Beginner-friendly and easy-to-use versions of Slackware

punchy71 · 01-09-2014, 08:56 AM

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Zenwalk or Slax yet... Anyone ever tried using those?

punchy71 · 01-09-2014, 09:04 AM

I gave it a little more thought and I think I was originally wanting an "everything-works-right-out-of-the-box" distro. Not a "muck-around-before,-during-or-after-the-installation-to-get-everything-working" distro. (... or should I say putz around or dink around?)

hitest · 01-09-2014, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punchy71

I gave it a little more thought and I think I was originally wanting an "everything-works-right-out-of-the-box" distro. Not a "muck-around-before,-during-or-after-the-installation-to-get-everything-working" distro. (... or should I say putz around or dink around?)

Slackware does work out of the box when you do a full installation. However, you do need to read the available documentation to set-up, configure Slackware. That is a requirement to ensure a successful first install. It is up to you.

Woodsman · 01-09-2014, 03:01 PM

Quote:

"Have we got clearance, Clarence?"

Roger, Roger.

dugan · 01-09-2014, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punchy71

I gave it a little more thought and I think I was originally wanting an "everything-works-right-out-of-the-box" distro.

Define "everything" please.

Personally, my idea of a "newbie friendly" distribution is one that puts the most prominently used functionality in the most prominent parts of the GUI, so that you could figure it out just by looking at it. In these days of broadband connections, I don't think it's necessarily an advantage to include software out of the box; instead, make the software easy to visually browse for and install. A lot of other distros have put a lot of effort into delivering this experience, and IMHO they've been very successful. And if you want this experience with a Slackware base, then the fork you want is Salix.

Arcosanti · 01-09-2014, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punchy71

I gave it a little more thought and I think I was originally wanting an "everything-works-right-out-of-the-box" distro. Not a "muck-around-before,-during-or-after-the-installation-to-get-everything-working" distro. (... or should I say putz around or dink around?)

There may not be such a distro per se. In Linux Mint, I had to do some mucking around to get the wireless working. I guess it all boils down to what hardware you are using that decides if everything works out of the box or not.

enorbet · 01-10-2014, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punchy71

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Zenwalk or Slax yet... Anyone ever tried using those?

It's been a long time since I tried Zenwalk but obviously I was unimpressed. Slax OTOH is excellent, or maybe "was" since I'm not sure development continues. However the really good news is that what was once called "Slax-Remix" became Porteus and it is very good, and is far easier to install to hdd from the LiveCD than either Zenwalk or Slax was.

qweasd · 01-10-2014, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcosanti

There may not be such a distro per se. In Linux Mint, I had to do some mucking around to get the wireless working. I guess it all boils down to what hardware you are using that decides if everything works out of the box or not.

I said it before, and I'll say it again: the installation should NOT be taken into account when evaluating beginner-friendliness. Ever tried installing Windoze on a laptop that wasn't designed for that particular version? The hardware may simply say "no" and leave you out in the cold. Even the most clueless user can install Slackware after reading the docs for an hour or so, and he only needs to do it once. It is the use-related tasks that need to be done over and over again that need to be evaluated: updating the system, installing software, installing fonts, installing printers, importing pics from a PTP camera, working with multiple monitors... You get the idea. And while Slackware has come a long way in all of these areas (mainly thanks to KDE), it is still one of the less beginner-friendly distros out there, and probably will remain this way for as long as it stays true to its philosophy.

kikinovak · 01-10-2014, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punchy71

I gave it a little more thought and I think I was originally wanting an "everything-works-right-out-of-the-box" distro. Not a "muck-around-before,-during-or-after-the-installation-to-get-everything-working" distro. (... or should I say putz around or dink around?)

What you need is a Slackware administrator.

epimenidecretese · 01-12-2014, 09:03 AM

My mother uses slackware without knowing anything about linux/win/etc. I just told her how to do what she needed and she learn the rest herself. Just use it.

kikinovak · 01-12-2014, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by epimenidecretese

My mother uses slackware without knowing anything about linux/win/etc. I just told her how to do what she needed and she learn the rest herself. Just use it.

My 74-year-old neighbour had only problems with her Windows Vista installation, until I replaced it by a somewhat simplified MLED installation, with bigger icons and high contrast themes, since she's vision impaired. She loves it.

rokytnji · 01-12-2014, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punchy71

I gave it a little more thought and I think I was originally wanting an "everything-works-right-out-of-the-box" distro. Not a "muck-around-before,-during-or-after-the-installation-to-get-everything-working" distro. (... or should I say putz around or dink around?)

Most of heavy lifting of devices working is handled by the kernel. udev and mtab and a few other files after the kernel starts loading. After that. It is your driving skill set. Some folks have bent ideas on what a operating system is, or is capable of. Works out of the box is a crap shoot at best.

Wanting one that guesses everything you want out of it to do with a couple of mouse clicks.
Oh well.

What works for me on this particular netbook. YMMV

Code:

sh-4.1# cat /etc/DISTRO_SPECS
#One or more words that identify this distribution:
DISTRO_NAME='Slacko Puppy'
#version number of this distribution:
DISTRO_VERSION=5.6
#The distro whose binary packages were used to build this distribution:
DISTRO_BINARY_COMPAT='slackware'
#Prefix for some filenames: exs: slackosave.2fs, slacko-5.6.sfs
DISTRO_FILE_PREFIX='slacko'
#The version of the distro whose binary packages were used to build this distro:
DISTRO_COMPAT_VERSION='14.0'
#the kernel pet package used:
DISTRO_KERNEL_PET='linux_kernel-3.4.52-slacko_4g_f2fs.pet'
DISTRO_TARGETARCH='x86'
DISTRO_XORG_AUTO='no'
DISTRO_DB_SUBNAME='slacko14'
#32-byte alpha-numeric ID-string appended to vmlinuz, puppy_slacko_5.6.sfs, zdrv_slacko_5.6.sfs and devx.sfs:
DISTRO_IDSTRING='s130812150933ZZZZ5.6XXXXXXXXXXXX'
#Puppy default filenames...
#Note, the 'SFS' files below are what the 'init' script in initrd.gz searches for,
#for the partition, path and actual files loaded, see PUPSFS and ZDRV in /etc/rc.d/PUPSTATE
DISTRO_PUPPYSFS='puppy_slacko_5.6.sfs'
DISTRO_ZDRVSFS='zdrv_slacko_5.6.sfs'
DISTRO_PUPPYDATE='Aug 2013'
#multiarch distros, such as Ubuntu, will have this. ex: /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu, so DISTRO_ARCHDIR=i386-linux-gnu
DISTRO_ARCHDIR=''

I've used Vector on others. Zenwalk till the infighting started a while back.
SlaX. Absolute.

So Beginner friendly?

No computer is beginner friendly. Let alone
a operating system. My wife had to show me how to turn on the laptop, login, get on the net, go to ebay,
to buy my motorcycle parts I wanted first. On dialup. In Windows 95. She hooked it up on the net for me also.

Before I could post in this topic.

dugan · 01-16-2014, 02:46 PM

I've noticed that punchy's been starting a lot of "trying-to-start-discussion" threads like this.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. I'm just making the observation.

Didier Spaier · 01-16-2014, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dugan

I've noticed that punchy's been starting a lot of "trying-to-start-discussion" threads like this.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. I'm just making the observation.

That's wrong and I already noticed that in post #18. Still the OP keeps opening new threads like "comparing this distribution with that one" or "is this distribution good" in various other forum as if he just wanted to keep people busy answering something he don't really care about. I could be wrong but that's my feeling anyway.

Anyhow if punchy is *actually* eager to find the distribution that will best fit his needs, he can just try all candidates in virtual machines.

Ratmonkey · 01-16-2014, 03:31 PM

Ok so, I thought I'd weigh in here as well. I would say I'm far from being a power user in Linux. I do however spend a lot of time installing distros, on multiple platforms: Desktops, Laptops, VMs, 32-bit, 64-bit...etc. Distros I've played around with to any real extent: Red Hat, Fedora, SuSE, Mandriva, Slackware. I've tried a number of other distros, but normally only install them just to see what they look like and then delete the VM or reload with Slackware =P

I spend 90% of my time in Slackware, and here is why. After spending a bit of time learning how to install it, and learning how to use slackbuilds.org, you've got a very usable Linux computer, and some extra knowledge you wouldn't have when using other distros. Then there is the community, and this is really the reason I keep coming back to Slackware. We have real people, who I would venture to say are geniuses, just a few clicks and keystrokes away who can help immensely. Have a problem? Just ask, and you'll have an answer, or at least enough direction to figure it out for yourself. What I've found with other distros, however, is that you easily get it installed with the help of some fancy GUI that you never learn anything from. Then type in some quick user information, and login, then you are on the internet through Firefox or Chrome, and up and running. Great. But then you encounter a problem. Good luck finding real help. I've ended up spending hours upon hours on a problem in SuSE or RH for example, chasing rabbit holes till I get frustrated and reload the system with Slackware. It's ridiculous.

Above all. I learn so much, every time I attempt something new in Slackware. It makes me feel accomplished. And 14.1 is a cut above the rest.

I've done user support for 15 years now, and Apple was a huge complaint of mine when compared with Windows, and here is why. Apple's support was extremely weak. Either Apple would acknowledge that there was a problem, but never offer a fix, or they would deny and blame another vendor. Then if you tried to find help outside of Apple's support (say a google search), you couldn't. It was typically just a bunch of people just like you asking about the problem, and no fixes. Where as with Windows, you could almost always find help. That's how I feel in regards to Slackware vs the other distros. I've never met a problem with Slackware, that I couldn't eventually find an answer to...

Slackware may not be the flashiest out of the box, and it might not contain the latest and greatest, but the stuff that it does have, is vetted and works, and when it doesn't, it's probably your fault...so figure it out lol. So keep Slackware loaded as your main Linux distro all the time, and just load the others in a VM, get your curiosity over with, and go back to using Slackware.