considering slackware
 

Hi everyone, I have always used Ubuntu based Linux.

I have started reading up on Slackware, and I find a lot of references to booting with floppy drives and CDs (two things my netbook cannot use).

1. Is my netbook underpowered to run Slackware? 1.6 GHZ CPU, 1 GB RAM

2. I've always used unetbootin to make a flash drive install CD when installing. Will this work with Slackware?

I am a long time Windows user and I understand it. Ubuntu based Linux distros do a lot of work in the background, and I don't know much about the inner working of Linux. I am up for a challenge though, even if to boot into a live environment and start exploring.

I am typing from a 1.7ghz, 1GB RAM, 100GB HDD system running Slackware current - you should have no trouble!

I use Fluxbox and expect KDE may be a little sluggish (although I have seen statements to the contrary about recent versions, I have not used them). So I would suggest Slackware 14.1 with Fluxbox or Xfce desktop environment.

You definitely do not need floppies to install! CD/DVD/USB will suffice - anything that you can boot to. If your Lenovo supports PXE boot then you can boot and install over the network too (my preferred method).

If your whole GNU/Linux experience has been Ubuntu then you will find things a little different - NOT difficult - just different, so approach with your eyes open.

And welcome to LQ!

You can copy the bootable Slackware installation ISO to a USB stick (using 'dd' on Linux or rawrite on Windows) and boot your netbook off that. See http://docs.slackware.com/slackware:install

Your hardware specs are a bit on the low side but Slackware 14.1 should run on it with ease, especially when using XFCE as your desktop environment.

Eric

Hi and welcome :-)

You'll be fine installing Slackware on those specs, many people have installed it on a lot less with no issue. As far as unetbootin goes I've never actually used it myself but it does have an option to pass a downloaded iso as an input file so why not give it a go?

Have a look here also:

http://docs.slackware.com/

A lot of useful information.

Hi Astrogeek, thanks for your encouraging answers. A network install will be difficult as my Internet connection is very unstable (ADSL) and my3g connection is very expensive to download on.

Thank you Robert and Eric for your encouragement as well.

I have experience with gnome, KDE, mate, xfe and lxde. I will probably try flux box as you recommended, as I am not a KDE fan (please nobody hate me for saying that).

Will see when I am able to download the ISO files and get my feet wet :)

I tried to Google Slackware live ISO, but I don't find anything. I found the torrents page to download the install disk or the source disks.

I am a little confused / lost at the moment.

Slackware does not have a "live" version. What's on the ISOs can be fopund here: http://www.slackware.com/getslack/torrents.php
You do not need any of the "source" ISO images.

Either you use the Slackware DVD ISO, or else CD ISO install images #1 and #2 if you think 2.3 GB is too big of a download.

Eric

One of the really nice things about Slackware is that it doesn't come with just one WM/DE and any can be easily added. You can try many easily. I think you will find Fluxbox very snappy but quite an adjustment. It's very barebones and you will wonder "OK what do I do now?" as it is all about the menus. Since you know Xfce you may prefer it to be default. Enlightenment is also gotten very good but some people find some rendering ugly in contrast to it's regular lush beauty. I hope they get that part fixed.

Nobody with any brains is going to hate you for your WM/DE choice. It really shouldn't matter if you choose one even just because you like the name or whatever other personal like. The flames start when someone says "I use A because B sux/is bloated/smells funny". Bottom line choosing for your own personal positive reasons is fine but choosing because you view somebody else's as somehow negative is just silly and wrong. Almost anything viewed as negative can be removed or added to or altered in Linux to make it something you like.

OK, no live version. Does that mean I have to install it? I was really hoping there was a live version that I could test before committing.

I am currently dual booting windows xp (because I need Corel draw) and peppermint and resizing and creating partitions now is going to be a real pain.

To test it, you can install it in a virtual machine.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried virtual machines in Windows and to date have not been able to install any Linux. Never tried a virtual machine on Linux before, I don't know if my netbook has the power for it.

Will see if I can get a pc built from old or hand me down parts to learn on first before I can commit to Slackware.

Maybe you could create a seperate hd partition for testing, dual boot slackware with windows?

The Atom CPU in your netbook does not have support for hardware virtualization. This means you won't have fun with virtual machines on that computer, they will run terribly slow.

I am between a rock and a hard place here. Thanks for the comment on virtual machines, and thanks for the suggestion of dual boot in Windows and Slackware.

Can I install Slackware over Peppermint? I have a 30 GB partition for Linux, a 1 GB swap partition and the rest is a windows partition where my media is on for iTunes and my iPod (I have recently tried about 4 Linux programs to replace iTunes and so far I don't like any of them).

I am probably getting ahead of myself, bit while on the subject: will Slackware configure my boot loader? I think grub is currently in charge there.

Yes, you can install it over Peppermint and yes it will configure your bootloader (Slackware uses LILO)