Hi I'm starting over on Slackware 9.1 and I need some advice on what to install seeing it's not too logical to install the entire distro
since I will have to recompile most of it

Kernel
FreeX86
DRI
ALSA
KDE (to optmize it) but I also understand you must have an
installed version of KDE to compile KDE witch seems kinda odd but I'll do it.

Any suggestions on what I should avoid and what I should Install?

The reason why I don't wish to do a full install is because I have come to believe 1 or 2 packages does not like my computer so I want to build with only the essentials like for example I don't need 20 sound mixers ...2 one for KDE (Kmix) and Alsa Mixer for when I'm not in X, again I don't need 40 text editors or programming IDE's I only want what is required by the Slackware distro nothing else anything like Kb3 or other packages I will download the latest versions of them.


Any help or advice would be appreciated.

You also a shell or two, basic libraries (starting from libc). And gcc, of course...Generic network software (basic ftp clien to download sources).

You don't need KDE to compile new KDE. Probably you think about that new tool...I haven't tried it yet, but you can compile KDE without X running (it has lots of dependencies and compiles approx 2 days, but can be done - I do it quite often).

For someone who's in the process of writing his/her own OS, http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=101158
I would say it's a little confusing (to me anyway) why you would continue to spend time with Linux. Be that as it may, if you prefer to have complete control over which packages get installed during the Slack installation process, there is the "Expert" option which will allow you to individually include or exclude each package. To quote from the Slackware book http://www.slackware.com/book/ "For the more advanced user, install offers the expert option. This allows you complete control over what packages get installed. You can deselect packages that are absolutely required, resulting in a broken system. On the other hand, you can control exactly what goes onto your system. Simply select the packages from each series that you want installed. This is not recommended for the new user, as it is quite easy to shoot yourself in the foot."

As for recommendations on what packages are essential to install or should be avoided, that would depend entirely on what sort of work you will be doing on your PC. The set of useful packages for a gamer, or a programmer, or a musician, or a business user, etc, etc would all vary. If you specified your intended uses for this machine, I think it would allow others to make recommendations. -- J.W.

Okey I am using this PC as my workstation examples of what I want to use:

3D Support (DRI)
CD Writing (K3b)
GUI (KDE)
Internet
Printer support (Lexmark 2070) I know this printer is problematic.
Scanner support (getting sane to detect a parallel port scanner.)
Webcam support (Logitech Quickcam)

And I want to include all the programming libs for compatibly and recompiling reasons.