Some people say that Slackware is not suitable for newbies. Some say it's not hard but it just makes you learn faster.

I'm on my first week of learning Linux and have only ever used SuSE 8.2. If I try out Slackware, will I be stuck in a rut and feeling like ripping out the keyboard apart, or will it be a potentially rewarding experience?

Is Slackware suitable for newbies?

In simple words, if your willing to learn and learn the Linux OS, then go for it. The one thing that just makes slack different is the lack of GUI tools to configure your system, just get use to editing by hand alot, which enables you to learn more on what your actually doing instead of just clicking a mouse button.
We have plenty of Slack users on this site if you need to ask questions.

imo it will be a potentially rewarding experience;
with the help of boards such as these and the
many online available documents, slackware should
be doable for newbies and 'vets' alike. i switched
to linux after my first two weeks of other distros,
so if i can, i am sure others can do as well.

Hi Ken Ju-On

Slackware should be fine for anyone onc eyou've got it up and running - the key of course is getting good information which enables you to be able to install it corectly - There is atleast one excellent guide to instaling Slackware 9 on the web - I saw it a few weeks ago when flicking through google - just tyoe something like "installing Slackware 9" in google and you should get to it quickly - it seemed to be quite involved - but if you follow it through step by step you should be alright.

Thank you all for your helpful advice. If the intial struggle will be worth the rewards at the end (of course I guess there's no "end" to learning) then I will go for Slackware. With all of you here to give me advice, it shouldn't be too difficult.

Thanks again for your encouragement.

I've just installed slackware 9 in the last week, and to be honest I've found it to be the easiest Linux I've ever used - far better than mandrake 8.1 and redhat 7 (the one's I'd tried before) and a lot more stable etc too

if you're going to do it I would recommend reading up on VI - like someone said there's some editing of text files to be done and if you know the basic comamnd sof vi it makes the whole process painless

also make sure you know your hardware specs before you start but if you follow the text file on the cd then you'll be fine - I was up and running in under 2 hours
best of luck and hope you choose slackware

My ethos: If you're going to dive, dive deep I went from a purely MS background straight into Slack, and I love it. Yes there have been numerous headaches, and long frustrating nights, but you know what? I know linux a heck of a lot better, in just a month, than I ever did of Windows after years and years of use.

I have tried both Slack 8.1, 9.0 and Red Hat 8.0, and my reflections are:
Red Hat was much like Windows, you could´t do that much tweaking it. It worked by itself, with updates and everything. Easy to use, but not that inspiring.

Slackware worked more or less without any tweaking, but I had a few small problems, and these inspired me to learn more about Slack/Linux.

If you would like to learn about Linux, go for Slackware, but if you "only" want things to work, you will probably get much more sleep with RedHat.

Slackware is my favorite choice any day...

Try Slack. The initial installation runs very smoothly, although there are a small number of manual edits you may need to make. In terms of getting the stock Slack installation up and running though, it is very smooth, and very quick. To be honest, I thought it was easier than Redhat.

As you learn more about Slack though, and start customizing the stock installation to suit your needs/preferences, that's where it can become a little more, umm, "intense". However, you *will* learn Linux and for my money, Slack is the only game in town. I tried a couple of other distros but Slack wins hands down, and I am by no means anywhere close to being a wizard at this stuff. -- J.W.