I am currently running Mandrake 9.0 on a P120, 1gb laptop and running it as dual boot on a desktop and another laptop. I'm interested in moving to Slackware for size reasons primarily. What if anything should I look out for when switching? I have read most of the install faqs, some of it is more in depth than I can understand yet. I'm true newbie, but I'll be installing this on a non-critical system to begin with. Thanks for any help/advice.

Uhh, well I never used mandrake at all, I used redhat8 before... Ummm Well there is nothing really to look out for *to my knowledge* Switching from redhat to slack was like "WHOA I like this more :]" type of guesture, nothing big it seems that more people that ran rh or mandy are more satisfied with slack. If you are a true newbie Uhh I don't want to put down your knowledge but stick with mandrake for a little while get used to that and understand it more since you said "it's more indepth than i can understand yet" But if you do so happen to get it the people here on the forums will be here to guide you all the way :]

I started with Mandrake 8.1 and used it for about a month or 2. I got really bored with it as I didn't feel like I was really learning anything "Linux"--everything was point 'n click. I uninstalled Mandrake and decided to go with Slackware. I'll never go back now. I've learned more about Linux in my first 4 days with Slackware (reinstalled about 15 times but that was due to bad hardware) than I did the entire time I had Mandrake. I was a newbie when I put Slack on (still a newbie, but MUCH more comfortable now), and I got it up and running on a Pentium 120MHz PC with a little 1.6GB hard drive. I've since upgraded a bit (AMD K6-6/266MHz, 6.4GB drive, 4.3GB drive).

I would definitely recommend Slackware to ANYONE--newbie or not. If you're a newbie--you'll be forced to learn Linux and UNlearn the MS stuff. If you're not a newbie, then you'll like it as it's fast, simple, and no-nonsense.

Advice: KNOW YOUR HARDWARE. If you know your video card chipset, monitor refresh rates, mouse, keyboard, etc. then you can get your system up and running without the use of a GUI or wizard. We'll be here to help you out anyway

I started with SuSE 8.0... installed it a couple times and looked it over for a couple weeks... I liked SuSE but it doesn't fit my style of a minimalist approach.

Even on all the Win2000 workstations I maintain, I only install the bare minimum required to get the job done.

I tried Red Hat 7.3 next... for a couple days and went back to SuSE 8.0 and that was about the time I started reading all the posts on here where everyone seems to agree that if you really want to learn Linux, Slackware or Debian is the way to go. I looked them both over, read everything I could find on both distros and chose to try out Slackware next. I have been getting under the hood of Slackware ever since. I may try Debian someday... but I am happy with Slackware.

see i dont understand...i used mandrake for about 2 weeks...the only real difference is to me...the intall was a little confusing at first, have to configure X before you can startx (unless your card is compatible with the driver in the pre-configured X), and no rpms (which i think is waaaay better because i dont seem to have to look for 10 rpms before i can install the one i need). I pretty much only go into windows to play counter stike or to see a webcam, other than that i can do everything in slackware. But i do love it. My friend wants me to install linux for him on friday, he thinks there is only one linux i guess, lol....so just gonna install slack and make him learn that.

Wrecked, you should have him install it himself, he'll learn a lot

thanks for the support. Since I have a play computer I think I'll just try it and see what happens. I'll definately go through and note all the hardware info I can find. I'll just uninstall/delete mandrake and install slack with my existing partitions. I'll post if I run into problems or success.

thanks again

Waggs,
You might want to back up your Mandrake partition, so you can refer to old config files if needed. I just installed slack 8-1, and having the old config files really helped when things didn't work quite right.

Slackware should be a whole new experience. After using Redhat for years, I decided to give Slack a try, and I don't think I'll go back... Ever.

woohoo, my first post!

i was in the same position as you waggs. switched from redhat to mandrake 9.0 to slackware 8.1

altho i'd heard a thousand times mandrake was more newbie friendly and held yr hand alot more, i was still abit surprised.

what?! console login? non-working XF86Config file. where's my mouse? where's the sound? wheres my users?

and to get size down, i didnt install kde or gnome. damn, the amount of apps i miss

but it was fun. prob because other than adding users, i'd played round with alot of stuff under mandrake. and these forums really help

and yes, having old config files would be useful

I've have used and currently still use RH at work for over 5 years. Even with that kind of experience, switching to Slackware wasn't the absolutely easiest thing to do. Getting used to the BSD style scripts and the package "non-management" was a pain. I'd recommend that if you want to stay with a smallish distribution start from the beginning with Slackware. Using another distro like Mandrake first will only slow the learning process in my opinion. They only way I would ignore my recommendation is if you required a huge manual before you touched your computer. In Slackware, you won't find one. It's a destroy and fix type of learning process.

YES,YES,YES.....I got slack installed, configured lilo, have X running, and KDE. Now I just have to figure out the hard stuff . Like getting used to loosing supermount and some of the other "friendly" parts of MDK. Thanks for the encouragement.

mark

Bah, supermount is for sissys......lol
True men are mounting their CD drive with as much keystokes as possible....)

lol yea even though im still struggling throught instal of slack(damnit i swear its cuz of my compaq i condim thee i condim thee you sanit spawned computer from mexico(yes, i found an "assimbled in mexico" sticker on my comcraps mother board sence then iv lost all hope.......)i have learned more in a week of trying to get slack up than i ever did with drake damn that os to hell even if its newbie freindly shit im new as hell and all it did was slow me down. slack just takes a LONG time to get all the x..... shiznit up and good wich im curently doing(even if it looks like im going bald at 14 from pulling my hair out in frustration its been fun as hell instaling it hehe kinda fun to get yer ego blown up evry time you get an error message back.lol lack all the way.

wow that sure was fun....

I finally got it the way I want it...450m install, running Blackbox (very fast) and even got my Dlink pc card configured (never could get drake to do that). I'm sold, who needs supermount anyhow, this rocks!!!! I haven't gotten either one of my laptops to connect with the internet in linux before, now I have. I also have learned a sh*t load about linux.

Slack rules