Newbie question regarding Slackware -current.
 

Hi all and thanks in advance...

Since installing Slackware 12 last fall I've been going to Slackware -current at the main site to download the most recent packages of my favorite programs (ktorrent, firefox, thunderbird, etc). I thought this was its purpose actually, to provide the latest packages that were compiled specifically for Slackware. But after perusing the forums a bit I'm starting to get the impression that this is not recommended.

I've not been downloading system files (cups, etc.) just the most recent versions of the software I use. Is there any problem with this?

Dig

You are definitely not supposed to run curent packages with the stable release as versions of core components differ. Unpredictable things can happen if you do. On the brighter side 12.1 will be released soon so if you plan doing a fresh install of 12.1 it won't matter.

If you plan to stay with 12.0 I would reinstall those packages from 12.0 to be safe.

Current is the development tree and not the same as the stable version, See CURRENT.WARNING in the current directory for more information.

Thank you for your response, bgeddy.

If I go to Slackbuilds and obtain the latest software I need and compile it myself may I assume that is okay because I am compiling it for my own specific system?

Dig

Yes that will be fine - just get the build for 12.0 and your good to go.

Thank you.

digger95

If you want to find any updated packages for Slack 12.0, all you need to do is look in any Slackware mirror. Under the 'slackware-12.0/patches/packages' directory are the latest official packages (product updates, patches, security updates, etc.) that are available for Slack 12.0.

You may also want to subscribe to the 'slackware-security' and 'slackware-announce' mailing lists to get notifications when any new updates become available.

This is the link for the mailing lists:
http://www.slackware.com/lists/

Thanks for all the great advice guys,

In the future I will rely on Slackbuilds and/or the official Slackware 12.0 repositories rather than -current. I have also in the past downloaded from linuxpackages.net but only from one particular packager who consistently does good work. Never had a problem with his packages. I've also discovered the wonders of src2pkg recently and I must say it's a fantastic program. Kudos to the author!

I assume that any of the above are satisfactory.

However I must disclose that I'm currently using the latest generic kernel and kernel module packages out of Slackware -current (2.6.24.5). The stock kernel (2.6.21.5) does not support my acpi properly and I haven't yet the time to compile my own. I made an initrd to load it properly and everything is running fine.

Thanks again,

Dig

As long as you don't need to compile any modules that are external to the kernel (for example, madwifi, nvidia or ati proprietary drivers, etcetera), then that should be fine. There's a chance that udev wouldn't behave properly with the newer kernel, but that's not very likely in this case, and since it's working fine for you, even less likely :)

Hi, Dig:

May I know who the packager is? Who else do you think might be good as well?

2nd, do you download from web or you use slap-get to download the package and all its dependencies? If so, how do you do that?

thx

sfxpt,

I no longer use linuxpackages.net to be honest. I primarily use slackbuilds, src2pkg, or download ready-built packages from the official repo, alien bob or rworkman. However that's not what you're asking, so...

If you want to download packages and get dependency resolution as well, I would trust slacky.eu only. They build good packages and their dependencies (so far) seem on target. Nothing has downloaded and installed to my machine that made me scratch my head anyway. You can use either one of the following with slapt-get/gslapt:

http://repository.slacky.eu/slackware-12.1/ (main site)

http://slacky.uglyplace.org/repository/slackware-12.1/ (u.s. mirror)

Before I started using slapt-get though I learned to do my own packaging and dependency handling, so I already have a good idea what should or shouldn't be downloading to my machine, and I also compare what's going to be downloaded with what's already in /var/log/packages to make sure nothing gets overwritten.

Dig

IMHO this thread deserves to be sticked.
This addresses the FAQ about the -current use or not issue with my favorite distro.

Many Slackware users had used the -current branch and most 'Slackware-leavers' point system-havoc caused by pursuing -current as the 'drop-that-filled-the-glass' for going fedora/debian/mandriva etc.

Putting aside personal laziness for some percentage of them, some might as well have stayed if they could read this kind of thread in advance to -current racing.

this are my 2 cents.