Many of today’s new Linux users wouldn’t have a clue as to who Patrick Volkerding is. For the brigade whose main arguments are over the merits of this GUI and that, the word Slackware wouldn’t ring a bell either. But for many others who jumped on the Linux bandwagon when it was exclusively for geeks, Volkerding is a hero. In early 1993, he started the distribution called Slackware which was basically an attempt to address many of the problems people faced with SoftLanding System Linux, the first and only commercial Linux at the time. Read the interview at TheAge.
The Linux Distribution that’s Always in the Black
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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I’ll have to read the interview later because hte page isn’t coming up for me at this time.
As for Slackware, somebody needs to tell the Slackware team to update the figgin’ docs on their homepage. On the page about configuring XFree86, they include things (like XF86Setup) that haven’t been included in Slackware since version 7. This is just an indication of how dated this distro is compared to the newer distros. Not quite as dated as Debian (as far as packages go), but still pretty dated
Actually, I used to use Slack, until I learned that the newer distros would auto-detect most of my hardware (including sound & printer), when Slack would do none of this.
If Slack does have anything going for it, it would be the pkgtool .. I really liked this package manager, more so than RPM.
Slackware, haven’t seem them in the news for a LONG time.
The interview is pretty much in Patrick style. Hang in there!
Slackware is very simple and stable, that’s why I liked it. And there is the directory Layout (very Unix).
I always was pissed because this distro didn’t (doesn’t) include a keyboard layout on installation time.
AFAIK the docs are currently being updated though slowly
I use Slackware on my server, and I’m really waiting for 9.0 to come up (we are at beta now).
Just wish there was XBill and XPilot in the packages (or maybe I missed them :^)
I use Slackware since somewhere around 1996, and I still love it. Imagine a complete linux newbie, trying to compile the heap of (whatever) that KDE was back then 🙂
Needless to say it’s still my preferred Linux (I tried SuSE since I’m from Germany, Debian and YellowDog).
Thanks to dropline.net I also have Gnome 2.0 support. And what I like most: no funny setup program trying to always disable my carefully tweaked settings.
And still my prefered
Slackware is NOT dated as you say. The website yes. The distro No. I’ve been using slackware for many years and have to say that if it disappeared (which it wont) I would either roll my own or move completly to FreeBSD.. Nothing against all the hard work of the other distros, more power to them. As a matter of fact I’m certainly glad most of them ARE around for one reason or another. Just one persons opinion. But to say its dated as far as the software included in the current version is completly false. GO PATRICK =)
Once you learn it, you will always want to use it.
You’ve probably heard this before, “I tried other distros but I keep coming back to Slackware”.
This is very true in my case, I am currently using Slack8.1, I have a k6-2 450Mhz with 384MB RAM. Any other distro I have used always performs sluggishly on my hardware.
I have tried most Redhats including 8(null). KDE was pretty fast on it. But on Slackware the total package seems always faster.
The only problem is the version of KDE it ships with is unstable at times, so I am looking forward to Slack9 because of the updated KDE.
I always backup my config file such as XF86Config, and I create a list of things to do to setup after a reinstall.
I tried other distros but I keep coming back to Slackware
yup, thats me! started back in ’95 when slack was what everybody was runing. mucked about with debian and all recently but the package managers i’ve seen have serious weaknesses. they can’t figure out if you’ve built a package on your own, or they decide to write over your .conf file next time you boot or that your version of python shouldn’t be default and place a symlink to an older version.
The only problem is the version of KDE it ships with is unstable at times
i don’t know i don’t use any of that but my wife never complains about slackware’s kde stability… i’m more looking forward to gcc 3.2
you never go back…
But seriously. MY Fav distro by far and I have honestly tried so many. I would say 20. And not just load, didn’t like, format. I gave them all time as my main Server at home as I run a Consulting Biz and I needed to determine which one I would stand behind.
So I now always go with Slack for my customers. It is the warm friend I can turn to when I need it. I just hate when the needs of a new client make Microsoft my only choice. I just don’t get as excited. So I come home from them and ssh into my Slack servers..
I continue to still try other distros and slack is the standard to measure against. I just WISH he would finally move to default build of 586 or even 486 instead of the fossilized dinosaur 386.
I started using Linux when I picked up the March ’93 Slackware release from Walnut creek and got FVWM up-n-running on my 486 DX-33 while I was in primary school. I slowly taught myself everything from kernel-compiling to X configuration in Vi (back then that was the only way to go, I seem to remember).
Since then, I have tried RedHat, Mandrake, Suse, Suse and some other distros, but Slackware has always been my favourite. By the time I was fooling around with other distros I already knew how Slackware worked and it felt the most comfortable distro.
The only gripe I have is that updates are a good few months apart, so if some huge package gets updated (like X or KDE), I can either (a) wait for the next Slack release; or (b) Download the source over my 33.6k modem and compile. Guess which one I choose? Yep, by the time I d/l and compile, there’s another Slack release 🙂
Nuts to an X-based installer! On some of the video cards I’ve had over the years, X refused to run, so I would have been unable to install most distros. Besides, show me someone who finds the Slackware installer too difficult, and I’ll show you someone who can’t read an explanatory paragraph and follow those instructions.
I gave Slackware to a mate who couldn’t install WinNT 4.0 because he couldn’t get through the installer, and the next day he called me to say Slackware was up-and-running. He now writes MySQL apps as a contractor for Telstra (the major telco in Australia). Unfortunately, I think he switched to some other distro, because he wanted KDE2 a few years ago and couldn’t wait for the next Slackware release. And he couldn’t be bothered downloading it through his cable connection.
well everyone saying it’s fast on old stuff and so forth what about gentoo??
Slackware was the first linux distribution I used. I didn’t know that there are large number of people who still use it.
Interesting interview.
I’ve never used Slackware, but really like Patrick’s attitude about things.I’ll have to try it out just for that 🙂
after the Slackware ISO I burned wouldn’t boot, I dled and burned gentoo… If you have a FAST computer or just have a LOT of time on your hands gentoo is great! Fast,Stable,Reliable. But, I got tired of it once Mozilla took an entire night to download and compile on my 566Mhz Celeron ;256MB RAM ;Cable internet connection.
havn’t gotten to try Slackware though =(
In fact, I just wish that the application profile of Slackware was the same as in UnitedLinux. Slackware is the cleanest, easiest Linux distribution to manage. Sure, you have to know what you’re doing, but generally speaking, you need much less knowledge than with, for example, RedHat or Suse, which are good for a beginner but are a hell to troubleshoot. With Slackware, with only a little effort, you will learn where a certain config file is and what it does, and you will feel that it all makes sense. In addition, these things don’t change as Slackware goes from version to version. Unlike RedHat, that keeps revolutionizing their configuration stile and files.
I must admit that I am very sympathetic to the spirit of UnitedLinux, and was hoping that Slackware would join the bunch. Slackware was one of the first to join and supportthe LSB initiative.
Budman wrote:
> Once you go slack, you never go back…
Budman, you just made my personal osnews quote-of-the-week.
I’m a complete newbie in linux ( started last year ) and I must say that slackware is so much easier to learn than mandrake. This probably doesn’t make sense, but I find it easier to learn the inner workings of an os before moving up to a more advanced computer experience. The way I started is to just have a full install and first learn how to navagate through the console. After that, I learn to have the luxury of using mice and sound, and before I knew it, I have now a gui and compile my own kernels. I must say I love the learning curve of slackware, and other distros like mandrake only hinder my learning experience by spoiling me with auto detection
Originally posted by Gumby
well everyone saying it’s fast on old stuff and so forth what about gentoo??
I have never tried Gentoo. I don’t know I can’t imagine it to be that much faster. But then again when you have old hardware I think it is easier to notice the difference in perfomance.
eg. I wrote earlier that Slack 8.1 still feels faster than Redhat 8 with its gcc3.2
Also I have read articles before about package managers. But has OSNEWS ever mentioned anything about slackwares tgz. I think slackwares is the best method (I don’t know of any disadvantages.
But anyway for example. It is really easy to install something. I just wished I could find more packages out there on the net for some programs I am interested in eg. Mplayer
I have also noticed by untarring those tgz files a directory structure where I assume is where everything goes in the system. Does anyone reckon this can be enhanced for newbies? It is easy enough as it is to install, but how about a graphical front end for it as well.
I still don’t understand why the popular distros are based on a certain version of Redhat. Slackware is easier. For a beginner like me (even though I have used linux on and off since Redhat 5.2) I have found the slackware the most logical and easiest to understand distro. There is always a learning curve initially with linux, therefore why not go with slackware then you will know how the system works to a certain level and you will know where to find some config files.
When my University does and introduction on how to install/administer a linux system they always teach using slackware.
It’s good to see Slack getting some recognition, in spite of all the noisy marketing machines in the Linux world. Slackware is the place where Linux and FreeBSD meet, and perhaps even have a coffee together ;-). The configuration and layout is *unix*, of all things, and it just works.
I started my unix experience with RedHat 5.0, and played with Linux for a year or so, before finding out about FreeBSD (also playing with other “real” Unixes like Solaris). I immediately loved FreeBSD as a server, but was still a little frustrated trying to use it as a workstation. The Linux side seemed to have the desktop thing worked out a little smoother. But, all the other problems I kept having with Linux were too much, (dependency problems, versioning, stability, etc…) so I gave up on Linux. But then a fellow FreeBSD-er mentioned Slackware, and I now have two favorite free *nixes.
The thing I like about Slackware is that I can be up and running quickly, with no silly X-based installer, and without massive bloatware defaults. But, the desktop still comes together really nicely. In fact, I have found Slackware as a desktop to work in instances where RedHat and Mandrake just failed. For example, trying to install on a laptop with some weird 2.5 MB Neomagic graphics card (I know…). With the other distros, and even FreeBSD, I simply couldn’t get X to work. I figured I would try the X framebuffer driver, but with all of the other distros there is no single easy comprehensible way to just… use the framebuffer. With Slackware? No problem. The installer actually _asked_ me if I wanted to use the framebuffer, and then it did me the bigger favor of asking me if I wanted my terminal session to use the framebuffer too. So, I ended up with a full X desktop, and a nice 800X600 terminal, instead of the usual 640X480. (Woohoo! Geek heaven…). This should be a default option on all other Linuxes.
So now, I still tend to use FreeBSD as a server, but I use Slack for the desktop, and to work with Linux-specific stuff, such as the DBMS packages that are still Linux-only (Oracle, Sybase, etc…). These days, I always just take the path of least resistance and say “yes” to the framebuffer question. I know that this technically reduces graphic performance, but I am using this to get work accomplished, not play video games. Plus, I like having a 1280 x 1024 terminal.
Yes, Slackware can be accused of similar image problems as FreeBSD: it’s not as sexy as RedHat or Mandrake. PFFTT!!! If you want a sexy Unix, go get Mac OS X. I want a system that works, and doesn’t make me fool around with inconsistent layouts, changing default locations, bloatware, and everything else that I see happening with ‘el Sombrero Rojo’, among others. It’s also interesting to note that most of this is integrated by one person. Go Patrick!!
And, yes, Slackware isn’t as helpful with documentation, howtos, and various other niceties. Oh, well… I will take a distro that focuses on bug-fixing first any day. The only possible gripe I can have is that Slackware doesn’t have a package manager as useful as the FreeBSD ‘ports’ system. (I hear that Gentoo is doing some interesting things in this area). If you have never used the FreeBSD ports system, don’t even bother to comment on this, please.
Need to get some serious work done? Want to learn how Unix works? Use Slackware. Enough said.
The Slackware package manager is actually very simple: it’s a tar.gz file with a manifest. That’s all, basically. It doesn’t have dependancy checking, it doesn’t have bundles, filesets, obsoletes lists, etc. However, neither does RPM have bndles, filesets and obsoletes.
The reason why Slackware package manager works so well is that Slackware Linux is not just pushed together like a pile of crap but knowingly assembled so that dependancy problems are avoided as much as possible (the Linux disease) and also, with Slackware it’s really easy to install or remove any package. Sure, you can break something, but that’s the phylosophy of Slackware: you have to know what you are doing. My experience is that you are less likely to hose your system with Slackware package manager, than with RPM. RPM is still just a half-assed package manager when compared to the real thing (like SD-UX in HP-UX or the Solaris package manager), and the haphazard development of Linux just doesn’t work well with a package manager that weak. In Slackware, most of the work in figuring out the dependancies is left to you the user, because that’s actually safer than having it done by RPM.
There are a couple of projects that will make the Slackware package manager more powerful, like installing packages off the Internet. I hope they still keep the Slackwarephilosophy: simpler is better.
“I figured I would try the X framebuffer driver, but with all of the other distros there is no single easy comprehensible way to just… use the framebuffer. With Slackware? No problem. The installer actually _asked_ me if I wanted to use the framebuffer, and then it did me the bigger favor of asking me if I wanted my terminal session to use the framebuffer too. So, I ended up with a full X desktop, and a nice 800X600 terminal, instead of the usual 640X480. (Woohoo! Geek heaven…).”
Actually, from my experience with Slack, the ONLY way I could get X working starting with the 8.0 release was to enable the framebuffer server. (I used to use XF86Setup in 7.x, but they mercilessly took that out with XFree 4. None of the other utils in 8.x would work for me.)
Anything else and it would just totally glitch out. However, I was not aware that you could tell the console not to use the framebuffer settings, as I found it highly annoying to have a console that was 1024×768 (I do not have very good eyes) .. I must’ve missed that option!
BTW – what the hell is a ‘framebuffer server’ anyway??
Excellent summary of Slackware.
I’ve been a user of Slackware on and off since version 2.3.
In the past I was tempted by Redhat, but it would not work with my hardware… in fact my hardware at the time was so boringly common that it killed the Redhat installer. That put me off of Redhat for good.
I tried Mandrake last year on a newer machine…similar results…a huge install that didn’t work. Why is it that all of these slick GUI installers can’t handle ISA network cards? Slack can handle them…
I can always depend on Slackware to install AND work with my hardware.
I like Slackware because AFAIC, it is the Linux distro that is closest in it’s layout to a real UNIX environment.
I also like FreeBSD; if Pat ever came up with a “ports collection” for Slackware, it would be the ultimate distro
I’ve been using Slackware since 2001. We had that time, “Rock in Rio”, a music festival.
Once, one friend and i were talking and then i said: “You know, i am tired about using my Conectiva linux” (used to be a Red Hat clone, still is?)
He said to try out Debian or Slackware. I told him that i was afraid of using slackware because i was a newbie, and then he gave me the guts to try it.
I must say. It was the best OS choise i’ve ever made. With Slack, i realy felt what is a Unix-like. I learned a lot, and i am still in it! I’ve even started to built my own packages (just X11 packages, Kde, Window Maker, Gftp, etc…).
Is exactly what Budman said: “Once you go slack, you never go back…”
You are in a point of no return! =)