Have Pat voiced his thoughts on his plans for Slackware in the future?

And what direction would you like to see Slackware take?

Personally I'm quite happy with how things are going right now. It's a high quality product, which serves me well. I look forward to every new release, while still being happy about running older releases on my servers. It's fantastic!

If Pat were to ask me to name three things I would like to see added to Slackware, these would be it:

• Official virtualization package (e.g. Virtualbox)
• PostgreSQL
• Slim install option

I think it's pretty clear from my wishes that I'm very happy with Slackware as it stands. The first two items can easily be handled with Slackbuilds and the third is at worst a minor inconvenience.

As a 4th item, I would like to hear a bit about the Slackware stance on 64 bit. Currently I personally have no use for 64 bit, but that might not be the case for other Linux users. I must admit that I do worry a bit about Slackwares future, if 64 bit support aren't in the works.

As far as I understand it, Pat makes a living out of Slackware (subscriptions and the store?), and I can easily see that livelihood vanish in a cloud of dust as people begin to convert to 64 bit OS'es, either out of real or, more likely, perceived necessity. Will he be able to support two Slackware versions, or?

What are your hopes and fears for Slackware?

Regards,
/Thomas

What do you mean by a slim install? Something like a pre-selected assortment of packages for minimal functionality?

As for 64 bit support, the official Slackbuilds all have support for compiling to 64 bit, so it would stand to reason that at some point an official 64 bit variation will be put out. Or at the very least, whichever 64 bit version of Slackware is the best maintained at that point in time might be given Pat's blessing (in the same way that GNOME is now maintained, or even LQ itself being the recognized Slackware support forum).

Considering that slackware is server material, it's almost shocking that there isn't a 64 bit version yet. Then again, it's shocking that slackware is still compiled for the i486 arch (though it's tuned for i686). Well in that respect, windows 32bit is i386! I think the real head ache is figuring out the proper build order for every package... Now if only that was documented in an updated slackware essentials.

I would hope slackware would officially support 64 when the market is ready for full 100% 64 no 32 bit support.

Pfft...What do you mean are there any known plans for the future? I don't worry about issues like this at all. In my brief experience using Slackware (version 10.0) I've found that Mr. Volkerding charts a clear course for our favourite OS.

I don't have much concern on how Slackware is going right now, and not in a hurry for 64-bit Slackware, but I do like the idea of an official included package of Sun's VirtualBox.

Yea, something like that. You then manually install whatever else you want from there.

It's not really a big deal, but it would be nice to have, IMHO.

Well, I worry about it. I use Slackware extensively in my business, so yes, it is important to me to know a bit about where Slackware is going. I've invested valuable time in learning how to manage Slackware in a corporate enviroment (small business, but still a business).

So yea, to me Slackware is way more than just another OS on just another desktop. It has become in integral part of my professional life also.

I have to think ahead, because my livelihood depends on me making the right decisions, and in order for me to do that, I need knowledge about the things I use daily.

But please, don't take this as bashing Slackware or the maintainer(s). I utterly enjoy working with Slackware, and the community is great. But perhaps I'm the only one using Slackware professionally? I've got 11 Slackware 11 servers, 4 Slackware 12 servers, 6 Slackware 12.1 desktops and I'm in the slow process of moving 2 Windows servers and 12 Windows desktops to Slackware. Sure, it's not a Google sized hardware setup, but it's been carefully crafted to fit my specific needs, and I've spend many hours learning how to manage this distro in my enviroment. I care about Slackware, and where it's going.


/Thomas

For 64-bit there's slamd64. Works great, I'm using it right now. Only thing left is for Pat V. to nominate it as "official".

First of all id like KDE to dissappear and make room for more important stuff. Some legacy packages from the series gone too. eg. too many windows managers, and some stuff from AP/.
Openoffice added.
Some way to be easier to install applications with many dependencies built easily. eg. openoffice (built not repackaged), vlc etc. I am not talking about another package manager. I absolutely adore pkgtools. Its the best package management i have ever used. But this one is IMO its only drawback. But a major one.
More kernel upgrades in -current.
Pure 64bit when the time comes.

Oh yeah, and upgrade to newer bash versions, even though i am a zsh user.
That pretty much sums it up.

The thing I'd like to see most is a reorganisation of what packages are in each of the filesets. This would also meet peoples desire for a 'slim' option if done cleverly.


Is 64bit really that much of an issue for people? How many of us have a single application that needs more than a 4GB address space to run in anyway?


As for Slackware's future, I don't really understand Slackware's current situation. Slackware is a commercial operation, yet unlike Redhat, SUSE or Ubuntu, there's only Pat and you can't buy Enterprise support from him. It's not aimed at end users, unlike Ubuntu or SUSE, and it seems its niche is to cater to traditionalists like ourselves who still believe in basic no-frills UNIX/KISS principals. I'm surprised there are enough of us left who still think this way for Pat to make it pay as a going concern as it is!

You could customize the installation process.
Need packages? Why not build them yourself. Or you could check the slackbuilds.org. If not intend to, you'd better follow the *ubuntus.
Yeah, 64 bit release, IMOH, is an important part of future Slackware.

I do build them myself. I build quite a few packages myself. It's part of why I like Slackware: It's fairly easy to create new packages.

BUT!

I'm certain I wouldn't be using Slackware if I had to build each and every package myself. I like that most of the packages are officially supported by Pat and whomever help him maintain Slackware.

Adding Virtualbox and PostgreSQL to the list of officially supported packages is a wish of mine. It's something I would like to see happen, but if it doesn't, I'll just keep on building them myself.

As for customizing the installation process: I don't think I have sufficient skills to do something like that. Sure, I could create my own tag files, but I would worry about whether I had left something out by mistake.

And Ubuntu really isn't my thing. If I should ever be forced to leave Slackware, I would probably go for one of the BSD's.


/Thomas

It's really quite simple. If you like Slackware enough that you want it to survive, and you have the money to spare, you should support Pat by donating at the Slackware Store or buying a DVD/CD set there.
If you do not have the money to spare but still wish Slackware a long life, then spend some time in the public forums to help new users getting acquainted with Slackware.

No Slackware sales will mean the end of Slackware as we know it. Pat would have to find a paid job and the hours available for Slackware R&D would shrink to nothing.

Eric

With a wife that compiles kernels and a child trained from birth in the intricacies of Slackware, I think that the future of Slackware looks stellar!
I fervently hope that the recent lack of activity in the ChangeLog indicates quality family time for the Volkerding family.

Exactly. Well-said, Eric. I don't need the CD set as I can download it free on-line. But, I bought 12.1 from the Slackware store. I will continue to pay Mr. Volkerding in some fashion by making donations at the store, buying his software, t-shirts, etc.
I think when Mr. Volkerding issues a new release we should all pay him in some way, even if it a nominal amount. Pay him what you can afford.
This will ensure that our favourite software is here in the years to come.