I was using redhat 7.3 in my PC and I'will try to used slackware 12.1 I've question :
1. Is it possible to run/develop java 2 SE/EE and ME on slackware?
2. how to upgrade package in slackware? Is it automatic download from that site (slackware)???
3. Is it good for multimedia such as DVD player, wacth TV and also listening a streaming radio?

Anyone out there please give me some information because this distribution is very rarely in my country (Jakarta - Indonesia)

Welcome to LQ!!
Almost anything is going to be better that Redhat 7.3--that is very obsolete.

Why do you want to use Slackware? There are many good choices--I would start with http://distrowatch.com

Slackware is a good choice if you want to learn all the nuts and bolts of Linux. One distinct feature is that it does not by default have package management like most other distros--you have to keep track of the required libraries. Hard-core Slackware users regard this as a strength.

Java 2 SE (jdk) is included in the extra/ series on the slackware install CD/DVD. It is not installed by default, so you'll have to install it separately, but that is as easy as running `installpkg jdk-6u6-i586-3.tgz` in the extra/jdk-6/ directory of the install CD/DVD as root (it's located on CD number 4 I believe). As for EE, I don't know of any pre-built packages, so you'd have to download it yourself from here: http://java.sun.com/javaee/ I'm not sure if it'll work properly or not -- it looks like it is only available as a .bin file. You would have to run `sh java_ee_sdk-5_05-linux-nojdk.bin` to attempt to install it, but again, I'm not sure if it'll work or not. I don't know about ME, but I would suspect it would be similar.
Upgraded packages are available in the patches/ directory from your favourite mirror. Alien Bob has written a nice script here: http://www.slackware.com/~alien/tool...are_patches.sh that can mirror the patches/ directory. There is no automatic utility included in Slackware by default -- although there are some utilities like slackpkg (available in extra/) or slapt-get that can try and do that for you. However, they are not really a full replacement for manually upgrading packages, since some packages require that you take manual steps. The security advisories are located here, which include instructions for upgrading each package. Packages are generally only upgraded due to security reasons, and there is no official repository of updated packages, excluding upgrades for security reasons (though there are third-party repositories). Upgrading in Slackware is as simple as issuing `upgradepkg packagename.tgz` as root. Note that there is NO dependency-resolving.
Slackware includes Xine by default, which is great for watching DVDs. For TV you'll probably want to install MythTV or something -- though you'd probably know more about that than me if you've watched TV on any distro. Streaming radio works fine through any of Slackware's many audio players. Amarok is included with KDE, which can play SHOUTcast streams etc.

I would recommend reading some of the other threads in this forum to acquaint yourself with Slackware if you are interested.

hey..everyone thanx for your support decision and now
I try with xVM VirtualBox only for testing and using production Development


spawnLinux

0) Why don't you try Slackware 12.2 instead of 12.1, as it is now officially released (and works well here)

1) I don't know.

2a) As already said by T3slider, there are no software upgrades in -stable official repositories except for security updates (see the changelogs @ slackware.com).

2b) But there are upgrades in -current (don't mix it with a -stable installation).

2b) Often you'll find unofficial (not endorsed by the Slackware team) software upgrades, e.g. @ slacky.eu.

2c) Keeping your system up to date for official updates is as simple as installing slackpkg (now officially included in the distro), uncomment your preferred mirror in /etc/mirrors, then run periodically "slackpkg update" && "slackpkg upgrade-all". It can even be automated as a cron job (man slackpkg).

3a) For multimedia, apart from xine, you can have slackbuilds for mplayer @ slackbuilds.org (a slackbuild is a script you execute to make yourself a software package that you'll install typing "installpkg <package_name>).

3b) You can get packages for Slackware and slackbuilds (for Slackware 12.1, as of today) from AlienBob's repositories, e.g. http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slackbuilds/. Side note: in this repository, vlctest is newer but if you want to play DVD use vlc instead. I watch TV and listen to radios (streams from my ADSL provider) with it.

As T3slider mentioned take some time to read the sticky posts at the top of this forum and read the documentation provided on the install CDs/DVD. Also I would read the Slackware book to familiarize yourself with the install procedure.
Slackware is installed by using a straight forward text based installer. You will be required to manually partition your hard drive with fdisk or cfdisk. Please feel free to post here if you have any questions as you gather information.
Welcome to the official Slackware forum!

http://www.slackbook.org/

I'm not sure if you know about this but I would highly recomend trying Streamtuner for internet radio browsing. I use it daily and it's great. There is a Slackbuild for it here that will help.

Refer to T3Slider's response.

Refer to T3Slider's response. Notice that in Slackware 12.2 slackpkg is now part of the main branch rather than in extra.

You can update patches automatically but most Slacker's do not do that. Many Slackers automate fetching the updated software, but prefer to install the patches manually.

Join the security mailing list and you'll then always know when a patch is available.

Slackware is a "DRM compliant" distro. You can add packages to overcome that minor obstacle. Perhaps the following might help:

A Full-Featured Multimedia Slackware

To watch or record TV I use Kaffeine and Xine. There was some setup work involved. Although not a tutorial, perhaps the following will help:

Watching TV With A PC

you know redhat 7 is old how old is your machine. Slackware will run on 486 but todays gui just sucks up the ram and cpu resources be careful how you install on older stuff. todays kde 3.5.10 needs 512 mb ram and 1ghz cpu to make it run smooth. other wise look at xfce desk top.
you will find all the way back to Slackware 8 is updated.