Hi,
Several ways;
Alien_Bob makes sure the updates above are done on a regular basis.

Stable:
Slackware is used in a world community not just users with broadband networks. From the above quotes you will find information to hopefully do a '-current' or stable install. mini ISO image can be used to get a user started.

Also by using mirror-slackware-current.sh script one can decide which build to create for '-current'.

PV has already stated that the release will be tight for the CD set. So I take that as a future decision will be made for CD sets.

At some point the means should be provided for alternate media installs. USB Flash would be one that could be utilized at the store if users were willing to pay the price via subscription. Or just use 'usb-and-pxe-installers/' to create a USB or PXE install.

As Slackers, we will find a way to work out the wrinkles without BoTox.

“A tool is but the extension of a man's hand and a machine is but a complex tool. He that invents a machine augments the power of man and the well being of mankind.” - Henry Ward Beecher

1 members found this post helpful.

I started reading this thread, and I was trying to think about what I'd want on a cd/dvd collection.

EVERYTHING! We know that's not very realistic, so I believe that it could breakdown to a 2 DVD & 1 CD set.

Keep the 'double-sided' DVD that has 32/64 bit installs.

The second DVD disc would contain all the source code. I don't think the source is different between 32/64 bit...so we need only one copy. I could be wrong!

The remaining CD should be a live boot/rescue disc. This could be just a minimal install set. Not sure here, but I do like having a bootable CD. Can there be both 32/64 bit versions on the same disc?

An additional set of scripts need to be contained within the 32 bit install to create the old fashioned CD disc set, IF the user needs them.

My current Slackware subscription is for the CD set only. I can't justify paying double the cost to get the DVD for the 64-bit install. I usually just DL the iso from one of the mirrors.

I had a discussion a couple of years back with the folks at the 'store' about a combo CD/DVD subscription, but I was hoping the price would be about 130% of the cost of a single set subscription, not 200%!

My older PC's and laptops are running either 10.0, 11.0 or 13.0. They could use the CD's, but I'm being realistic and realizing that I'd spend too much time trying to get Slackware 13.x+ to run on them. Not worth the trouble.

I do believe that it's time to say goodbye to the CD only version. It's wasteful, too! I still wish I had my Infomagic CD's, but they're buried in some landfill...for eternity.

I asked the folks at the Slackware store if they'd consider making a custom case for the cd's, too. Something like this:

http://www.usimprints.com/store/cate...-car-cd-cases/

Take a simple design, and imprint the Slackware logo on it, fill it with the latest release, and BINGO! We can forget about the old plastic cases (that usually break in shipment) and use this to carry our tools around.

Just my two cents.

--

Larry

I am new at this, non the less you don't seem to qualify as a Slacker if you don't have a polite opinion.

I liked Matt Petit's suggestion of a USB stick with the contents arranged in packages by type or usage. This is fast, reliable, and can be complete. A bootable CD is a necessity, but when? Having the majority of the usable applications and dependencies at the time of installation is a very nice feature. I have broken DVDs had to scramble to get a new one. The USB drive is a nicer format in my opinion.

I understand that $20.00 will feed some of us for more then a couple of days. However, I would suggest that the issued distribution be as complete, robust, and technically superior as possible. The world will find ways to reduce the individual install cost. Having the best possible source will make that easier in that it should be possible to develop smaller packages which have high reliability for a secondary distribution. I believe that $100 would be an acceptable cost for the complete Slackware package in a highly reliable an easily transportable form. I, at least, would find a way to get one.

However, the bottom line is: Thank you PV and associates!

Tom McLean
On the Wet Coast in the Sunshine.

I avoid optical media where I can. But where I must, I use DVD over CD everywhere I can. The only place I can't is legacy audio CDs, and I haven't done those in years. IMHO, the way to go is one optional CD for booting older machines, and everything else on a bootable (for the rest of us) USB memory stick (maybe CD sold separately).

As for a subscription, I'd rather subscribe to swag.

Not a good idea. What about developing countries where you can get working internet but still with not 'up to the mark' speeds.
The mere idea of total dependence on internet for simply installing an OS creeps me out.

Regards.

1 members found this post helpful.

Yes, I have to agree - creepy indeed!

There are just too many scenarios - more than a few of which I have experienced myself - where you simply need a complete local copy without reliance on internet - broadband or otherwise.

Internet install should be considered another option useful to some, but should not replace physical distribution media.

Creepy? Jeez, read my post. In the 2nd paragraph I say "All practical modern standard medias should be available for sale - CD, DVD, and Bluray." I think USB thumbnail drives would be cool too.

It creeps me out when people only read the first sentence...

Bill

You don't get it.
I was stating "my own" reluctance to depend on internet for installing a complete functional OS.
And if quoting your statement didn't go well with you, then my bad!

Regards.

While the internet can indeed be creepy, it is the backbone of what we do, and regarded by most as "good enough". I think that there are better ways ( higher reliability and faster where large volumes are needed ), to transfer software. It would be nice if the crew could get us a 20 GB SSD, at half price, to send the package on. But that might be asking too much. USB drives come in any necessary size, are fast, and relatively inexpensive. One of the problems may be the USPS who use a death ray on all of the mail for security reasons. I am sure adequate technology is available, my nose just hasn't been in that sector so I am not aware of it. Having to send the package by DHL would kill the economics.

Tom McLean
On The Wet Coast;
With more sunshine!

Computers become obsolete. It is unfortunate, but it is a fact of life.

My AMD 386 DX 40MHz with 8MB of RAM is still chugging away, but it can't run any version of Slackware newer than 8.0.

I find it amazing that anyone would even want to run an OS as modern as 13.37 on a machine which did not ship with a DVD drive. Such a machine would have to be at least eight years old and could not have shipped with much more than 512MB of RAM. It would have IDE hard drives and probably no PCIe slots. Surely running a modern OS like Slackware 12+ on a box like that would be a gut-wrenchingly terrible experience. Why would anyone want to go even further?

It would be handy to include a bootable 32-bit "installer only" CD for kicking off a net install (local or otherwise) on any venerable old machines still in service, but there has to come a point where the users of very old computers take up the mantle of servicing their specific needs on their own.

I say these things as an enthusiast of retro-computing.

I value Pat and the work that he does far too highly to want him spending time worried about issues such as this. He is correct in his observation that CDs are looking more and more like floppies ... Machines old enough to be incapable of reading DVDs are likely to have a floppy drive, or at least to have shipped with one.

I would like to take this opportunity to make an offer: I will trade a working IDE DVD-RAM to anyone who can send me an unopened box of blank 1.2MB 5.25" floppy disks.

I am not certain about "unopened", but I have several boxes of 5-1/4 floppies close at hand.

As I recall, my old 5-1/4 drives started at 368K per disk... I believe that was called "double density".

I bet I could send a box of 8 inchers without too much trouble!

But to do either I would have to open a few boxes of memories too, and I'd probably just cry - so I think I'll leave them for the estate sale!

What would be the point in not running a modern OS on a 8 years old machine. Let's look back, eight years, 2004: At that time I used an Athlon XP 2200+, IIRC, with 768MB of RAM, 60GB harddisk and Geforce FX5900 XT. I think my first DVD-drive I got in 2006, not really sure about that. A perfect machine for 13.37 with XFCE, or wmii, which I use on all of my machines (that have GUI).
What we in our first world countries often forget, just because we have easy and somewhat cheap access to new hardware, is that such a machine in many countries on earth is anything but obsolete and that Internet that is fast enough for net-installing is rarely available. Even in the US and also here in Germany there are areas without broadband connection.
So I personally think that the full CD set at least for the 32 bit version is a must, anything less is for many people simply not an option.

I am happily running slackware-current on My Celeron 850 MHz unit that has 768 MB RAM, CD drive, and a 20 GB HD. Fluxbox runs quite well on it. This secondary unit is not ready for the scrap heap.
Each to his own.

Points taken ... nonetheless, let's note that both of these machines would easily make use of a DVD drive.

I just found several IDE models on eBay for about $10, including shipping.

Slackware 13.37 on CDs runs $49.95, $32.99 with subscription. Six blank CDs will cost anywhere from $2 to $6, depending on where you get them. (Perhaps less, even, but not much. We're still in the "some dollars" investment range.)

Point is, we're not talking about a crazy expenditure when we're talking about $10. I know that, for some, that's a considerable sum, but even those folks would be forking over for the blank media otherwise.

To each his own, indeed, but let's be practical ... CDs aren't going to cut it for OS distribution much longer, even granting truth to the questionable notion that they are still practical right now.

Besides, even once Pat unburdens himself from having to muck around with CD distribution, the community will certainly be capable of continuing to create CD ISOs for installation, so long as there is any need out there. We're not talking about making a non-networked upgrade impossible for those who can only use CDs, only slightly less convenient.

My main point was not to state that Pat should continue to distribute Slackware in both the CD and DVD formats, but, rather that older PCs will still run up to date versions of Slackware rather well.
I fully support Pat if he wishes to discontinue issuing CDs for Slackware as I build my own CDs for my oldest Slackware box. And as you say if I feel so inclined I can buy an inexpensive DVD drive for the unit.