Get well soon, Eric. I too have been ill these past months. My volunteer work has suffered due to my lack of productivity. I get stressed just thinking about what isn't getting done and I have nowhere near the workload you do.

We all appreciate what you do. Your health, family, and day time job must always come first.

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Limiting to the above in your comment (lots of good in the un-quoted stuff too)... KDE4 had only one security update because the software has not been maintained for two years almost, and the KDE developers created updates for just a single package (the Qt4 based 'kdelibs') until end of 2017 when all KDE applications had been ported to Qt5.
Plasma5 on the other hand, is actively developed, and as I show in my repository, roughly every month all of the software will have been updated to new releases. I follow these releases every month but I can imagine that Pat will adopt a lower update frequency. That is not a bad thing per se: if he skips all the 'zero' releases and waits until the bugs are resolved, he can pick the updates roughly once per quarter and still keep everybody happy.

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I'm sure everyone would still be happy if you reduced your frequency of updates to what you describe above too, if Plasma 5 does not make it into -current immediately. We need a sane and healthy AlienBob.

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Eric, have you considered taking your own advice and adopting a lower update frequency? If it were good for Pat, wouldn't it be good for you also? Maybe adopt a once per quarter or three times per year approach and never a zero release. Alternatively, if you shared with the community the tests that you conduct after a fresh package compile, then when someone wants/needs to try the latest package (not on your release schedule) they'll know what to test WITHOUT bothering you! In business there is a maxim that you will succeed when you teach someone else how to do your job. You're not working yourself out of a job, you are promoting yourself to a more critical need, managing the smaller parts. That might work if there were a thread on Plasma5 and your release schedule was less frequent. Even the Liveslak release schedule could be changed to quarterly to match your Plasma5 release schedule. I mean you've taken on a huge load and just can't imagine how you find the time to do it all and work a full time job developing a new strategic directive and support team. HTH, again just my two cents. Cheers, BrianA_MN

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It's more a matter of not trusting other people with creating the desktop environment I use (aka Plasma5). I want to have the best, and the latest, desktop when I work. Nevertheless, several regulars in the comments section of my blog articles have been a great help in getting bugs fixed and new features added. I could not have come to this point with Plasma5 without assistance of many other people in the Slackware community.
To be honest, creating new packages for Libre Office, VLC and Calibre require a lot more effort than KDE Plasma5! Which is why I dropped the frequency of updates for those three to a lower level already.
But, it usually takes 5 evenings to determine new requirements for Plasma5, getting the new sources, compiling the stuff, running into build errors, creating or finding patches (mostly involving scouring the Internet) etcetera. Evenings that I can not spend on other packages. Perhaps if I reduce the Plasma5 update frequency, other packages may benefit from that. But it will not cause me to work less probably... perhaps it is a form of OCD?

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Take care of yourself, mate! Your health and well being comes before Slackware. I hope that you feel better soon, man!

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Eric,

You clearly have the gift of patience, something I have not mastered yet. Not only do you build all these tools (Plasma, LibreOffice....), you also have to deal with people constantly hounding you for more updates. I'm not nearly as skilled as you when it comes to solving Linux issues in Slackware - I do try, but the solutions are not obvious to me. For example, I couldn't get any version of Slackware to install on a Laptop - UEFI was the problem, I had to turn off Secure Boot for the Slackware Splash Screen would come up - with UEFI the Welcome to Grub would show and give no options, it would just sit / hang. The only way around it was to turn off Secure Boot. I stumbled upon it, I didn't know it would solve the problem, I just tried it : )

I guess that's how you learn to do things, you stub your toe enough times you stop and try different options.

Having said all that, I just wanted to publicly thank you for ALL you do here, your website, and the endless hours you put in to make Slackware a better product, Thank You!

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I wish to add my to what others have already said. I surely appreciate the tremendous effort it takes to make Plasma and the other packages available and on an ongoing basis. The conveniences we Slackers enjoy do come at a price, and I and others here on this forum recognize that fact.

I think that I and others could do with a little less Plasma updates. It's not like we need to have the latest and greatest. Taking care of oneself needs to come first.

I, for one, would like you to retain your enthusiasm for the packages you kindly make available for us. I think that the breaking point would not be reached if the stress level were reduced significantly, by letting others help where they can.

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Maybe just bad memories from time of shifting from KDE3 to KDE4. Arguments were actually the same: KDE3 was no more maintained. Besides whats wrong with stable software? KDE4 matured, seems to be now stable in opposite to its earlier releases. It is just desktop. Bunch of common applications glued together - every of which has its own standalone version one can run under almost every wm. I am guessing but maybe there are worries that KDE5 developers would make startd obligatory.

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Yes,
Regards,
Bill

What is Slackware Linux?


The Official Release of Slackware Linux by Patrick Volkerding is an advanced Linux operating system, designed with the twin goals of ease of use and stability as top priorities. Including the latest popular software while retaining a sense of tradition, providing simplicity and ease of use alongside flexibility and power, Slackware brings the best of all worlds to the table.

It is clear to me that Slackware is not just terminal with a bunch of applications.. (just geeks or nerds have to use it?). It is a multipurpose OS, that everybody should use thanks to its software and makes life easy to their users. I mean desktop environments were created to improve user experience when they work with computers!!. And what are the most advanced DE for linux until now? GNOME and KDE.

So the natural replacement of KDE4 is KDE5. Why we should update our software?. Well, because of three things:

Security Vulnerabilities, Better Functionality and Squashing Bugs.

If you want to stay working with terminals or minimal windows manager is Ok but there are other people who want a better usability of their workspace with powerful DE.

DSM.

2 members found this post helpful.

@dsanmartis I understand your Plasma advocacy but you should just to look at your own personal info: "Brazil but I am Chilean', "Slackware with Plasma 5" - important things one cannot forget. Personally I will stay away from Plasma 5, as I now stay away from KDE. Many years after KDE3 was removed I was working on xfce, fvwm, even twm. There are many possibilities offered by Linux - some of them now forgotten - to run one Xorg session only to watch movie - no wm, just xine itself. From one hand - desktops are probably nice and allows W users to shift relatively easily, from other they kill creativity, imagination, curiosity - to go deeper under the hood, to make something very personal, unusual. I dislike much unification - I mean the ways where people should look the same, do the same, think the same, wear the same clothes. Yes, this is good comparison: desktops are like the same clothes - computers with Plasma, Gnome - they all look the same. Yet you feel to emphasize that you are in fact coming from Chile. I wish I have chance to visit this beautiful country.

I'm surprised about some folks giving Plasma 5 a bad press. Been running it on my workstation and on my laptop since last Christmas, and this is hands down the best Linux desktop I've ever had. Wouldn't use anything else now.

Cheers,

Niki

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I feel the same. There are features I use inherent in Plasma 5 which have no equal in other DE/WMs available for Linux. I shucked KDE 4 a couple of years ago, and have had no regrets. KDE 3 was good for its time, but that time has since passed. Humans have a tendency to resist change because it means expending energy to learn something new, and judge the future by the standards of the past. While there is some merit to this comparison for some things, it doesn't apply to everything, and this is one of them. Computing in Slackware is all about getting the most out of your computer, and Plasma 5 gives the user the best of both worlds: the simple underlying system administration of Linux, the flexibility of old-school Unix and the conveniences of a modern desktop environment. There are some who would disagree with what I'm saying, and that's OK. The beauty of Linux is that it *is* so flexible, and the user is free to customize it to his/her taste. But as for me, this is my computer, and I'll run what I want on it; for my workflow, Plasma 5 is undoubtedly where it's at.

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Fact is PV is the one and only main character in development of Slackware.
I don't know how effectively does he manage the ever-increasing volume of
packages, but the last few prolonged cycles are IMO a telltale sign of it
getting tougher.

I think it would be beneficial to get these stable releases more incremental
again with an outline of major systemic changes alongside the regular upgrades.
I know it's often that many things are interlinked but some minimal predictability
would be nice.

As for KDE, I'd prefer a model of core KDE-packages + 3rd-party Plasma5.
Obviously those that love KDE prefer full inclusion with frequent updates.
In general, I think even once-a-year update to KDE/Plasma will keep
the Slackware ticking and relevant and better than anything we have now.

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