I've been meaning to create an account here for years...

Anyway, the name's Ryan. I also go by various other nicknames, like YellowApple (as referenced in this account's name).

As a bit of background, I've been working with Windows and DOS since I was 4, going from doodling about in Paint to operating system reinstalls. Got into GNU/Linux with Ubuntu 7.10, and I've been hooked on anything running a Linux kernel ever since. Jumped ship from Ubuntu to Linux Mint awhile ago, then tried out Slackware and fell in love.

Welcome to LQ!

Thanks

What do you like so much about slackware?

Hi,



Welcome to LQ....

The simplicity. The speed. The relative lack of distro-specific patches affecting compatibility. The ability to run the same exact operating system on either my i7 desktop or an old laptop with a Centrino.

Most importantly, though, the fun. It's brought the fun back into using a computer, for me at least.

Have you tried Arch linux?
I decided to start using arch linux and I wonder what other linux users think of it.

I've been meaning to. For some reason, though, the Arch community struck me as a bit elitist (in many the same ways that XDA Developers' Android dev community strikes me as elitist and/or very anti-newbie). Not quite sure why I have that impression, though, and it's probably quite incorrect.

That, and the install process seems rather time-consuming (though it pales in comparison to Gentoo... good lord is Gentoo's install process complicated...); it would be okay if it weren't for me having a rather time-consuming full-time job :P

Hi!

Well I don't want to be rude or put you down or something but I think you are wrong about Arch linux' position to newbies.
I've been using Arch linux for about 3-4 days now. The install was not very easy for someone like me, who used windows all his life. But there's a very good wiki that explains completely everything. The problem is the steep learning curve for all those commands and how the system works but after some time you get used to it. I even start to see lots of benefits in linux against windows now. Linux is so much more faster. And it has lynx. That's a text based browser. Somehow I seem to find and read information faster with lynx. It's amazing. It has no adversitements or pop-ups. It's clean.

But all this is only available for people who have the time to learn how it all works. I think the problem here is that people now are not allowed to choose their operating system the first time they get their first computer. If everyone would have the choice and the liberty to choose for linux the first time they touch a computer...

I'm not against windows though. And I wonder why the of gentoo takes even more time. I've hear new people would need about a day to set it all up.

No worries, I figured my impressions were incorrect. Just something about their "user-centric v. user-friendly" mentality that struck me as odd (namely, their "do first, then ask" philosophy, which I imagine would be quite frustrating for brand new users who don't even know *how* to RTFM or use Google).

For one, because you're compiling every single package from source. The install process also involves setting compiler options to optimize said compiler to your specific hardware.

Second, because everything is done manually, much like Arch.

Hi ^^