Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

Yes, because setup program doesn't do many things for me. If I do installation, I just boot with live CD, connect to internet, get packages, prepare disk, install packages and do some post installation tasks.

Also, I have doubts that Slackware setup allows to connect to wireless (I'm not sure though), and it can be a problem for laptops.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

Full install is not really good idea. At minimum it is strange.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

What is the value of setup program? It creates couple of symbolic links, runs chmod on init scripts, creates fstab and modifies some configs. What else? Runs lilo?

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

That's good that He provides gptfdisk for GPT partitions. Because He could say you all don't need it (gdisk), use fdisk from util-linux or build gptfdisk from SBo.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

A lot of software in Slackware you will never use. So why to polute the system with them?

Originally Posted by chrisretusn

I installed Slackware to several different laptops with no issues connecting with WiFi.

Originally Posted by bassmadrigal

When you have a distro that doesn't have dependency resolution, anything other than a full install is going to probably leave you with broken dependencies. If you have the knowledge (which many of the forum members do), you are able to work those missing dependencies out and install the missing packages.



The value of the installer is the same as most scripts. It takes a bunch of tasks and lumps them into one folder. Sure, you can setup a chroot or specify a root with installpkg, but it also helps run the setup scripts at the end. Is a SlackBuild obsolete because you can run those commands manually?

There's nothing wrong with automating the installation. If you don't care for setup, then that's fine, but it certainly isn't obsolete.



You don't need gdisk for GPT partitions. fdisk has been able to handle GPT for years. From the fdisk manpage:

That being said, IMHO, gdisk is easier than fdisk when dealing with GPT.



*sigh* Your ignorance is showing yet again. Slackware is intended to NOT follow the one-app-per-task philosophy. It gives users a lot of options. This is by design. This shows, yet again, that you are not the intended user for Slackware.

If you don't like it, but you still want to stick with a Slackware base, maybe you should look into SalixOS. They do follow the one-app-per-task philosophy while being compatible with Slackware packages.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

A lot of software in Slackware you will never use. So why to polute the system with them?

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier

Indeed, but what the installer can't do is use a wifi connection during installation. This could be useful for instance to propose a timezone based on geoip if possible rather than manually selecting a timezone in a list, as other installers do. I plan to add this feature in next Slint installer, but this will work only if a wired connection can be established. Nowadays there are laptops that lack an RJ45 connector. It goes without saying that a wifi stack would be useful as well to provide a net install.

Originally Posted by chrisretusn

That is quite a laundry list. FYI, I always do the recommended Full Install.


I use nvi and vim, of course not at the same time. Never used elvis but others might.


Well grub at the moment no, but I might need it at some point. As for syslinux, yes I do, PXE server. Lilo is used on all of my computers.


Need? No. xv comes in handy.


I play chess.


I use both with purpose not randomly picking, each has it usefulness.


Many. I've been around a while. I still have stacks of floppies, I'm willing to bet I have some of those archives on them. Of course I no longer have floppy hardware so I can't prove it.


I learned Fortran back in high school (late 60's). I remember Ada from my Navy days. Objective-C reminds me if NeXT, never tried it.

I don't need them, but other Slackware users might need or what them. I use KDE (ktown). Ugly is in the eye of the beholder.

Yes, it has come in handy on occasion as an alternative to Okular.

Yes, a quite useful tool.


Planning no, what have I used? Most often lftp, also use obexftp, occasionally tftp and ncftp, it nice to have a choice.


Well then, I could just use removepkg. I see no reason to do so aside from the fact I use mariadb.


Yes I need. If I didn't I could remove them but I wouldn't. You never know when having them installed might be usefull. Like my current use, to monitory my UPS.

I've dabbled in it. When you mentioned Ada above, Lisp came to mind also.


I use VLC most of the time. Yes gtk+ = 1.2.10-x86_64-7, so what. There may be folk who like and still use xmms. If a lot of these types of packages where pulled it wouldn't save that much in space.


It is pretty awesome. I am glad it's part of Slackware. I would have installed it other wise. I have programs installed that can use it too. Just because it's not needed for everyone does not mean it should go away.

It seems you are looking for a tailored I.G.O.R. Slackware. I agree there are programs that probably are no longer needed. Some of these program are nice to keep around just because, nostalgia, sentimental reasons. Bottom line. Just because I don't use a program doesn't mean it should be gone from Slackware. There are others that do use them. We all use the same distribution. I've been using Slackware since it's early days. I still find useful programs I have not used before in Slackware or got reacquainted with ones I use in the past but forgot about.

If you don't need a program you are free to use 'slackpkg remove' or 'removepkg'.

On this computer I have an additional 761 packages installed that are not currently part of Slackware. Should I complain they are not installed as part of Slackware. Of course not.

I don't have much use for most of Calligra Suite but I see no problem with it being installed. Same goes for Kmail. There are Slackware users that use these programs.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

You have just confirmed all my points and talking about "my ignorance". Are you that bored now?

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

I don't have doubts that they all usefull for different users (with exception of some marginal obsolete garbage like xv or seejpeg). But why to install all of them? I understand that newbies would do that, but it's really weird for Slackware fans who are ready to burn alive anyone who dislikes it.

Originally Posted by bassmadrigal

Yes, I never said you were wrong in that Slackware contains multiple pieces of software for the same task. But what you seem to continually miss is this is by design, not an accident. This is where your ignorance is showing. You seem to think this is some mistake that needs to be fixed, but it is fully intended to have Slackware have multiple WMs/DEs, web browsers, ftp clients, text editors, bootloaders, media players, etc. The user can then choose to use the one they want, and if they aren't sure, they can try multiple programs to find the one they like.

This is like complaining that a 4WD SUV can use all four wheels for traction when you only care about 2WD. 2WD models are available, but you chose to get a 4WD model. Or complaining that a computer comes with a 8-in-1 card reader. Do you really need compact flash, sd, mmc, M2, etc? No, it's likely no customer would use all of those. But it is likely many or all of those will be used across multiple customers. You aren't forced to get a computer that has all of those supported, but you chose to get it.

If you don't like Slackware's multiple-apps-per-task philosophy, no one is forcing you to stick with it. As I said above, SalixOS is based on Slackware and follows the one-app-per-task philosophy.



Because it's so much easier to just do a full install. Yes, I could easily go through my installed programs and remove probably a third to half of them. But my time is more valuable than that and I have a ton of disk space. Why would I care if there's 10 browsers installed if I have plenty of space and those browsers aren't causing me any problem.

I used to also heavily customize my kernel, but long ago, I found it typically wasn't worth the extra effort, so I usually stick with stock kernels (or using Pat's config to build a newer one).

There's nothing wrong with running a slimmed down version of Slackware. Many people do. Most of those people have an understanding of how dependencies work and they can add any required dependencies as they come across them. But Pat has long decided that he is not going to decide how people use their computers, which is why he provides multiple programs for a single tasks. If you don't like having all those programs installed, remove them, but why try and get them removed from the distro itself when you can easily remove them yourself?

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

I don't have doubts that they all usefull for different users (with exception of some marginal obsolete garbage like xv or seejpeg). But why to install all of them? I understand that newbies would do that, but it's really weird for Slackware fans who are ready to burn alive anyone who dislikes it.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

We are talking about different things. I didn't say that grub is better that syslinux, or elvis is better than nvi, or that MPlayer is better than xine. I meant that it's ridiculous to install all the alternatives of one software. Full installation is nonsense.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

You mentioned "Slackware's multiple-apps-per-task philosophy". Unfortunately, this philosophy doesn't apply to Slackware, or at best it's incomplete.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

Obsolete KDE4 is the default DE. /etc/X11/xinitrc broken link points to kde4.xinitrc by default.

Originally Posted by volkerdi

The useless installer would fix that for you.

Originally Posted by I.G.O.R

I don't have doubts that they all usefull for different users (with exception of some marginal obsolete garbage like xv or seejpeg).

Originally Posted by bassmadrigal

Nowhere did I state that you did say that one was better than another (since this is a personal choice and is the opinion of the person making that choice). You might think it's ridiculous to have alternatives of one software, but it is the philosophy of Slackware to provide those and it is Pat's recommendation to do a full install.