I was just wondering what the future holds for other Slack Based distros such as Slamd64 now that Slackware 13.0 has been officially released.

I know that there were official thanks from Patrick for all of the developmental pathfinding that occured with the Slamd64 project, and it went as far as Slamd64 12.2, but now that Slack64 is in the wild isn't the Slamd64 project redundant, obviated, or perhaps even a deprecated distro now?

Also, I just visited the http://slamd64.com site and it appears to be offline. Is the project being retired?

Good question.
I've tried the Slamd64 site, both sites actually, at least once a day for over two weeks now and only once was it up and running.

The server is offline because there are hardware issues which take long to resolve. Not because the distro would be dead.

Eric

I think I remember Fred saying that he would continue at least up to slamd64 13.0. Or he may reconsider, but I think he will likely contribute to slackware64 instead after some point (he already has contributed in a number of ways).

I suppose he could still provide an out-of-the-box multilib version.

That's all I could come up with. It's the only thing missing *out of the box* in Slack64, although it's easy to implement if you want to install 32 bit packages.

Good to hear it is not dead.
I was just looking at the calendar and I was wrong. I've been checking for over 3 weeks, not two, and it still isn't up. Must have been a major hardware issue.
Cheers.

That would be a very welcome addition, IMHO.
Cheers.

Admin. Please delete. Duplicate post.

I too like cwizardone am glad to hear that Slamd64 is not dead. I started using it before Slackware64 13.0 came out. It just seems wrong to jump ship just because of some hardware issues. At least the mirrors are still in place.

Oh I completely agree. It's a solid distro and as all Slackers know, there's no point stressing on the wait for a new Slackware major version because it happens when Patrick gives his nod, with absolutely no advance notice of a date, only speculation (which can last weeks or months) as to when he will finally let it ship, based on the changelogs, until it's announced that it has been released.

Even then, there's only the past tense announcement, and the forest fire is left to the community to spread about

But my main concern is, if Slamd64 is going to move forward, how is it going to distinguish itself as a unique distribution with it's own characteristics moving forward, instead of just being a clone of Slackware64?

Multi-Lib support out of the box for 32 bit binaries is a big selling (sic) point, but there needs to be more than just that.

Perhaps the software packaged with it (such as OpenOffice as part of the choices during installation?), or ???

One of the big advantages, no matter what *unique* direction the distro takes, is that it's userbase can take advantage of the enormous library of Slackware packages and support sites without having to depend upon an entirely new infrastructure community.

But without a direction of its own to plow, what compelling reason does adoption of this Slackware based distro present to potential users?

I think Slackers everywhere owe Fred a debt of gratitude; he provided an outstanding 64 bit branch of Slackware which gave Eric and the Slackware team the needed breathing room to produce an excellent 64 bit version of Slackware.
I wish Fred all the best in his future endeavors. I hope that he continues to develop Slamd64 and contribute to the Slackware64 branch.

Oh most definately! Without his contributions we'd be waiting another 3 years for Slackware 16.0 before we could covet our Slackware64 distros!

I totally agree with this. I don't know it he ever comes here but if he does - Fred, you're a star mate! It's folks like you, Eric, Robby and a host of others that make me feel really happy using Slackware. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work.

(There are too many of you to mention all in person so don't feel left out people )

Just because there is now an 'official' 64-bit Slackware, I see no reason of why other derivatives such as Slamd64 or BlueWhite to just stop. There is always something both could contribute as their own distros.