An exemplum of Slackware clarity

For those who might think that Slackware is too high a mountain to
climb, and for those who don't, I'd like to share with you a story
which I once heard from a very wise teacher.

A man was living close to a mountain, and every day he was thinking,
"How would it be to climb that mountain, and what would I see on the
peak?"

So finally, the day came and the man went on the journey. Arriving at
the foot of the mountain he met the first traveller. So he asked,
"How did you get up the mountain and what did you see from the top?"
and so the traveller shared his path and also the view that he had.
But then the man was thinking, "The way that this traveller described
to me sounds very exhausting. I need to find another way to climb."

So, he continued to walk along the foot of the mountain until he met the
next traveller. So, once again he asked, "How did you climb up that
mountain and what did you see from the top?" and so again the traveller
shared his story.

Still not being determined on which direction and which way to go, the
man asked thirty more people, thirty more travellers. When he'd finished
talking to all of them, he finally made up his mind. "Now that so many
people already shared with me their paths and especially what they all
saw from the top, I don't need to climb there anymore."

It is very unfortunate that this man never went on the journey. He only
learned how other people achieved it and how they felt about their own
experiences in doing so.

Now to conclude this story, each individual needs to find a way to climb
that mountain. There is information possible to be shared with words, but
it is impossible to share the experience of clarity when you are standing
on that peak by yourself. To invest the right effort in climbing that peak
is very much what the realisation of Slackware knowledge and experience,
or achievement of personal development, is about.

I've very recently had reason to reflect on personal development regarding
Slackware. The realisation is that this story has more profound meaning to
me than it did before, and that I have not yet reached that peak, but I know
that I'm on the right path, and I will continue on my journey.

I hope that it inspires others as much as it has inspired me, and continues
to do so.

I think your story applies to everything, not just to Slackware. It even applies to life as a whole :-)

What makes Slackware a good example to bring up, in context of Linux distros, is its adherence to the KISS principle. Slackware is simple. And when you learn something simple, you don't get distracted by lots and lots of gotchas and tiny details that a more complex thing/topic has. Thus it's easier to reach the point of understanding decently at least big parts of it, if not the whole big picture. And draw conclusions like yours.

Good non-technical post, I enjoyed reading it.

@Exaga -- apropos to Life -- action is the key, not thinking or just asking others!
Slackware was a the goal 11 years ago in lieu of a then messed up situation with learning UNIX (original goal at the time). It took me a decade of GNU/Linux usage to accomplish the goal.

Once accomplished, I'm still distro-hopping as my curiosity is insatiable and the distro world keeps changing, too.

Respect to all Slackers and gratitude for help received in the past here and at the now-defunct Salix shop.

Well said. I like the allegory/illustration.

Originally Posted by TorC @Exaga -- apropos to Life -- action is the key, not thinking or just asking others! Slackware was a the goal 11 years ago in lieu of a then messed up situation with learning UNIX (original goal at the time). It took me a decade of GNU/Linux usage to accomplish the goal. Once accomplished, I'm still distro-hopping as my curiosity is insatiable and the distro world keeps changing, too. Respect to all Slackers and gratitude for help received in the past here and at the now-defunct Salix shop. Well said. I like the allegory/illustration.

If you are referring to the distro Salix Linux, then I can tell you that it is very much alive and not defunct at all. It still receives support, and even updates that Slackware 14.2 itself does not even receive (or much later), for example, Salix has the latest Firefox ESR version, etc. Their support is pretty good. And it's also my daily driver.

@deNiro -- Thanks for the update! Am glad it's not gone. Have not looked lately. The next SSD I purchase will be a Salix install!

Slackware is my operating system of choice; I'm proud to be a Slacker(2004 version 10.0).
Hardware changes and Slackware is evolving to support emerging technology. I was very grateful to get support here at LQ recently with GRUB and UEFI.

Originally Posted by TorC @Exaga -- apropos to Life -- action is the key, not thinking or just asking others!

The post is intended as inspiration and encouragement to any users who may have reason to fathom the depths of their own personal Slackware development. People will draw from it their own meanings and conclusions. I am not very interested in sharing life's experiences, only motivation for Slackware [ARM].

there is no time to climb every hill and there is no need to climb every hill.

"there are many paths to the top of the mountain."