When PV releases a new stable version of Slack, how do you get it?

I should have said: I do #1 and #3.

I just continually upgrade to -current - stable or not. You could also have put "regularly check the changelogs and then upgrade the relevant packages".

Well the one problem with slackware is upgrading is a bitch.

That's definately an area where arch/gentoo/debian win at!

When i get upgrades on my slack box for a stable version, i just check the changelog and manually download the package and use upgradepkg.

When a new version comes out i usually look at the changelog of current to see what's different in it, then i look at the readme and the releasenotes text files if they are there and read them.

Then i usually wait for some bugs to be ironed out and then for a dropline release. Once dropline gets released i download the entire mirror with wget -r and then get the install floppies, boot them up, format my / partition, and then just do a full install.

If you want the convenience of apt-get, you could always try swaret or slapt-get.

But those are not good for upgrading to different versions.

Since slackware has no depencency support, lets say when you want to upgrade, package foo gets replaced by foobar. Swaret will not know that foo was replaced by foobar. Now lets say that a lot of stuff is compiled against foobar. Your system will be crippled.

Also, if a package gets renamed, it will not be updated at all, and you will continue using your old version, which could cause problems in the long run.

I like just upgrading individual packages that interest me, instead of doing a full reinstall (since even if my home directory is copied right over, the settings just never feel the same ). Upgradepkg is actually a great tool, especially if combined with a bit of scripting.

i read the change-logs and use slackpkg to upgrade...

I have a subscription (after all, Pat has to eat too), I download the ISOs, and usually I track -current on at least one machine.

Same here, and I think that's what a lot of the Slackware crowd is doing to stay current, so shouldn't this be added to the poll?

Cheers, Leon.

I upgrade my servers and workstation if and when I see it fit to upgrade. If it's a security patch or upgrade and I use it, it's usually right away. Other times I'll test my running applications on a test box with later versions if it's a version I'll benefit from or want to use, etc.

I have a cron script that runs weekly to grab the latest tgz packages for current to keep myself a local repository of slackware packages which is mounted and shared amongst all my servers and workstations, so it' as easy as cd'ing into the directory and running the upgradpkg command on whatever package I want to upgrade to.

Well... I personally use the latest stable, updated whenever there is a change (usually within 24 hours of the change) with swaret. I keep track of -current changelogs to make sure that they are no major surprises come upgrade time but I keep my computers only ever on stable series.

For stable-version-to-stable-version upgrades, I manually download the iso or the tgz's, then mirror my hard drive to another computer with similar hardware. I apply the updates to that, check everything still boots and works, then and only then do I whack my main computer up to the latest stable.

That's why I love Linux - I can boot linux on ANY machine and only the kernel has to be computer-specific (though with modules and hotplug, even that is less of an issue). With slackware stock kernels, they work for 99% of the machines I have anyway. Come hardware failure, recovery-time, or even mirror-time, I can just boot it on any computer that can read the disk, no matter what motherboard, peripherals, graphics card, it'll will always work enough for you to get stuff done. You just cannot do that with Windows.

i don't suppose you'd be willing to share that script with us, would you??? please?

Go to a slackware current mirror, look for the "extras" folder,
download Slackpkg and install as root.

edit a text file # emacs /etc/slackpkg/mirrors
uncoment one mirror only.

# slackpkg

#slackpkg update [gpg]
# slackpkg upgrade-alll

when asked to save .old files, say yes unless your disk is limited.

Then re-coment when done updating to prevent potential mishap.

Donate to Pat.

I would have said : if you really want the convenience of apt-get, you could always try Debian. Apt is probably the best advanced package manager and it is one of the main feature of Debian, whereas one of the main feature of Slackware Linux is its simple package manager. Swaret and Slapt-get are good softwares, however when you compare them to Apt, they are like french Nougat of Montélimar made in China.

-- LiNuCe