Linux.com have produced a review of Slackware 13.1 - see what you think.

Decent review. My favorite, and yet the most problematic, aspect of the review is this:

It's a decent perspective and conveys something that I like about Slack - it is the simple, powerful, Detroit heavy metal of Linux - but it makes Slackware sound consciously retro and more like a curiosity piece. I run fvwm, which many people also often look at like a museum piece but, if you want, you can use the latest KDE, the 'premiere' (to some) Linux desktop, along with polkit, even, and udev and the latest (perhaps too late) kernel and so on. The last part of "[a]side from newer versions of everything, Slackware has changed very little" is true in an important sense, but makes the first part (italics mine) sound pretty trivial, when it's not.

Anyway - he definitely gets it better than most reviewers but it sounds like a distant, abstract appreciation rather than really inhabiting the Slack.

Thanks for passing that review on.

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Wow . . . a reviewer who "gets" Slackware. Who would've thunk it?

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I do think it is a shame whenever any reviewer does not mention important third-party "add-ons" like SlackBuilds.org. With the reference to apt, this particular review gives the impression that slackpkg will install third-party software from other repos which of course we all know it does not do. Thus, mentioning things like SlackBuilds.org is important to give non-users some guidance on "where to go next" after installing the OS.

This section characterises Slackware well and is one of Slackware's most important features:

"The nice thing about Slackware is that you get to see upstream software pretty much as it was shipped by the projects. Most of the major distributions spend time modifying, customizing, and polishing the upstream software to tailor it to the audience they're trying to serve. This means adding and removing features, ensuring that packages are well-integrated, and branding the software. So the KDE you use with one distro isn't going to be quite the same from distro to distro.

Slackware, on the other hand, takes a very light touch with upstream software. There's very little, if any, branding to be found. Software is mostly presented just as the upstream projects shipped it".

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Hi,

The first part of the above quote is not really a good indicator of usage nor user. I think the narrow minded point of a small percentage for users of Slackware is not justified. Just my .02.

The last is a fair point about the reasoning behind usage but the point is indicative of a typical Slacker.

Overall my sense is that the reviewer really doesn't know Slackware but did try to provide a fair review with information at hand.

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I am certainly not among the 2 percent special users. The opposite: I use Slackware, because, once set up, it allows me to forget about the system, as it just works and helps me get done what I want or need to do with it. No other distro imposes so few restrictions on the user. So, if there is a generaly purpose Linux distribution, at all, it has to Slackware.

gargamel

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Hi,

I really don't think it's fair to a potential new user to have prejudice because of a misinformed reviewer. The bias is that Slackware is hard. Not so if your willing to read, investigate and know the internal workings of the system instead of hand holding.

Out of the box, most times the tweaking is minimal for any install that I perform but at times it can be trying. This does depend on how the user wants or the needs for a system along with the hardware to be used. Not the fault of the distribution.

Was I missing something? I couldn't find in extra/ any reference to such a script to build a Flash plugin package. For me, the most appropriate method is to use the SlackBuild script from SlackBuilds.org.

Here you go. Only in 64-bit Slackware from the looks of it.

See http://mirrors.kernel.org/slackware/...player-plugin/ (only for 64-bit Slackware).

Eric

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I've often thought of Slackware like a modern Morgan Roadster. For those not familiar, Morgan is a small British car company that still makes a design similar to 40s and 50s roadsters like the MG TC or TD. However, they have modern materials, manufacturing methods, and amenities. They are indeed "consciously retro" but they are intended for those that appreciate older ways of doing things. It's a philosophy of "improve without changing" that I think is analogous to how Slackware is developed.

For another less "consciously retro" car analogy, consider the Porsche 911. It is essentially the same car it has been since 1964, simply freshened and modernized every few years. Anyone can instantly recognize the car no matter what year, but it keeps getting better with every iteration.

If every driver in the world was given a free 911, I can guarantee you that a large majority of them would want their Camry back. A 911 makes sacrifices in comfort and convenience for performance and driver control. Most 911 owners wouldn't have it any other way, but the experience isn't for everyone.

Oddly, any car reviewer will understand a 911 for what it is, and it is brilliant at that. In a 911 review, you wouldn't complain about how much more cargo space an SUV has, or how it doesn't ride as smoothly as a Lexus. For some reason, Slackware reviewers simply can't see the differences between it and the now more mainstream distros. They want to compare it on terms that aren't really relevant to why someone chooses to run Slackware in the first place.

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Unfortunately, many people have been conditioned to believe that reading, investigating, and obtaining knowledge are some of the most difficult tasks a human can undertake.

Agreed. This is one of the better reviews I've read, but, it does tend to foster the notion that Slackware is old and outdated. I was chatting with my IT director who does use Linux and I mentioned that I prefer Slackware. His comment was: "Doesn't it run really old software?" I let him know that 13.1 has a shiny new 2.6.33.4 kernel, KDE 4.4.3, XFce 4.6.1, and FF 3.6.3. He was surprised that Slackware has new software.
I don't think Slackware is a retro distro, but, the opinion piece does present that common, albeit incorrect point of view.
If you're willing to read and learn how a real operating system works then Slackware is the right distro for you.

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This is an elegant and apt metaphor. I like it.