Slackware - InstallationThis forum is for the discussion of installation issues with Slackware.
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First, bear in mind that Slackware is designed as a whole and doesn't provide automatic dependencies resolution, so if you do a minimal install sooner or later some software won't work until you install its dependencies, and you'll have to figure out yourself what packages are needed.
This is why we recommend that newcomers make a full installation.
If you still want a minimal install, to give you a sound advice on what you should install first, we need to know how you want to use your system: what you are going to do with it, if you need a windows manager or a desktop and which one, etc.
There is no official Slackware installer without the packages, but you can use an unofficial Slint installation ISO image that weighs at most 44M, see http://slint.fr/en/installer.html, that you can write on a DVD or on an USB stick. After booting the installation media, when asked choose as source of packages an ftp or http server. You'll be able to choose the packages you want either as series or cherry picking as in the genuine Slackware installer (but that can take a lot of time :-).
Last edited by Didier Spaier; 06-03-2014 at 06:31 PM.
As a bonus, you will be able to use Spanish (Latin America) during installation, just press F3 after you see the greeting screen. Diantre who did most of the translation lives in Costa Rica
Last edited by Didier Spaier; 06-04-2014 at 12:01 AM.
From the shell you can use iwconfig to set essid and key, ifconfig wlan0 up, dhcpcd wlan0, and WiFi should work.
No, iwconfig is shipped neither in Slint nor in Slackware installers.
So, using wifi during installation is not possible (but if you install in a virtual machine as then the installer will benefit of the wireless connection of the host system as if it were a wired one).
I could have a look at how add such a feature in Slint installer in the future but don't hold your breath, especially considering that we have to stay close to the genuine Slackware installer as we wish that some day it will replace it.
Last edited by Didier Spaier; 06-04-2014 at 02:28 AM.
It's not something I recommend, but it is entirely possible to wrangle a proper Slackware install from Salix OS. This obviously begs the question of why you would want to do it, especially given that I have just said that I do not recommend it. There are a few reasons:
Slackware does not have a downloadable CD-sized installer. The only official installer for Slackware is a DVD image. There are ways to do network installs and so on, but if you are looking for a quick way to download 700mb or less of data, put it onto a cd-r, and install the world's greatest Linux distribution, then Salix OS will get you 92% of the way there.
On a related note, older computers may not have a DVD-ROM drive. You may actually need a CD installer.
Slackware's default install is big. If you are lazy and want to get a fairly minimal, yet sensible, desktop install then you might as well let someone else pick through tag files and dependencies for you. This is, of course, what the Salix maintainers have done, so by installing Salix OS you're utilizing their hard work.
You might be nervous to try Slackware's vanilla install and prefer the way Salix OS puts their distribution together.
There are also plenty of reasons not to try this.
Most easy-to-use build scripts for extra applications assume that you are using a stock install of Slackware. They don't warn you of packages that you must have installed that would be on a stock Slackware system because they consider Slackware the safe baseline.
There could be all kinds of hidden surprises in Salix OS, if you're used to stock Slack. Just little things that you don't think about until you need something, spend an hour trying to figure out why it isn't working, and then finally realize that Salix OS quietly left that bit out...
Slackware support channels (including, realistically, myself) assume that you have a full install of Slackware. If you report an issue, then we assume that Slackware has been installed fully and correctly, or else every time we troubleshoot we'd all need to start from the very beginning.
You might find that Slackware's vanilla versions of upstream packages is exactly what you've always wanted in a Linux distro (and it is, believe me) and that Salix's curated approach is not ideal for your workflow.
In other words, don't try this just because you like the logo of Salix, or you think it uses prettier colours than Slackware. Do this if you have to due to hardware or bandwidth limitations. Otherwise, just install Slackware and modify it to your liking. Trust me, it's worth it.
But in a pinch, this'll work:
As for myself, I found an old computer that had no DVD drive and refused to boot from an external USB DVD drive; I needed to get Slackware onto it quickly and without too much effort. So I found Salix OS's cd-sized installer and minimal-yet-usable desktop perfect for my needs on that box. What follows are the steps you will want to take to "finish" the install so that you end up with a "real" Slackware install.
I chose Salix OS because they have stated they are dedicated to being fully compatible with Slackware. To my knowledge, other Slackware derivatives, such as Zenwalk, do not guarantee this.
The Install
The Salix OS install is a simplified version of the Slackware installer. It is quicker for its reduced options, and also more guided and even offers a fully automated installer that does everything for you. But as long as you read the screens, the process is very well documented and you should have no problem with it. If you've never installed Slackware at all before, then check out my howto on Installing Slackware.
When asked to select an installation mode, you should choose to do the Full install.
A mini ISO image of about 40MB (I created these for several versions of Slackware) which you can burn to a creditcard-sized CDROM to boot, and install packages from an NFS server or local hard disk.
slackware-mini-install.iso
==========================
If you're planning to install Slackware using packages on a local hard disk partition, or from a NFS/HTTP/FTP server, you don't need a full-blown CDROM to boot from. This mini-ISO image of less than 40MB in size contains everything to let you do the above, and nothing more than that. The script that was used to create the ISO image can be found here: http://www.slackware.com/~alien/tool...ate_miniiso.sh
Slint installer allows you to use your prefered language during installation, and add translated administration tools and manual pages to Slackware.
To create a hybrid ISO for a Slackware install.
Quote:
If you're planning to install Slackware using packages on a local hard disk partition, or from a NFS/HTTP/FTP server, you don't need a full-blown CDROM to boot from. This mini-ISO image of less than 40MB in size contains everything to let you do the above, and nothing more than that. The script that was used to create the ISO image can be found here: http://www.slackware.com/~alien/tool...ate_miniiso.sh
Well, there are differences between the content of Slint installer's iso and mini-iso provided by alienBOB (who by the way suggested me to provide Slint installers in the form of mini-isos, thanks Eric , but not that big.
Main differences are that the installers included in Slint ISO images are polyglot, and that these images install localized scripts and man pages in addition to the en_US genuine ones and are hybrid (allow to boot off CD/DVD and USB sticks as well), but this put aside the content and features are pretty similar. (And you can make Eric's mini-iso images hybrid with the isohybrid command as well).
So you can use indifferently a slint ISO image or a slackware-mini-install-iso for the same Slackware edition. The results and features should be identical for folks using US English during the installation.
Last edited by Didier Spaier; 06-06-2014 at 05:01 PM.
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, but not that big.
