First of all, I'd like to say that overall, I'm very happy with Slackware. After a three-month stint with SuSE as my first Linux distribution, I decided that I didn't think SuSE was stable enough. Slackware was a relatively easy install (not as bad as some had made it out to be) and it just worked (almost). Finding software was easy, and compiling software to which I had no binaries actually worked, unlike it did in SuSE.

However, there are some issues I have been unable to address. In SuSE, when I plugged in a USB key, the device would be dynamically mounted and an icon to that device would be displayed on the KDE desktop. Of course, this feature broke down after a few weeks, which prompted me to try Slackware.

Right now, I'm trying to use udev to solve my problems, but it turns out that it complicates as much as it solves. I once tried copying files from an SD card (via a USB card reader) to a USB hard drive for my friend. I mounted the SD card (manually, after compiling the kernel myself to support it) and in the process, I plugged in the USB HD. All of a sudden, /dev/sde, which had been the SD card (with a symlink to /dev/lexar_sd), had been been changed to point at the USB HD. Nothing was corrupted, but that was a dangerous experience. Perhaps removing udev will solve my problems, but I also have a Palm Pilot and I cannot allow that to change nodes every time I plug it in.

I am aware of DBUS and HAL, but they seem like a lot of trouble to compile and configure. I'm about to get a new computer, and on this computer, I do not plan to dual boot Windows. This might be a "good thing" but that suggests that my Linux distribution must get everything right, because there's nothing for me to fall back upon. Since my new computer is going to be completely clean, I figure it's a good time to experiment with another distribution.

I plan to use a Debian-based distribution, maybe Ubuntu, as I believe they automatically mount the USB devices; of course, it is very likely I'll return to Slackware. I guess what I'm trying to ask is, has any satisfied Slackware user ever experimented with another distribution, and found it better? Or if you returned to Slackware, is there any reason why?

Dropline GNOME maybe a good fit. www.dropline.net

For my part I like the difference and so with slackware I just feel I can
express myself I used only one another distribution though (redhat 9)

You can fix those problems if you dig into it patience..

I've made a semi-switch to Solaris 10, just to give it a try. I love slackware, but there are a few things i don't like or don't agree with in linux. So i was trying to search for an alternative to linux which 1) i would like, 2) i would find very close to slack 3) it would look good in my CV to show that i know how to use..

My two choices were either BSD (FreeBSD) or Solaris (10). I chose solaris coz i got myself a nice solaris server

Overall, i like solaris, and knowing slackware made the move VERY easy.. I remember looking at solaris years ago, and finding it terrebly scary..

I'm tempted to make a switch to OpenSolaris if they will have certain features slackware has, of which i love.. like

good 3d acceleration
good package management, updating, etc..
good community (although tbh so far i've never met any other community that comes close to slackware's).

The only thing that's preventing me from making a permanent switch is the fact that Slack has the best community i've ever seen. No matter how good an OS is, a community is more important, and that's why i think Slack has lived for so long, and has an advantage over other linux distros. (ofcourse, not excluding the fact that its a good and stable OS).

EDIT: This year alone, i've tried redhat, fedora, debian and Solaris again. Sorry to say this, and no offence to anyone, but redhat / fedora almost made me throw up, and debain i didn't really like. Solaris i like.. but there are a few things they need to fix first. Came back to slack right away. Although i still use solaris in the sun machine.

Edit 2:
bah... 25 more posts till my next rank. lol

I have tried several different distributions but found them all lacking except slackware. I used to use FreeBSD until I got my new laptop and couldn't use the pcmcia slot. If I couldn't use slack anymore for some reason I would certainly try going back to FreeBSD before I would waste time with a different Linux.

I have found most of them to cause me trouble before I can even get the running. Slack is small and simple and just the basics.

Redhat - many versions couldn't even get to install properly
SuSe - too much messing around with the install but once I got it installed saw some software I never saw before
Ubuntu - didn't care for it
Mepis - didn't care for it
Mandrake - had trouble with it being buggy but that was many versions ago

My first experience with Unix that made sense was OpenBSD. I had tried Linux before that but until I downloaded (over a modem, part of the reason I tried it over another (this was a long time ago)) OpenBSD and used it I had trouble getting my mind around it. OpenBSD was clean and simple. Sensible directory structures, not a lot of junk.

But I agree with xushi--I have never found out so much good info and had questions answered as easily as with the Slack community. This site in particular is fantastic.

I have tried the following

Redhat 9
Mandrake 10
Debian
Gentoo
Arch Linux
Startcom Linux
SuSe 9.3
Slackware 10 & 10.1

I am currently running Slackware-current w/ Kernel 2.6.11.11

I must say that slackware was the only one that I feel comfortable with. The rest have good things about them as well as some things that just seem silly. I'm glad I tried them but they're not for me. I just love Slackware and truly hope that it never changes. If there is something in Slack you don't like, there is probably a way around it rather than switching distro's. My advice is to scratch your itch. Go a try some. Keep trying 'till you find your home in a distro. That's the only way to truly know. Only you can answer that question.

I've tried other distributions. I was running Vector for a very long time on my server, but when I did my recent rebuild, I installed Slackware. That was mainly because I had the current CD than any other reason, though.

Vector and Slack are the only distros that I've used for a prolonged period of time, with one exception: for a long while, my server was running RedHat 6.2. That never got upgraded to RH7 or 7.2, and was decomissioned shortly after RH8 came out. Because RH8 wouldn't install on the hardware I had, I started looking for a different alternative, and went with Vector.

Slack is the only distro that I have any loyalty to, and that's because it's the only one that works out of the box for me. Pat's doing a great job.

Before slackware I had tied Mandrake, Redhat, Fedora Core, Debian and a few others I can't remember. Since trying slackware I have only tried SuSE but I soon left that, the only other linux distro that I would like to have a of is gentoo, oh and knoppix, a live CD will be useful. Though I will be sticking with slackware on my main system. Redhat 9 and slackware were the only two I have used for considerate amounts of time. On a side note I want to give a few of the *BSDs a go, though all this will have to wait until I have more time. At one time I wanted to dabble with Solaris but was lead to believe it ran like a dog with anything other than sun hardware so that put me off that.

I can vouch for that. But wait till Open Solaris comes out if you're still interested.

I'm new to these forums, but I figured this would be a good post to jump in on.

I've been using Slackware for about 8 months now. Before that I dabbled in Redhat (quite a while ago... like version 6), Mandrake, Gentoo, and a few other less well known distributions.

I didn't really become a Linux user until Slackware. Before that I was never very impressed with any distribution. I like the simplicity and clean nature of Slackware, and haven't come across any reason to switch to another distribution. Plus when I started using Slackware full time I learned quite a bit more about Linux.

Vector linux on my laptop was very fast, and worked right away, but ive sold it since...

Im on debian sarge now, ive been using debian for over a year now and love it. running XFCE it is VERY fast.

as far as your USB device goes, are you really worried about the automount feature? i just have a /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb line in my fstab, and a link to the device on my desktop, KDE auto mounts it for me when i click on it.

i think everyone who has been into linux for a couple of years has tried many distro's. ive used redhat,mandrake,debian,gentoo and slackware for a short while.

if you want to try a debian based distro, try mepis or ubuntu. but none of them beat a plain debian installation.

I agree, that is what I got from it. I use Slack 8.1 on my laptop and manually mount everything. I like that control... I have MDK 10.1 on my DT and it has "Supermount" and mount's Floppies and USB automatically". I am used to manually mounting and did not like it at first but did not bother disabling it and just got used to it.

I think Slack and MDK are both good Distros and unless there was some Distro that I could do something spectacular that I could not do on Slack or MDK I would not consider switching.

KC

I've used more distros and versions of distros than I care to count. Cut my Unix teeth on SunOS 4 (before the renamed the OS to Solaris). Professionally, I've used RedHat 7.2 and RedHat 9, but any inroads at my current place of employment will likely be Slackware, as it's my favorite.

I'm going to be trying out Fedora Core 4 when it comes out on. One of my interns is a huge Red Hat/Fedora fan, and is burning me the DVD, and I promised to give it a fair trial.

So I've been tempted (by Ubuntu, honestly, most recently), and will continue to tinker until I just cain't no more.

It's perfectly possible to use multiple distributions and be perfectly happy. I don't believe it's always a question of "either this or that". There are many situations where it can be "both this and that" to be honest.

Different distros fulfil different needs, have different priorities, approaches and philosophies as my recent blog entry shows.

http://hari.literaryforums.org/?p=14

In practice I need three different Linux distributions (Debian, Slackware and Gentoo) on my hard disk for different reasons. Of course, I could achieve everything using a single one, but I feel that some distributions are easier for certain tasks.

No approach is "right" or "wrong". Just different. Slackware suits certain tastes, Debian suits some, Fedora suits others and so on.

My advice is, if you aren't happy with any single distribution, you always have the option of using more than one...

I have tried many distributions including BSD's. And for some reason I can't stop comming back to slack for some reason. I guess because it feels lightweight and clean, and I can keep up with the stable updates (i have a 28k connection -_-). So probably not unless I stumble upon something better (wich is unlikely) if anything I'll be on debian. Seems like the oldest distributions are the most stable and useable to me.