Why does everyone prefer Slackware?
 

I realize that this question will generate a lot of responses but....

No matter where I go in LQ I keep on hearing great things about Slackware. I am thinking of trying it out. I was just wondering why everyone liked it so much. Is it simple to use? Does it come with better features? Is it more secure? I just got SuSE 9.1 up and going so I am nervous about installing another distro and I want to know more about Slackware before I try it. Your input is appreciated.

It's considered the most UNIX-Like of the Linuxes. It doesn't come with GUI-based config tools (unless you count ncurses :) ). It's great because you control everything from scripts and config files.

Also slackware forces you to dive right into the guts of linux. You learn more in a week on slack than you do in a year on most popular distros (redhat, suse, etc). I love it because I now know how to fix my own problems and can help other users get through thiers.

To tell the truth I think you can look at slackware as the same as joining a frat. You have to get through hell week but once you do your smooth sailing for the rest of your years there. Slackware has been called the hardest distro to learn. I think it's actually pretty simple as long as you understand the basics of linux. If you can make it through hell week in slack then you will love slack for a long time :D

Just my thoughts on the matter...

I have been in the Linux quadrant for almost 4 years, and have tried many distros. It's my experience Slackware is a unique distro. Let me sum up Slackware: it's clean, stable, fast, responsive and very well documented. Sure, you will have to manually edit a few files, but it's easy. The two most likely files you'll need to edit are: /etc/inittab and /etc/X11/xorg.conf. You'll also need to install swaret which makes the system uptodate. Some people might be intimidated by Slackware's text-based install, but it's easy and logical.

You can definately live without Swaret - I have, as have many others. I don't really plan on using it.

well for me its because of speed.....im all about performance.

Slack rocks. Rather than take other people's word for it, why not try it yourself? You can preserve your existing Suse installation but making the PC a dual boot, with Suse and Slack. That's what I've got on one of my machines and it's pretty sweet. I say go for it, and Welcome to LQ

This guide will give you an excellent preview of what to expect during the Slackware install. I'd also recommend you take a look at the Slackware book -- J.W.

i'm a sworn true-believer in SuSE...but i installed slack 10 on an empty partition about a week ago, and i haven't used another distro since...it just works...well. i'm totally loving it!!!
it installed quickly, i had no config problems that i couldn't handle on my own... and any problems i had i found the answers to here...give it a try. i think you'll be impressed...

I tried Mandrake and Red Hat on and off over the past couple of years due being easy to get up and running. They both worked fine but I never really understood Linux. Mostly was driving to force my Windows understanding onto Linux.

I can tell you that if you take the time to learn how to get Slack installed and configured, your understanding of how Linux works will increase greatly. If you're a fairly literate user, it's really not that hard.

There's just something about it. I recently tried it out on a laptop after using Redhat and Gentoo previously, and I am just loving Slack. The main reason? I guess you could say it just works. No fluff, either. It seems like it's made for the power user. Edit the config files, restart the processes by hand, and you're in business. Plus if you're insane like me and actually enjoy compiling, it's fun in that respect when you get to add programs.

I think it's nice that Slackware doesn't mess with all the software it installs. Gnome and KDE look like they would look if you downloaded the sorce and compiled it yourself. When you want to do something with a program (i.e configure it or get it running right) you can look at the software's web page and know that their instructions apply to you, because Slackware hasn't played with the software .

Since packages are pretty simple in slack, I assume you find packages for everything or I am wrong ? Is kino 7.3 available for example ?

You can either install from source which is the .tar.gz file available or go to this website and download it in a slackware .tgz package

http://www.linuxpackages.net/search_...=kino&ver=10.0

In short, yes there is a slackwage build available for it.

I personally prefer slackware, because it does not taint KDE or GNOME they way Redhat/Mandrake do, and that they offer software the way it was made by the creators,

I love Slackware also because it is extremely flexible and it's packaging system .tgz is also easy to use, think of RPM-Hell

Personally I like slackware, because it taught me linux. Other distros will just help you install and use linux. (well maybe except for LFS, which taught me more about linux but of course slack prepared me for LFS).

Yes, some distros, like debian can help you install packages with apt-get, but IMHO, it is always better to make your own packages from source (with checkinstall) and manage your own dependencies. Anyway, you can always use programs like slackpkg, slapt-get and swaret to update your system.

And although I have other distros installed, I only use my slack (occasionally chroot to my LFS to install something). Most of the others, just for my own education.

So try slack, it's a great distro to learn linux from. And I guarantee, you'll love the way it lets you control everything.