what do you use slack for?
 

... web server? desktop? development? home plaything? at work?

All of the above :-)

amazing...

so what kind of thing do you use it at work for?

Work is home is play :)
I do a bit of web design on the side and some tech work for some friends with small bussinesses.

I use Slack for everything a computer can be used for.

Web/ftp/samba/irc/rtcw servers

Desktop, and learning of course! No other distro i used made me learn so much as Slack did.
-NSKL

(2) Slackware Desktops 1 at home 1 at the office
(2) Slackware Laptops again 1/home 1/office

At the office we also run.
1. Apache/Postgresql webserver, Slackware 7.0 kernel 2.2.15
2. Apache/MySQL web-application server - Slackware 8.0 / 2.4.14
3. Apache Webmail box - Slackware 8.0 / 2.4.17
4. Hylafax Fax server - Slackware 7.1 / 2.2.19
5. qmail/courierIMAP - Slackware 8.0 / 2.4.18-grsecurity
6. primary nameserver - Slackware 7.0 / 2.2.15 - 378 days uptime as of 06/20/02
7. secondary nameserver - Slackware 7.0 / 2.2.15
8. NFS Backup Machine - Slackware 8.0 / 2.4.9
9. Firewall/VPN - Slackware 8.0 / 2.4.18-grsecurity+selinux
10. Shell Box - Slackware 8.0-pre2 / 2.4.18-grsecurity
11. Timeclock/Mysql - Slackware 7.1 / 2.2.19

Everything :)

ok, i'm confused....

tundra.... are you implying that you don't think slackware is a real distribution?? you can do absolutely everything redhat or suse can do....

no kewp. i'm a slacker too. no other implications except i'm just curious because i only have one box at home and i use it as a desktop/development box only. i've never set up a server for anything as yet. i wanted to know the reality of what people really used slack for. (after all, rh and mandy gets enough publicity on that, so i don't have to find out about them)

slack for everything that U can think of

yes i know. the point of my question is not what it can be used for, but what it is actually used for by people who actually use it. people in LQ, at least.

i'm still failing to see why any distinction is needed... :confused:

what's it to you kewp? the question in this thread is mine. if you can poll for stuff like "what's your favorite console" and "what's your favorite browser", surely this question is legitimate enough.

btw, have a look at the thread again. never in any post did i say the distinction was NEEDED. did you see somewhere that "i'm just curious" ?

or has this forum become a place where you can't ask this type of question?

and the distinction was made between "what it can do" as opposed to "what it is currently used for" means a lot to me in this world where things "in potentia" are slightly more meaningless than things in actuality.

in any case, slack has its own vociferous crowd.

I'm currently using Slackware as a desktop system. I do more web browsing than anything else these days.

everything
 

I use Slackware for basically everything you normally uses a PC or server for: shell & GUI desktop for file management and Internet usage (email & listservs/NNTP, IRC & IM & audio/video chat, web browser), mathematics & computer programming (including for SlackBuilds.org) & graphics & art, audio & music, reading & writing, SSH server, FTP server, webserver... even used to use it as a multiplayer roguelike game server, and IRC server (might again) and looked into using it as a small Usenet peer for integrating FUDForum to several news-/discussion-groups. I use Slackware because it's the only remaining major GNU/Linux that's strictly UNIX-like while all others (even Devuan, Gentoo, etc.) deviated at least a little from being strictly UNIX-like, and I started with *BSD UNIX variants in college (when official documentation still called them UNIX)... they also had Slackware in the computer laboratory and we learned to administer/install and program on these.

I do design work with Krita, Inkscape and GIMP, and make music as a hobby with Ardour and plugins. Also maintain some SlackBuilds and write blog posts with Vim and shell scripts. So yeah, mainly desktop usage, but Slackware is the only distro that sports a new enough GLIBC and kernel while being stable.

-- ltlnx

I use Slackware for my computing needs. Slackware became my primary distro in 2004(version 10.0). I was compelled to move away from Red Hat after they moved to RHEL after Red Hat 9 (Fedora Core was cool).

Wow! No interest in +20 years and then the thread explodes again!

:D

A zombie that has back to life :)

Primary desktop presently, although I've used it for firewalls and on laptops in the past.

Slackware runs my web server (and has since the OP posted), it runs my laptop where I dev slackbuilds for various softwares. It runs my desktop, I run Slackware in various VMs, in my pinebook pro, and umm just about everywhere. Multiple installs, multiple systems, it’s stable, it makes sense, and I don’t have to wonder if an update will break it because it’s simple to fix if it did.

For a small-to-medium-size business, I run an on-premises Slackware 15.0 node that hosts DHCP, DNS, and NTP service for devices on the network, plus a central SYSLOG server, an SNMP trap receiver, and a Zabbix server.

Then I personally "rent" a Slackware 15.0 node from one of the big hosting companies. It hosts HTTP(S) and SMTP/IMAP service for several websites, including one WordPress site but mostly it's just hand-crafted HTML, CSS, and CGI. Plus I run an Xvnc desktop there and secure-tunnel it to a TigerVNC client where I am. On the desktop I run shells for desktop coding and publishing, a Chrome browser, Mutt and Hexchat, that sort of thing.

I tend to use Vim to code, and Noweb/LaTex to publish.

Desktop, work, fun, business needs----it's even on my wife's laptop, need I say more. :)

Everything. Have it installed on my desktop as well as laptop. Use-cases range from gaming to stock market trading.

I only use Slackware for OS. The only exception is my phone.
Web server, mail server etc etc…

I use it almost exclusively on my main desktop computer. I have LFS on the machine too but only because it's fun to build; I used to use it a lot, but I don't any more because useful applications have become too difficult to build from source nowadays.

I have AntiX on my laptop, mainly because I have a friend who uses it and I sometimes need to troubleshoot for her. I don't often use that machine.

I use Slackware in a Linode VPS to host the website slint.fr, my email server and a few other stuff like a murmur server and a very outdated blog. I also use Slackware as a base to develop Slint.

In my severely crowded room I have seven machines running primarily Slackware as the default including an ARM device, a RockPro64, running Aarch64Slackware (which rarely but sometimes can boot a handful of other systems). The RockPro64 ARM device is primarily a network attached backup device but will likely expand duties in the future. I did attempt to employ it as a quick and simple oscilloscope but the onboard audio system cannot handle the work, primarily due to input problems.

The remaining 6, all PCs, are used as

1) Digital Audio Workstation
2) Video and graphics recording and editing
3) Electronic Schematic and PCB creation and editing
4) CAD creation and editing
5) Gaming
and
6) Common Desktop functions (email and message boards, word processing, web work and play, phone tethering, video conferencing, etc)

I also multiboot numerous systems from time to time but only for testing purposes to "keep my hand in play".

Daily desktop driver for my daily work as a translator and lawyer...

lets see, mostly for work
server roles
web/cgi-bin, mysql, rsync, samba, nfs (slack 14.1 and 15.0)

development role 14.1 as a VMWare guest on my windows desktop, using KDevelop and regular make

I have a 15.0 VMWare guest as well, but for some reason I've not fussed with it yet, X won't resize to use my full screen like the 14.1 one does. Its on a 32" screen so its kinda a big loss. Probably need to update vmware tools or something. Overall not critical, as my production target for the development role is a slackware 14.1 machine; though I have plans to update the production machine to 15.1 on new(er) hardware once we get that release, so eventually I'll want to make that work right.

I also have a 15.0 desktop machine that sees light work, browsing, and also has a couple 8TB drives for backup purposes. (rsync/samba)

Slackware is my home machine. I try to move work stuff to Slackware using wine.

Have fun in networking with Slack (many configs here), recently turned one into an "AP" with hostapd and your android phone can reach the net..

My desktop and laptop (15.0 and -current, respectively) are mostly used for the same tasks: general purpose computing, a bit of coding, and running a number of UNIX and UNIX-like virtual machines for testing things. I also recently installed 15.0 with a patched kernel to a Surface tablet for automation and Krita at work (it makes for a great virtual whiteboard).