For those of you that don't know about Slackware. Slackware is the oldest distro and it is still plenty alive today. When to setup linux on my computer in the early days with other distros (red hat/suse/etc), this would eventually crap up (rpm hell) and give me something unusable. Using Slackware forces you understand how everything works in a linux distro. This lets you fix your own problems.
I know you didn't mean to bring this up as a point against rpm but my ALL TIME MOST HATED PHASE is rpm hell. I still hear people say that they won't use RPM based systems because of RPM Hell which makes me inside want to jump through the screen and shake them and say "Have you ever built a single package?! Because if you ever have you would know this is 100% crap for over 10 YEARS!"
Sure there was a time frame when there was an issue with dependency and it was fixed but everyone treated it like it still was an issue 5+ years later.
Sorry rant over but I just want people to know that RPM issue was just an issue in the early 2000s and Redhat made --redhatprovides and --redhatrequires command line options that if people used them would fix the issues at the time till things got changed with libraries.
It's not the oldest. SLS predates slackware (as do a few others iirc)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softlanding_Linux_System
Slack was awesome back in the day, but the the philosophy as being "as unix like as possible" prevented it evolving and adding nice things like package managers. Using slackware is a good exercise, but I'd never use it for an application I care about.
It was my very first one, Slackware 2 with kernel 1.0.9.
I still remember the main feature being announced was the early support for elf format.
Nowadays after a decade of jumping between OSes, I just settled on Windows, for better or worse, it does better what I need for my work (please don't start a flame war on this).
However I do owe a lot to Slackware, as before it my only access to UNIX were expensive Xenix, Aix and DG/UX workstations at the university.
Slackware is the muscle car of linux distros. If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, it's fast and solid. Plus if you can master Slack, you can waltz into any other distro and not break a sweat.
I've run it on desktops/servers since version 8 and love it. People knock it for not having a "real" package manager, but if you like the control of compiling from source then this doesn't really matter (and you always have the latest versions of any packages available). There's almost always a slackbuild for the project you want. Plus there is the official slackpkg (and slapt-get/swaret for dep resolution as well).
So yeah, it's a bit more work, but I guess for some of us that's fun.
I really want the best for Slackware. I used to be a slacker 1996-2006 and grinded my Linux teeth on it. It escapes me why they don't want to innovate at all with a proper modern package manager. Also they need to remake their website and with that create a decent forum and a decent wiki just like Arch has perfectly done.
Nowadays I don't care at all about knowing every corner of my system. I have applications to manage, languages to learn, money to make and a life to live - so I lazily run Ubuntu on everything.
I still run Slackware on my home/work machines. I find that setting it up once every couple of years and moving my home directory is about all I need.
On the rare occasion software needs to be installed yes, it has to be built from source and it takes a few extra minutes. But you know what? Ubuntu package managers have failed me more than a couple of times. Slackbuilds.org has never once failed to produce a working package for me.
I know people don't want to have to know about every corner of their system. But you don't necessarily need to. Set it up and it works. But if you ever need to you can with Slackware. All the way down without a lot of cruft on top. And that's worth a lot when it's needed.
I guess the point is... I don't spend a lot of time screwing around with my Slackware systems. They are stable, simple and they work. Not dissimilar to the Slackware web site. Lacking over-engineered cruft.
I'm a bit skeptical about the word "modern" these days. slackpkg is a good package manager and does everything you need to keep your system up-to-date. From the slackware website:
"Slackware is designed around the idea that the system should be a complete installation kept updated with any official patches. This avoids the mess of dependencies that some other Linux based GNU systems face."
Why remake the website? The website is clear enough, has links to the Slackware Book and to a mailing list.
I can't tell if "grinded my... teeth" is an accidental error, or an intentional mixed metaphor as a joke. But if it's not intentional then it should be, because I laughed.
I certainly ground my teeth while using Slackware in the 90s too, which is why I switched to Mandrake and then FreeBSD. :P
Yeah, I don't know either. I went as far as to write spkg (spkg.megous.com) in 2006, just to replace the funcionality of pkgtools bash scripts without adding new features. (imporving robustness and speed) I never got any response from the Slackware team. I guess they're just very very conservative.
I loved my Slackware times for the learning experience. But it was hell of a lot of work to use it.
Patrick Volkerding is hesitant about systemd, but not openly hostile, so he has decided to stay away from it for now, but hasn't ruled it out for the future.
People who are set against systemd should probably better look elsewhere (although their options are pretty limited).
Slackware has always had a package manager, from the beginning.
What you probably mean is "does it have a package manager with dependency resolution, yet?". And the answer has been "yes" for years now. Several, actually.
They aren't included in the main installation, but they are widely used.
Slackware does not and very likely will not have dependency resolution. Its package manager is pkg which is a script that explodes a gzipped tarball from root.
[+] [-] warrenmar|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baldfat|10 years ago|reply
Sure there was a time frame when there was an issue with dependency and it was fixed but everyone treated it like it still was an issue 5+ years later.
Sorry rant over but I just want people to know that RPM issue was just an issue in the early 2000s and Redhat made --redhatprovides and --redhatrequires command line options that if people used them would fix the issues at the time till things got changed with libraries.
[+] [-] DeepYogurt|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pjmlp|10 years ago|reply
I still remember the main feature being announced was the early support for elf format.
Nowadays after a decade of jumping between OSes, I just settled on Windows, for better or worse, it does better what I need for my work (please don't start a flame war on this).
However I do owe a lot to Slackware, as before it my only access to UNIX were expensive Xenix, Aix and DG/UX workstations at the university.
[+] [-] kagamine|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orthecreedence|10 years ago|reply
I've run it on desktops/servers since version 8 and love it. People knock it for not having a "real" package manager, but if you like the control of compiling from source then this doesn't really matter (and you always have the latest versions of any packages available). There's almost always a slackbuild for the project you want. Plus there is the official slackpkg (and slapt-get/swaret for dep resolution as well).
So yeah, it's a bit more work, but I guess for some of us that's fun.
[+] [-] johnchristopher|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|10 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] executesorder66|10 years ago|reply
I've only ever installed and used Arch.
[+] [-] unixhero|10 years ago|reply
Nowadays I don't care at all about knowing every corner of my system. I have applications to manage, languages to learn, money to make and a life to live - so I lazily run Ubuntu on everything.
[+] [-] jqm|10 years ago|reply
On the rare occasion software needs to be installed yes, it has to be built from source and it takes a few extra minutes. But you know what? Ubuntu package managers have failed me more than a couple of times. Slackbuilds.org has never once failed to produce a working package for me.
I know people don't want to have to know about every corner of their system. But you don't necessarily need to. Set it up and it works. But if you ever need to you can with Slackware. All the way down without a lot of cruft on top. And that's worth a lot when it's needed.
I guess the point is... I don't spend a lot of time screwing around with my Slackware systems. They are stable, simple and they work. Not dissimilar to the Slackware web site. Lacking over-engineered cruft.
[+] [-] gmrs|10 years ago|reply
"Slackware is designed around the idea that the system should be a complete installation kept updated with any official patches. This avoids the mess of dependencies that some other Linux based GNU systems face."
Why remake the website? The website is clear enough, has links to the Slackware Book and to a mailing list.
[+] [-] acheron|10 years ago|reply
I certainly ground my teeth while using Slackware in the 90s too, which is why I switched to Mandrake and then FreeBSD. :P
[+] [-] crncosta|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fractal618|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] megous|10 years ago|reply
I loved my Slackware times for the learning experience. But it was hell of a lot of work to use it.
[+] [-] chinarulezzz|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ktRolster|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tomte|10 years ago|reply
People who are set against systemd should probably better look elsewhere (although their options are pretty limited).
[+] [-] morb|10 years ago|reply
It might happen in the future, but as of now Slackware (and Gentoo) are those distros that don't have systemd. Some people might like it for that.
[+] [-] jqm|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] digi_owl|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mlvljr|10 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] DeepYogurt|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tomte|10 years ago|reply
What you probably mean is "does it have a package manager with dependency resolution, yet?". And the answer has been "yes" for years now. Several, actually.
They aren't included in the main installation, but they are widely used.
See also http://docs.slackware.com/slackware:package_management
[+] [-] guessbest|10 years ago|reply