AlienBob, willysr, hitest: I took the OP's sentence "I have no experience with linux or computer programming" in the sense that he did not know anything about Unix shell commands or MSDOS commands.

I believe that the OP is simply someone who is worried about the end of life of Windows XP, has
found per chance an article or blog post in linux.com or lwn.net about Slackware's "power and stability",
has been later told that the derivatives are easier to install and is asking which one offers the best
compromise between "easy" (i. e. point and click install without shell commands) and "power and stability".

Based on that guess, I recommend to the OP to forget "power and stability" at the beginning, and go for "easy".

You may have formed the wrong belief that Slackware can be installed and administered by someone having no knowledge of Unix, but this is patently false. The user must at least know how to shrink Windows partitions with parted, to create linux partitions with cfdisk in the free space, to pick a filesystem (jfs/xfs/ext3/reiser) for them, to format also the swap partition and activate swap before proceeding with the installation. And once the installation is finished, the user accounts still have to be created. Moreover, post-installation, one realizes that users must be added explicitly to the cdrom and audio groups in order to play audio CDs, that printers must be installed with cups, and that USB removable storage must be added to /etc/fstab.

For a casual user of Windows, who has never formatted or partitioned even an
external disk because they are sold already NTFS formatted and has never put a password for his "Owner" account, all of this combined is a daunting task.

I believe that it is better to tell people with no knowledge of Unix/Linux to try first a beginner distro
to learn the basics of Linux and see if they like it before they get serious with Slackware, Openindiana or Free/Net/OpenBSD rather than give them the illusion that they can succeed to install and administer these systems without making the effort of learning a minimum about Unix.

Of course, I understand that the beginner distros can give bad habits such as counting on an automounter
for removable devices, relying on a non-standard init system, or on system administration graphical
apps instead of the shell and a text editor, but this is the equivalent of side wheels on a child's bicycle.

1 members found this post helpful.

First distro I ever installed was Slackware, didn't know exactly what was ext4, ext3, etc but I got it working. There are tons of tutorials on the internet, it is not that hard.

I started with Slackware in 2009 after a long career with Windows.

I did try Slackware in '96 at the recommendation of a friend. At that time, I found it very difficult for myself. Fast forward to 2009, I found Windows too difficult for myself and switched.

Over time I've tried a couple of other operating systems. PCBSD, Vector Linux, Slax and Elive. All very good distributions, but I like the original Slackware the best.

Thanks edorig for further explaining why you gave your advice. I can better understand your point of view now.

That is where our opinions diverge with respect to what can be expected from an intelligent person. Someone who posts in this forum, after having done his homework and read about his options, is someone who is open to the new and unknown and should not be deterred from installing an OS on his computer that expects him to be mindful of the steps that lead from booting the installer to first use of the new desktop system.
All that which you mention, is explained in the Slackware Installation and Beginner's Guides: http://docs.slackware.com/slackware:install and http://docs.slackware.com/slackware:beginners_guide . You gain nothing, and you learn nothing, by installing one of the "Windows user oriented" distros that hide all the complexity of beginning with a new Operating System from you. Yes, there may be lots of loners out there who don't have a clue and who are probably best of by downloading a Ubuntu ISO image. But Slackware is not just about the OS. Slackware is also about the solid and loyal community which surrounds it and which is one of the reasons why the distribution is still very much alive. If you are willing to start with Slackware, you will be able to do so with a lot of friendly assistance.

Please don't compare a potential new Slackware user with a child. We're a mature crew here.

Eric

4 members found this post helpful.

If Slackware will be the only operating system in your computer i doubt that you will have any problem installing pure Slackware. If you want to have a dual boot system back up your windows first. Or you can install a distro like Mint. In my opinion the best slack originated distro is Salix. You can always see the installation process of any Linux distribution by using Virtual Box.

Personally I'd recommend using Slackware as I've found it to be the most reliable version of Linux available, of course there is a learning curve but it's really not as bad as many make out.
As far as the derivative distros you mentioned, I tried Salix and found it good but didn't use it long enough to really have an opinion, I still use Vector my self on a couple older systems but it hasn't been updated in quite a while so I can't recommend it other than for older computers that would struggle with a more modern Linux, Zenwalk was always one of my favorites in days past and they just released a new updated ISO, but their repos for the new version seem to be empty at the moment so i have high hopes for it but can't recommend it yet either.

All that being said, I'm not a "programmer" or a "computer genius" and I run Slackware everyday and have added everything I want to it, and if I can easily run Slackware so can you. Give Slackware a try and ignore those that try and discourage you, i use Slackware everyday and have for several years and really only play with other distros, Slackware is in a class by itself compared to all other distros, even the derivatives.

Agreed, I'd go Slackware. I started with it with no Linux experience and learned everything I know today from using it exclusively.

Go with Slackware. It's a perfect school to learn Linux and a living home where you can pass the time.

I like trying out the others, find out what they do in a good way, and do that with Slackware.
Wolvix had some nice things going; Crunchbang, Manjaro and Semplice are good for the Openbox urges, and Manjaro does well in the Xfce themeing; Elementary has a lovely icon set; so all of this has been... let us say: sourced... into my Slackware setup, It is nice! And it is Slackware, with a great community and some very knowledgeable people using it.

Slackware is easy to install - just read about it first. It comes as a fully figured and pretty much complete system too and there are so many community resources that I doubt you'd ever really need to do anything in the way of coding, unless you want to.

Have a look here at the installation guide.

http://docs.slackware.com/

I think people think it's difficult to install Slackware because the installer is in ncurses rather than fancy branded graphics. On the odd occasion I install any other distro, I find their installers overly complex and inefficient.

Don't be put off, Slackware's a great distro and you don't need to be some leet hacker to use it.

Really? How did I manage it, then? I'll give you a clue: I can read.
The information needed for those tasks is out there, in documentation and/or websearch.

1 members found this post helpful.

Choose SalixOS and Enjoy all of it, pure Slackware experience, with a full Slackware compatibility,
plus some extras which makes life easier, but they are not mandatory, it's a choise,
so that one can administer his system the same way as Slackware.
And you only have one graphical environment. It's in some way stripped Slackware,carefully composed,
but fully expandable.


regards

It is easy to switch from Salix/Slackel to vanilla Slackware. Disable the Salix repos and install slackpkg

Then do

slackpkg -update

and you are set to use the pure version of Slackware (whether current or a stable release)

This thread is marked SOLVED, so a choice has been made. You can't go wrong just diving in and learning Slackware. It's a no BS Linux system, solid and stable. Anything else you choose to do after that, and you will be well prepared to do so.

So, indeed, why are you continuing to argue? Please send me an email or chat request if you are having a difficult time with something I have said. Cheers!

Rich