man, I've got a long way to go!

Not really. Dont get confused. If you just want to install Slackware on one system and you dont have any ISO yet you can just get the ones linked in the first reply.
The advantages of having an rsynced Slackware tree in a machine are many though.
Say for example you have the Slackware 12.2 CDs/DVD you purchased from the Slackware shop.
You can use those to start the installer and point it to the rsync tree to get the files to install -current. Slackware is dead simple.
The advantages are more obvious if you want install in many machines in a network, but not only.
You dont have to download ISOs everytime you need them. You just got to maintain the rsync tree.
With rsync you can leave out any part of Slackware you dont want to install. eg i leave the kde/ and kdei/ directories out which saves bandwidth & is easy to build ISOs that even fit a single CD.
You have access to the packages (including the complete sources) any time you want to.
& many advantages more..

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thanks for the explanation, very helpful. I've got a new install now back on my DELL, getting ready to build a kernel as I was having initrd problems in another thread with stable

I install current by using the small USB boot disk and then perform a network install pointing to the current ftp directory, if you have network capability. This seems to be the easiest method instead of messing with creating a DVD or USB disk.

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What's "the small USB boot disk"? Is there an ISO for it?
thanks

http://mirrors.slackware.com/slackwa...xe-installers/ See the README_USB installer directions.

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