“Slackware has always been a developer’s or advanced user’s product. It has simplicity and speed. However, it lacks some of the tools the commercial applications have for administration. So you’ll need an intermediate level of skill for this, particularly working with shell scripts to customize your boot configuration.” Read the article at Linux-Universe. Here is our review with screenshots.
Slackware 9.1: The Experience
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
First post!! I was introduced to Linux 7 years ago via Slackware. Since then I’ve tried most (SuSe, RedHat, Caldera, Gentoo, and Mandrake). Slackware is my favorite and it is not as intimidating as some might suggest. I am no sysadmin but I’ve learned a lot from experience. You just have to know what you’re doing (or be willing to learn) to fully appreciate this awesome distro! And by the way, GNOME users don’t forget to enhance the desktop experience with Dropline GNOME!
When I buy a slachware cdrom from cheapbytes, slackware doesn’t come with all the apps and stuff that I would get with mandrake, or just about any other distro.
I’m still using dial-up.
Yeah, dialup stinks, but the minimalism is the best part about Slackware. It’s much more of a hacker-friendly system–you install the base packages then build from there (more fun than going the other way around…trying to remove all the cruft from a vanilla Mandrake installation is a pain).
What cheapbytes.com needs to do is bundle source tarballs together on a big cd rom full of software. That way anyone could use it providing they know the details of building packages for their distro (not much to it really).
The only problem is that software updates come so fast that you really need a broadband connection with a good port/apt like system to stay current–but if you’re still on dial-up…
1. Dependancy resolution comes down to this. Install app, watch it not load, guess what you missed.
2. There is a genuine lack of packages for some very basic stuff. I end up having to look through google of all things for libraries I need.
3. For all the complaints about rpm people have, it has way more power then tgz files. I might as well be using stow, infact.. I’d perfer it.
vector linux 4.0 just came out… which is based right from slackware…
i guess you can compare vector to slackware like libranet to debian, after you install vector, you are left with a complete slackware system.
i just need to find another test system to try out vector!
I actually find it more irritating to build up from Slackware then it was to trim Mandrake down.
i am mad at ibiblio and other mirrors as they don’t have ISOs for download, the directory is there for the ISOs but NO ISOs, i think they want people to use bittorrent (whatever the heck bittorrent is)
jeeze man.. just go to slackware.com and click “Get Slack”
I used mandrake from version 6.whatever to version 8.something,and even though it came with tons of stuff i ended up compiling my own anyway…. either i didnt like the way things were configured or wanted newer versions (that happens with any setup sooner or later)… i always ended up compiling quite a bit of stuff
i had been using slack 9.0 off and on and ive been quite happy
guess differences are what makes the world interesting though :o)
I switched to kernel 2.6-test6
but alsa, bttv and ne2k-pci aren’t auto loaded on boot
I have to edit modprobe.conf to get the modules loaded on boot.
With kernel 2.4.22 I didn’t had to edit modules.conf
What do I have to chance in the init script and rc.* to get
the hardware auto detected and the rights modules loaded?
//
1. Dependancy resolution comes down to this. Install app, watch it not load, guess what you missed.
//
Every distro has dependancy checking. Its called “LDD”. 😉
“i am mad at ibiblio and other mirrors as they don’t have ISOs for download, the directory is there for the ISOs but NO ISOs”
http://www.linuxiso.org/viewmirrors.php/542
http://www.linuxiso.org/viewmirrors.php/543
ISO files galore.
In order to get your alsa configuration working, just run alsaconf as root. It will install the module configurations in /etc/modules.conf.
For the ethernet card in question add to /etc/modules.conf:
alias ne2k-pci eth0
You will need to make the change for the interface as is appropriate.
The bttv additions to /etc/modules.conf would be something like this for an STB TV-PCI:
options bttv card=3
options tuner type=6
options tvaudio tda9850=0
YMMV so check your bttv documentation and examples with the source.
You can test the dependencies affected by these changes by searching depmod -n for your module references.
Slackware isn’t for everyone. But if you like fast and minimal, and know what you want and don’t want, it is a good choice.
As for updates on Slackware, things are easier with Swaret. YMMV depending on how badly you have been spoilt in the past.
Good review. It’s nice to see someone who actually understands what and why slackware is. Slackware is not for those who wants flashy graphic installers and who dont want to learn how to really use their system. Diversity is good, not every damn distro have to use rpm and sysv init.
One thing though, I dont think it’s fair to “blame” slackware for alsa shortcomings. I too was dissapointed that alsa doesnt do software mixing well (no, the software mixing plugin dmix doesnt work well) but esd/arts will do for tasks that doesnt require split-microsecond timing of the sound. It’s not an exclusive slackware problem though but common to all distros using alsa.
Oh and to the poster above, you usually wont need to run alsaconf if your card is pci and detected by hotplug. My maestro3-based card worked without me ever using alsaconf.
PCI network cards should be autodetected too, although ne2k pci’s might not since they’re pretty much total crap.
Download latest whatever.
./configure
make
make install
……sah-weet.
“Oh and to the poster above, you usually wont need to run alsaconf if your card is pci and detected by hotplug.”
Hotplug worked fine for me, but one of the posters was having trouble with the 2.6 experimental kernel that you can install with 9.1. Sometimes when things like that don’t detect, the override should work. Unless of course, the modules just don’t exist or are linked incorrectly. He did note that things were fine for the 2.4.22 kernel so perhaps the latter is the problem.
Download latest whatever.
./configure
make
make install
……sah-weet.
Bzzz, wrong.
With Slackware, it should be:
Download latest whatever.
./configure
make
checkinstall
……sah-weet.
;>
“Cheapskate” – BitTorrent is an application for distributing large files to many of people efficiently. Well that’s the theory anyway. See: http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/
“GW” – I feel for Cheapskate. The first few days after Slackware 9.1 was released most of those sites had an iso directory, but it was filled with tiny files. The readme said something to the effect, that they didn’t have the bandwidth to host Slack iso’s and you should be using BitTorrent instead.
“Anonymous (IP: —.dsl.pltn13.pacbell.net)” See what I wrote to “GW”.
BitTorrent is a nice idea, in theory. I tried to be a good net citizen and download Slack via a Torrent, but it never worked out. I have ADSl at the house. DL speeds never got over 8-10KB, upload speeds were about the same (I let BitTorrent have the entire pipe to itself, both ways). The worst part was that it would stop with an error message, such as it couldn’t find the tracker, and it would sit there until you clicked “OK”. Once you did that it would resume.
That makes it rather useless for unattended downloads. Start it before you go to bed, check on it 8 hours later, only to find that it popped up an error message 10 minutes after you left and has spent the last 7+ hours waiting for you to say “OK”. Luckily, with perseverance and I guess the actual iso’s finally making it around the net, I managed to find an FTP site in northern Europe that had the actual iso’s for download. Started it before I went to bed (using Leach FTP under Windows2000, great free FTP client for Windows) and by morning 4 shiny iso’s sitting on my hard drive. Average download rate 87KB/sec. It probably finished long before morning.
Now if I can manage to get a few spare hours to install it.
Just my $0.02 (Canadian, before taxes)
someone247356
Interesting experience. I downloaded the two ISOs with Snark on the same weekend and there were no prompts or stoppages. I also got up to peaks of about 64kbps but an average of between 32 kbps and 24 kbps. It took about 3 to 4 hours and I let it go for the rest of the day to share with others.
On ADSL it meant I was maxing out at about 8 kbps to 12 kbps going out.
Not bad I/O for “Down Under”. But I guess it depends on who is around.
Yeah!! What lack of packages. Just download the lates source. Not only are you downloading the latest, but you know what is going into your system. If you need any dependancy, better yet, download it yourself and install it. Againg, this way you know what is going or being installed in your computer. If you are going to complaint about dependanies, and having to install stuff with ./configure, make and make install, then slackware is not your distro; go for Red Hat or Windows. But if you wanna learn to administer a distro that closely resembles real Unix systems, then welcome aboard.
Figa
http://ftp.kpn.be/pub/linux/slackware/slackware-9.1-iso
I’ve probably been on Linux for longer then you have so stop being a damn zealot for a second. Windows has a terrible lack of packages. Have you SEEN what comes with windows? No, I’m obviously talking about the packages that come with the distro. Slackware is missing quite a few that I consider a must. Simple as that. I want to administer a system that closely resembles *me*, not some gold standard. I make decisions about what I like one by one. SO don’t you dare tell me to “Go back to windows”.
oh and sarcasm does not work when you are being disingenuous.
No reason to get like that. It is a simple as: there is not a lack of packages, whatever program is available as a source (EX. tar.gz) can be installed on Slackware. What I am trying to say is that if you depend on an rpm or a tgz package or a distribution package of some sort, then you get what you get; but from source you are not limited, meaning that you can install all available and not only those relesed by your distribution. If you want a distro that manages your software installation and dependancies then go with Red Hat, Debian, Mandrake and or Windows. I dont care if Windows is good or not, that is not in discussion here, it is software and or packages installation and availability. Againg if you don’t wanna take care of your packages on your own then use one of the mentioned above. Still I think Slackware’s pkgtool is exellent for what it does, but installing from source you are aware of what you install on your system.
Peace,
Figa
I could be using tarballs for everything on any distro….