Slackware is very intuitive. I tried RedHat and quickly dumped it because it is too bloated
for me, and the RPM system caused dependency nightmares. Plus with all the GUI junk,
I felt like it was a Windoze wannabe. I next tried Debian. Nice and fast and not hard to
install when following a guide, but there were too many developers working on packages
for apt-get. I couldn't get KDE because there were conflicts. So, since most of the LQ mods
seem to use Slack, and most of the posters whose answers actually worked use Slackware,
I tried it! It's a breath of fresh air!
Patrick has done a great job. The
Slackware Linux Essentials book on the Slack website has
all the information you'll need to get it installed and running. And on the Slackware CD1
there is a file titled Slackware-HOWTO that you can print and use. It's a very good and
thorough installation guide. If you've installed a Linux distro before, you should have
no trouble whatsoever if you use that guide.
I would suggest using Fluxbox and searching for how to customize your desktop. It is
very fast, and can be made to look "just like you want it to" with a small amount of effort.
If you use Slack, you'll learn Linux, and not some GUI commercial distro like DeadRat --
IMCAO -- so take it for what it's worth.
If you still have that "Debian based system," you might want to get the infromation about
your modem before you install Slack. Although I think you'll find it's easy enough to setup
as you install, if you know the hardware information, and where the modem is located.
You can use Knoppix or another Live CD and determine what modules are used for your
hardware before installing Slack. Then you'll be ahead of the game -- just in case there's
something Slack doesn't detect.
. Oddly, on ttys0 it says initiallizing modem...like its reading it, but it does nothing. All the others do nothing. Please help me. I'm new to linux all together.
