Slackware 8.1 rc1 Announced

Demerol writes with word that "about 12 hours ago, Patrick announced the that Slackware is now in Release Candidate stage in preparation for the long-awaited 8.1 release. Hundreds of updated to the current tree in the last few months have had all the slackers drooling, and now it is almost upon us. Now, I don't want to hear any more talk of Slackware being dead. Thanks. ;) Here is the ChangeLog and the Userlocal announcement"

Re:bah

[Baki]

Have you looked at the package list? It is one of the most up-to-date Linux distributions in fact; just look at the package versions and compare to any other Linux distribution. All this coming from one man, and offering the most stable and understandable Linux distribution is truely amazing.

Re:bah

[or_smth]

Why do you think people love it so much?

It's simple, quick, has a decent interface for installing (non-graphical, non-slow) and once you get it up and running, it is running. It was one of the few distrubutions left where you can get it up, upgrade the kernel to whatever the hell you want and it will [b]still[/b] run. It knows it's target group and delivers.

Packages are good, decently up to date (now) and are not overkill. I couldn't be more pleased

I'm a slackware whore! too bad slackware.com sucks

[fire-eyes]

I'm a slackware whore. I sure wish someone would update slackware.com once in a while, pretty sad that some other site has news on this before there's a peep of it on slackware's own web site.

I've used 8.1-beta2 at work, I love it.

One man show

[m_evanchik]

What really amazes me about slackware is that it really does seem to be a one-man show.
This is reassuring to me. It's good to know that there really is one authoritative voice on at leat one distro.
It lacks bells and whistles and requires some expertise, which is why I couldn't stick with it, but philosophically, it appeals to me.

Why Slackware?

[Lord Ender]

Some people may be wondering why someone would use slackware when there are distros like Mandrake which have a graphical configuration utility for everything. There is a very good reason: to learn about Operating Systems and about Linux. To change a configuration in Slackware, you have to edit text files. But that's not really bad, because Slackware has amazing comments in the config files. You are encouraged to learn the filesystem and the config file structure. If you want to learn Linux as opposed to simply use Linux, run Slackware!

Re:Why I don't use Slackware anymore...

[Lispy]

Hmm...yes I feel the same way. The only major problem of slack is the lack of a decent packaging system. Even though I favor debians apt over RedHats Package Management.
I also have to say that in fact Slack IS the best way to learn about Linux (and BSDUnix) and whenever a friend wants to switch from windows to linux i tell him to use Slack. He probably has only heard about Redhat or SuSE but i believe using tools to do the job wont help much when further problems arise.

cu,
Lispy

The mood of comment

[zdzichu]

The new slack is coming. Great.

But what is more important - it still has users that loves slack.
Look at comments here! There are no angry posts. Almost everyone claims almost love to slackware, even users that had to go away from slackware. They were made to leave slack, but they still love it.

There are no post like BSD is dying, there are no troll or flamebaits commonly accompaning RedHat or Mandrake releases. Everyone seems to have warm feelings about Slack.

I think that slackware has one of best userbase around here.
Go slack!

Slackware has packages...

[bonch]

Oh, please. As you know, Slackware has its own package management system, the same one it uses to install with. glibc, bash, and so forth *are* installed via binary packages. No need to recompile. Just follow slackware-current.

I upgraded KDE 2.2.1 to KDE 3.0.1 just by downloading the packages and using upgradepkg. I've also upgraded the kernel, a bunch of my X apps, and even X itself. All without compiling.

I should probably point this out--I'm an idiot. I probably shouldn't even be using a Linux system. But someone like me got Slackware Linux up and running and using all my devices. Wasn't hard at all. And now I have no reason to use Windows except to run certain games.

Then again, maybe I'm just ignorant since I haven't used any other distros since I first used Slackware 4.0. I guess I don't need to try the others when I've already got the best. :)

(shameless plug) Slackersguild [slackersguild.com] will always use Slackware... ;)

More power to Slackers!

[unixmaster]

As All slackers know "Simplicity is the Divine" A LinuX distro who really saw linux kernel 0.99.15 in its first release!

Now troll on this if you can!

Re:slackware is the best newbie distro!

[Zo0ok]

Actually, when I first installed Linux in 1998 i considered lots of distros (Debian, Caldera, RH, Slackware, and probably some more). Finally I installed Slackware because that was the only distribution that had an installation procedure that felt... solid (and worked from floppies). I had never used Linux, and had only little experience of Solaris from University. In a month I had Slackware 3.6 running on a Compaq LTE 5300 laptop. The PCMCIA modem worked. The TFT-display worked. I downloaded tarballs and recompiled my kernel.

I dont think I would have made it with another distribution. Whats so good with Slackware is that if something does not work, then you know it is your fault. There is always something you have done wrong, or something you dont know or understand. I'm a pretty experience Windows user, and when things dont work in Windows, its always Windows fault (Its true!). Its never slackwares' fault! I find it much more reassuring to know that solving a problem is just a matter of gaining more insight into it, not a matter of luck. It is always possible to understand what is wrong when using Slackware.

Nowadays I use OS X for daily work, and Debian for other needs (unfortunately OS X can do most things I ever wanted with Linux. so I hardly need Linux).

If I wanted a Linux desktop today chances are I would finally give Suse, Mandrake or Redhat a chance - they seem to be pretty good nowadays.

If I was to set up a server I would stick to Slackware or Debian.

If I wanted to learn or explore I would try Solaris/x86 or BSD, preferably on some odd hardware...

So what did I want to say? Hmm. Start with Slackware, dont give up - there is always a solution (and it is a great feeling to solve problems by really understanding them). When you know Slackware you can use any other Linux-distro you want - if it suits a particular need well. After running slackware you also have a good feeling of what UNIX is, and you feel like you basically can use any BSD or UNIX system.