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Slackware comes second only to Ubuntu as desktop distribution of the year. Ubuntu is way out in front and Debian comes a close third.
I'm delighted to read this, but wonder why? Is it because linuxquestions.org has a high proportion of slackware folk, or are we more passionate in voting perhaps?
Slackware users are very very active on LQ, as this is the "official" support forum that is linked to from the Slackware.com site. The distribution of the year award went to Slackware pretty much every year until Ubuntu got popular, as far as I recall.
According to distrowatch, Slackware is #16 (last 30 days). But that is only a measure of interest--not of usage.
The LQ member choice awards measures what? Popularity? Opinions about what is most innovative in a particular year? Or maybe just a reflection of the demographics of the site? (I don't know the answer.)
The beautiful thing about statistics is that they can be used to prove just about anything......
According to distrowatch, Slackware is #16 (last 30 days). But that is only a measure of interest--not of usage.
Actually, I would say that is only a measure of the number of visitors to the Distrowatch site that click on the Slackware link, nothing more. I would submit that Linux users who are interested in Slackware do not necessarily feel the need to go to Distrowatch and click the link, and I also seriously doubt that any current die-hard Slackware user -- who is certainly 'interested' in Slackware -- does the same. I've been using Slackware for many years now and I don't recall the last time I went to that site and clicked the Slackware link.
Whenever I go to the distrowatch site and I look at some of the distro pages I always make sure to click on the slackware page as well. Slackware is my main distro and though I never need to look at the Slackware page, I don't want distrowatch's stats to be skewed because of the way they do rankings.
I agree that all of the polls are skewed based upon the demographic of LQ members. I wasn't surprised Ubuntu was #1, so I'm definitely pleased Slackware is #2.
Actually, I would say that is only a measure of the number of visitors to the Distrowatch site that click on the Slackware link, nothing more. I would submit that Linux users who are interested in Slackware do not necessarily feel the need to go to Distrowatch and click the link, and I also seriously doubt that any current die-hard Slackware user -- who is certainly 'interested' in Slackware -- does the same. I've been using Slackware for many years now and I don't recall the last time I went to that site and clicked the Slackware link.
Distrowatch? What's that? <kidding> I don't look there, or other distro comparing sites, because I have Slackware and I can't imagine using anything else.
I don't follow statistics because numbers mean nothing to me. What do I care if Ubuntu got more votes than Slackware for popularity. Should I hunt down those Ubuntu users and beat them with my copy of the SlackBook? No. Those Ubuntu users can stick their certificate of popularity on their refrigerator with a magnetic Windows logo.
Well, from any point of view, Windows is "more popular" than any other OS that ever existed, which just goes to show what those sorts of statements mean. Absolutely nothing. It's like saying that socks are the best items of clothing because more of them are sold than any other.
But, seriously, Slackware is the only "proper" distro for someone who knows what they are doing.
I've never even used another serious distro past the initial test stages because they all do something that I don't like and which would take too long to make it how I like it. I wasn't brought up on Slackware and I'm certainly not stuck forever in a Slackware mindset but coming from DOS and DOS-based-Windows (i.e. not 2K or XP) when I first started using Linux, Slackware jumped out at me.
It's simple, it's predictable, it's very open (in that most things are done with simple scripts, not thousands of lines of gobbledegook), it doesn't default to wanting a video card just to install or boot, it runs on ancient hardware and you can see that it's been made by people who care about all that and a lot more.
I have Slackware desktops, Slackware servers, Slackware "blackboxes", Slackware on a router, Slackware on a USB key, you name it and most of them are nothing more than trimmed default installs. I've found that LiveCD's of other Linux distro's rarely boot up the same on a range of PC's (I work in IT in schools, so I get a wide range of very cheap hardware that needs to be supported)... a brand new Fujitsu laptop I just tested can't boot any graphical livecd or distro without it screwing up the display, for instance.
It's not even doing anything "weird", it has basic graphics which support VESA. I just wanted to try out "Karoshi", a school-targeted "server-on-a-cd" on it and it didn't work. It crashed on the graphical autodetect and manually selecting any of the VESA/SafeMode options made it screw up the left hand side of the screen. In the end I had to install manually through the command line and when you boot it up on a couple of different models, you get different problems on each one. I've had this no end of times with livecd's of other distros, Knoppix, Whax/Whoppix/Whatever-it's-called-now, the DVD's on the front of magazines, etc. Even when you just do a plain install, you end up either setting seven thousand options or you don't get the option and stuff autodetects and then messes up.
Yes, you can fix it but Slackware works first time every time on all the machines I use (including the one above), and at ABSOLUTE worst I have to specify a command-line option like acpi=off or something, but that's Linux, not Slackware. "startx" normally works straight away with a basic VESA display which is more than good enough for 99% of modern office or home machines.
And once you find yourself keep coming back to the same distro, you know that it's more worthwhile to just try it first next time. And target your scripts at it. And repackage your software to its format (which, by the way, is fantastically simple - a tgz with a bash script). And so you find it harder and harder to move away.
I'd love to say that I've tested every version of Ubuntu, Red Hat, SuSE etc. but it's just not worth my time or effort. By the time I trial them, I can have Slackware doing whatever it was that I wanted to do.
Slackware doesn't get in your way - it just lets you get on with Linux without having to build a distro yourself. That's where I see its place - you have LFS systems, then Slackware, then everyone else.
I don't think there's another distro like it. It's "Linux done properly without the bells and whistles and trying to replace Windows".
But, seriously, Slackware is the only "proper" distro for someone who knows what they are doing.
I'm sorry, I sort of know what I'm doing... My conclusion is that--if you like to be in total control--the only "proper" choice is ArchLinux. Why should anyone have to remember if a piece of SW is in repository a, b, f, or q..??
Arch now has just one flavor of repository and is all-around the simplest and most straight-forward of ANY of the "geek-level" distros. So there ....
I've never even used another serious distro past the initial test stages because they all do something that I don't like and which would take too long to make it how I like it. I wasn't brought up on Slackware and I'm certainly not stuck forever in a Slackware mindset but coming from DOS and DOS-based-Windows (i.e. not 2K or XP) when I first started using Linux, Slackware jumped out at me.
Same here. I still remember a little Commodore 64, too! Started with DOS5 on a Tandy 286, then a 486SX with Windows 3.11. From there, periodic upgrading that has led me to use Windows 9x, 2000 and XP. With Linux I started with Slackware 9.1, tried Mandrake for about a day, then switched back to Slackware.
Quote:
It's simple, it's predictable, it's very open (in that most things are done with simple scripts, not thousands of lines of gobbledegook), it doesn't default to wanting a video card just to install or boot, it runs on ancient hardware and you can see that it's been made by people who care about all that and a lot more.
I think that's why I fell in love with it so quickly. It's everything I wanted, and more. Each new release seems to work better and faster without upgrading my hardware!
Quote:
I don't think there's another distro like it. It's "Linux done properly without the bells and whistles and trying to replace Windows".
[...]
Those Ubuntu users can stick their certificate of popularity on their refrigerator with a magnetic Windows logo.
That's a great line. You should put that in your signature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pixellany
I'm sorry, I sort of know what I'm doing... My conclusion is that--if you like to be in total control--the only "proper" choice is ArchLinux. Why should anyone have to remember if a piece of SW is in repository a, b, f, or q..??
Arch now has just one flavor of repository and is all-around the simplest and most straight-forward of ANY of the "geek-level" distros. So there ....
Not true because if you want to be in "total control" you don't want package dependency resolution like Arch's Pacman does.
Also, if you know what a,ap,e,kde,x,xap stands for then it is not too hard to find out which folder a package is in. Even if you don't, just do a search for your package in the PACKAGES.TXT file. Alternatively, you can use the Slackware package browser.
It's that time of year again. The distro bunny's are hopping down the bunny trail. Oh well they do it all the time anyway. Doesn't have to be 'Easter' for one of them to hop over to another distro.
No wonder they are confused. All that jumping around would rattle anyone.
Slackware is not a tortoise ! Slackware is progressive and stable.
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