the link to the daliy testing snap shots for debian, it always takes me a google to find. Slackware hmm... theres the get slack page.

This is the same approach that draws me to freeBSD, very simple very logical website everything is open, and you don't have the feeling like theres something deeper there, every fact is available and easy to see, unlike the other BSD's sites (namely netBSD, i can't find an iso for the beta 4 release anywhere[powerpc])

I know you should judge a book by its cover, but from the distrobutions ive used, the website seems to echo the structure of either the disto or the developers behind it. Debian's site is very confusing and dis organised, slackware.com is very focused and keeps to a true coherant design.

I think I've muddled my points slgihtly, but as i read The mythical-man month(just found it in my local library) Slackware's design makes much more sense and is more practical.

As a note im using debian, while i wait for the release of Slackware 12.

Still a newbie. However, there is a valid reason why I prefer Slackware - I can compile from source and it (nearly) always works. I have not found that to be true of any other distro, although that may be my fault. Compiling from source is important when using the type of obscure ham radio and other programs that I like to use. Of course most, but not all, of them available on Debian.

I'm just passing through. After installing GoblinX on a spare partition, I wanted to try out Slackware 12 RC1. (Easy to install; could take weeks to configure the way you like. If there are bugs, they're hardly apparent.) It's interesting to see what Slackware lovers have to say.

Never mind that Debian's my distro of choice. I don't get the derogatory attitude toward RMS expressed in this thread. Obviously, if you didn't have Stallman, you wouldn't have Linux as you know it, many of its commonly-used utilities, or the GPL v2. Many people think Bill Gates is a capitalist hero. You like his product better?

No, thanks. If it was one or two programs I really wanted to have, that weren't in the repos, OK. If there's a whole lot of them (Beryl, for example), no. Debian's package management system and its huge repository of precompiled software is one of the best things about it, IMHO.

That reminds me of a recent ars technica article about PC-BSD where the author mentioned having to "construct a sed substitution to change the video driver from 'nv' to 'vesa' " in order to get X to run. That's something I wouldn't know how to do, but sure wish I did. (It also reminds me of many "GNOME vs. KDE" arguments.)

That way, when we do judge you, we'll be a mile away from you, and we'll have your shoes.

Ultimately, as Randux said above, you get to try both Debian and Slackware (and whatever else catches your fancy) and make up your own mind.

Responding to the resurrected abyss.

Think slackware and debian both have their strengths. I wouldn't say either debian or slackware is the better of the two. The only reason I chose slackware was because its initial install is closer than any other distro that I have tried to what I like to run.

I can configure debian and gentoo like i want but it takes a lot longer. Thats really the only reason I don't really use any other distro seriously other than to try them out.

As far as package management, I am a great package manager. Beryl's not available for slackware? The source for beryl is no longer available? Its working perfectly on mine so when did that happen . My system is as up to date and as secure as i want. Only problem I have had with other distros is borked repository installs where you have no idea whats going on. Thats why I have chosen to manage them myself. If i bork it, its usually no more than a 1 min repair.

Main distro prefs:

Main is slackware, Debian, but gentoo is proving to be interesting as well.

Debian's "politics" certainly don't get in the way of the distribution, but the "linux press" tends to blow it way out of proportion. Remember, Debian has a huge developer base, so it's only natural you're going to see some arguments.

As for Slackware's package management, slapt-get and gslapt are continuing to improve and are real easy to set up. Basically, all they do is fetch the package and install it using Slackware's built in tools, so you don't have to worry about it corrupting the system.

Does this work for wives,too?

Might give slackware a shot then.