I want to use slackware, I have never used Linux before and I hhear that slackware is very difficult? Is it too hard for a new user? I am preapared for a challange.

Sure, if you're willing to learn, you could start with it.

But why not start off easy...use a live-evaluation CD like MEPIS. If you like what you see, it's stupid-easy to install it to the hard drive. Then you have a nice Debian-based system with all the functionality of a dependency-resolving update package like kpackage.

I have not used slackware, but I hear that it requires a good bit of customization and tweaking.

There is a Slackware book with basic information on common tasks.
How tough does it sound to you?

Well, here's how I did it:

I installed SuSE 9.0 in early December 2003, SuSE is a very easy to install and very easy to use distribution that usually configures most of your hardware automatically, and has lots of nice graphical tools. But you can also learn Linux with it, if you want to. At least I did. After a while I almost completely stopped using SuSE's control center (YaST) and did most of my stuff with the console. YaST was just way too slow.

Well, and a little over a week ago I decided to give Slackware 9.1 a try. I never thought I would feel comfortable with it, but I do! It's actually quite easy if you're willing to read a bit, and make use of Google.

Most of the tools to set up your internet connection, printer, soundcard and other hardware are pretty straightforward and easy to use. Even the installation was a no-brainer. I don't know how easy it is for a total Linux n00b, but it is in any case a lot easier than I expected.

I started out with slackware 8.1 as my first distro. I didn't have too many problems. After about a month, I started thinking, "Hey, maybe I'm doing things the hard way." I decided to install Redhat and see how that went. I kept that Redhat going for a good three days before I decided that there was no benefits, just a lot of confusing junk. Back to Slackware.

Slackware is SIMPLE. Everything just works. Some people seem to complain about finding help. I think that is usually because they are asking the same questions everyone else has asked 30 times before. Most of the answers are right here on this forum.

I say go with Slackware. If you want a thread where I describe how I got my box up and running, check out:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=174447

I wrote it, so I think it's pretty decent. If you have questions once you start going, just look in this forum for the answers.

Hope this helps,

Shilo

I agree. Slackware is not hard to install. Simply follow along with the book, which is a little outdated, but still useful for the initial fdisk and setup.

Install everything your first time so you're not missing anything.

Also, www.linuxpackages.net is you friend.

Edit: The book is also on CD 3 and comes in a format that puts the whole thing in your browser so you can page and search through it easily.

Here take a look at http://bitbenderforums.com/vb22/show...threadid=60154

its a pretty good guide.... It got me installing slackware.. Actually to me Slackware is the easiest Linux distro out there... Nothing simpler.. Except if you like things done for you and nice fancy gui stuff I suggest stay with windows.... Or another distro like mandrake (Mine as well be winux lol) or Xandros..

I think ehawk makes a good point about trying out a live CD first, except I don't know why he would suggest a Debian-based distro after you said you want to try Slack. You might want to try out Slax, instead. It's Slackware-based and, like all 'live' CDs, all you need to do is download the ISO, burn it to a CD, then boot up with that CD. It won't make any changes to your system unless you tell it to, so you can try out Slackware (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) with virtually no pain.

Another good candidate is Zipslack, which is a ~30Mb zip file that you unzip (to ~100Mb) on your windows partition and then boot into, using the included tools and procedures. This is how I first ventured into the Linux world, lo these many years ago. One caveat about Zipslack, it's extremely lightweight (pronounced 'barebones' or 'feature-stripped') so you'll have to add a lot of packages to make it useful. But if you decide you don't like it, all you have to do is delete the directory where you unzipped it; no muss, no fuss.

Enjoy!
--- Cerbere

I think you should install it and live with it for a couple weeks. That is the only way you will know for sure. It is not for the gui challenged however, nor if you don't know how to search and read.

I don't think it takes a lot of previous Linux experience to get Slack up and running. Just follow the install guide from the link iotc247 posted and you'll be running Slack in no time.

Getting the GUI to work isn't that hard either. Just type /usr/X11/bin/xf86config to start configuring X. Just make sure you know your video card's chipset and monitor specs before you start.

Have fun!

The only reason I suggested MEPIS is because the live-CD actually actually has a desktop icon you click to install to the hard drive. The whole process is about four clicks, as easy as Corel Linux was. I don't have any experience with Slackware live-CD's. It's seems to me that someone would want to go easy -> less easy. The ease of installation of the distro's I have installed (easy -> hard) is:

MEPIS -> Fedora -> Mandrake -> Knoppix (with Fedora only slightly easier to install than Mandrake)

I generally only switch to the next level of difficulty when something doesn't work in all of the easier installs. Knoppix and MEPIS are already basically Debian (with the correct selection of repository and dist upgrade via apt-get). It would seem to me that Slackware might be the next level, then Gentoo, and finally Linux From Scratch.

I installed redhat for a freind today and it was stupidly simple, I put in a disc and it was a simple Next> button procedure all the way, will slackware be anything like this? Also I am quite skilled with DOS will this help me any?

Your DOS exposure will help you to quickly get the jist of using the command line in linux. While the specific commands differ (ls instead of dir, etc), the paradigms of changing directories, running executables, etc. seem very similar to me.

Installing slackware is pretty easy, though it hasn't got the nice featurefull installer redhat has (i.e., you'll have to do the partitioning beforehand) but is a breeze to use if anything goes right, which it usually does.
If, however, anything decides to go wrong for some reason it's always a bit of a puzzle to figure out what and how to fix it. You will also need to be quite knowledgable about your graphicscard/monitor setup, no easy selection from a list or autodetection, which I really think is a shame. It also needs a bit of (con)figuring before gnome (my personal favorite) starts to look like it should.

But if you got through the installer ok you should be able to connect to the internet and use 'links' to browse this forum, so nothing could actually go definitely wrong (or google your monitor because you've forgotten to jot down the V/H sync ranges......again:-).

No. You'll have to insert the disk and follow the directions. Everything is in text. It's great. Read the guides that everyone has posted, especially that bitbender link.

If you look at the bitbender link, you are gonna see almost exactly what will appear during your installation.

I thought that the redhat installation was pretty great,too, when I first started out. Then, over the course of the next three days, I started to think, "Man, this is really crappy compared to Slackware." Then I started tweaking stuff. None of the files were where I thought they were supposed to be. I started thinking, "Man the little bit of Slackware that I learned is helping me with this redhat, but the redhat I'm now having to learn is only gonna help me know redhat." I think I heard somewhere else, learning Slackware = learning Linux. I have found that to be true.

Don't be scared of the install. I think I got mine right the second time. Redhat always installed the same, but it was never exactly like I wanted it. The way I figure it, that means redhat never installed right. It's an unbelievable feeling when you get Slackware all set up. You feel even better when you hear from all these people who don't know saying that they won't install Slackware because it's too hard. Guess that makes all of the Slackware users geniuses, huh?

Sounds like you already have a redhat disk laying around. Why not try Slackware. If you can't get it going and the redhat install is so simple, just install redhat.