As a returning Linux user I'm looking to get back into it! First a little background. I was using Slack Linux from its inception in 1993 until about 12 years ago when I switched to Gentoo, kinda lost interest in Linux due to burnout and moved to Windows permanently. My interest in Linux peaked again recently due to the nature of my work. Does anybody know if Slack is still going strong these days, or is it nearing the end of it's life cycle? Back in the day it used to be huge with a superbly active community. It was the in-thing. I understand there are a lot more distros out there these days, so would I do well to go for one of the popular distros or should I stick to Slack? Nostalgia tells me to come back to Slack but if there's much better distros out there I'm all ears. Cheers!

Welcome to the forums and welcome back to Linux. Slackware is alive and well.

Slack is actually in beta 14.2 Beta 2 right now 14.1 current

Trust me man, you don't want to return to Slack nowadays, it's practically a relic of the past. There are plenty of more customizable and user-friendly distros out there, it's not like the 90's when Slack was pretty much the only real game in town. Arch, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE etc are all better than Slack. Rather than being stuck in the past I suggest you move forward with the better distros out there. To directly answer your question yes Slack is still around but with a dwindling userbase and slow development it's going the way of the dino soon.

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no distro bashing allowed

Slack works just fine for them that know how to work it.

wininux is the problem

You kids get off my lawn!

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Slackware is alive, well, thriving and the only game in town with uninterrupted continuity of development philosophy from its solid origins. I use Slackware personally and professionally and can't recommend any other!

But I do wonder what is with the recent wave of drive-by insults to Slackware and its user base, and attacks directed at its philosophy of stability and continuity, by "new" members (aka one-post anonymous cowards)...? Taken together they look like more like jealous, juvenile name-calling by playground bullies who can't have their way as the only way.

If you have something useful to contribute please do so. But then again, if you did you would probably not have signed up and used your first post only to hurl insults at the Slackware community.

** (Even weird-dave seems to manage a positive comment in his own, obscure, repetitive and very strange way... )

Sorry to those who got their panties in a twist, but I call it as I see it. Slack was a great distro, but over time better distros have gradually replaced it. IMO it's hardly worth it anymore. A lot of equally or more customizable distros with greater user-friendliness out there.

No twisted panties, I just sensed the strong odor of troll in the room.

(*) An intro used by snake oil salesmen and political hacks, why should anyone trust you?
(**) All statements that denigrate Slackware - but nothing to support them... at all... just, "Trust me".

If you think other distros are better then good for you - please provide something useful to the OP to substantiate your perspective, something other than "Slackware bad, others good, grunt...".

As it is all you have done is repeated a few common and tiring buzzwords and cliches, tried a jedi mind trick, urinated in the Slackware pool, stepped back and grinned...

I still smell troll and will refrain from feeding it further. Prove me wrong, please.

@astrogeek: I have to admit that I'm not impressed by your reaction to someone who holds a differing view to yours.

All you needed to ask was "Do you have anything to substantiate your claims?" or "In what way do you think those other distros are better than Slack?", or just ignore it altogether, rather than go for the ad hominem attacks.

I hope you don't mind me saying.

it's called hitting a nerve

Eh?

I'm surprised to hear this. Could you please explain to slackertotheend (and me) how the other distros are more customizable?

At the risk of starting a flame war. You pretty much show your ignorance. You have no Idea the amount of people that use slackware as a commercial product. With all do respect. You are throwing stones in a glass house. Problem is you have no reason to.
The question was about slackware. Slackware is and always will be a bleeding edge distro. With stability as the main factor.
If you have no clue what the GNU is please learn what it is. OK. Under the hood of slackware is only the elite programs that have made it to the elite of all distro's. If you had any idea of the world wide mirrors and the people behind the scene keep quit for a reason they are the linux movement and when Slackware speaks people listen. In the beginning there was Slackware and it was good.

Slackware is probably still very much as you remember it. Slackware has some strong points, change is not one of them. But it's still here, still very useable, although I certainly agree there are other distros easier to use. Slackware is what it is.

Package management has gotten a lot better, with slackpkgplus and sbotools being available now.