No, you can get it from Robbie Workman, though (rlworkman.net/pkgs/sources/current/xfce/), but just like KDE/Plasma5 they're not (yet?) an official part of -current.

I switched to Slackware64-current a few years ago.
As a precaution, I install/update the packages on a test server and then on the production server. I had a few problems with Dovecot and a little more work on changing Perl to a major version.
I will try to stay with Slackware64-current even after the release of Slackware 15.0, so we will be at least two.

And when systemd makes its way into Slackware, I may have to retire.

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It's definitely not a "when" right now, only an "if"

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Systemd has become the standard for linux distros. No doubts, there will be a time when it is difficult to ignore it. It will quickly become tedious to patch all the applications which assume systemd as a strict compile and runtime dependency.

Not today or tomorrow, but in a 5-10 years.

More or less .. about a quarter of all Linux distributions still don't use it, and that includes the most popular Linux distribution in use today (Android).

Maybe, maybe not. People have been predicting that since it took Debian, and hard dependencies have been few and far between so far. Most projects (like MySQL) support it in a way which defaults to the standard behavior when systemd isn't there, and our luminous Alien Bob has done a great job of weeding out the dependencies in KDE (whose developers have gone all-in for systemd).

It might happen, but a lot can happen in that time. We might yet see a backlash, a hard fork of the ecosystem, or other game-changing development. Consider how much has transpired since 2010; if anything the next ten years will be even more tumultuous.

We shall see. In the meantime, it's good to have contingency plans.

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There are a lot of smart people who have been working to allow distros to keep systemd free if desired. There's a possibility that they will be able to keep programs available to keep systemd as a whole out of distros. We just don't know yet.

So, 5-10 years from now, it is possible that Slackware will have to implement systemd, but it's also possible that those smart people will continue to excise components as needed to allow distros to leave systemd itself out of the distro.

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There was a time when I really did need systemd in Slackware. During that period of time I used Ubuntu quite a bit and became familiar with it. I tried Mint and found it impossible for me to co-exist with Mint. I found lots of problems with Ubuntu that were not any trouble at all with Slackware. I tried Kali and didnt find the source of all the excitement. I eventually found some alternatives that did not require systemd and now I am better off. Fortunately there are more and more alternatives around that do not require systemd, so at the moment, the need for systemd has become a non-issue.

I have found that in general, Linux works better for me than Windows and Linux based solutions are more powerful and resilient than the windows alternatives. There are some tools that are Windows-based for which presently I lack the expertise, time, and/or will to develop my own alternative solution in Linux, so I keep Windows10 on my machine and boot with rEFInd. I have some lab machines that run win7 because of some software that is incompatible with Windows10. There is no real place for a puristic attitude about software and operating systems in my life and work. We have to get things done.

Slackware 64-current is my daily driver. I'm sort of a tinkerer so I don't mind the occasional hick-ups and ...,
but really, -current is at least as stable as win10 and much more stable than win7.
I might have a different attitude if I were running a server and managing a gaggle of users, but presently I wouldn't hit the reset button for a -stable- release and I am sticking with -current as long as I can.

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Smart people? Well, unreasonable stubborness is not a smart trait. Systemd is not that big deal comparing possible efforts and consequences of staying away from it. Especially for distro minorities.

If Mr. Volkerding decides to implement that init system I will not be upset. Mr. Volkerding has a proven track record of sane development decisions; I've happily used Slackware for 16 years. I trust and appreciate our Maintainer.

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Although a few years ago I didn't want to hear about PAM in Slackware, it still happened, I accepted that and now it seems OK.
I agree with the I.G.O.R regarding:
I just hope that the implementation of systemd will be delayed a bit, at least a few years!
Mr. Volkerding will have to make some decisions for the future of Slackware.

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I guess no matter what, the topic of systemd will always come up, so I will again throw my in. With regards to this init system, in principle I am not against it. Again though whether it has any real improvement over traditional inits seems like even now the jury is still out on that. Those who are probably exposed to systemd by default from another distro probably would swear by it, assuming there is no bias either or against systemd which is fine. My only issue that everyone has noticed is that systemd seems to have just been thrust upon some distros who pretty much have just gone with it almost no questions asked (Red Hat, Ubuntu, Fedora, etc), to where you see a schism in some distros i.e. Debian and a fork from that by old devs - Devuan, so again to say that systemd is controversial is also saying water is wet, well no shit.

I think perhaps from a neutral perspective, a distro should be able to utilize any init and not have a requirement of a specific type. Now in the Debian is debating that and offering several options to make either systemd an option with other init systems, to even supporting other inits alongside which I do not know how feasible that is, also right now I am sorry that I cannot seem to offer a link to that exact mailing list on that very topic. The main fear from what I see is that some perhaps see systemd as the defacto init, and no other inits will even be possible, and that is already true to a point as other distros like Fedora, Ubuntu as an example simply at this point will no longer even function or function properly without systemd. So the fear of lock-in is real.

Plus again it does seem concerning to me that other projects have already bent to the will of systemd as a dependency, i.e GNOME etc. As for PAM the comparison to that of systemd is perhaps incorrect obviously since PAM is not an init system, systemd is. The bigger issue is unlike PAM, hopefully systemd will never be so entrenched as to one day all distros will just have to use only systemd - that would be unfortunate.

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Ok, after much searching I found the actual link I was referring to: https://lwn.net/Articles/806332/ -- I do applaud the team for this in this aspect, but obviously it came too late as seasoned devs left to form Devuan. Also again though, whether or not some of the options listed will be feasible is not known, even though Debian does have an advantage of having a lot of devs, unlike other distros such as Slackware.


From that link, this is what I was referring to Debian was / still(?) considering with regards to systemd:

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Gentlemen, you are kind to stop this crap about systemd?

I believe that it will not be adopted by Slackware in the near future as there is probably absolutely no need for. Yet.

I am not a developer, and I cannot guarantee that after the next 40 years, Mr. Poettering would not be hired as Chief Architect of Slackware 40.0 with SkynetD as init system...

However, I trully believe that everybody shall feel relieved, because that probably will happen long after your own lifespan expectancy will conclude...

Or, you expect to live another 150 years?

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Why not? Only so that I can call out climate alarmists with their "muh climate change - we'll all be dead in xx years" , yet year after year we are still here; but I suppose now I am going way off topic, so I digress .

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Agreed. As you said, let's drop that topic, shall we?
Let us get back on topic. I think the Slackware version of KDE5 will be pleasant to use. I am glad that Mr. Volkerding is getting it right as he adds new features.

1. 5.4 x kernel (check)
2. KDE5 (incoming)
3. XFCE 4.14 (incoming)

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