Slackware 9.1

Rating:
Summary: It's what it promisses to be
Review: I have been a Linux veteran for almost 4 years now and I have found Slackware to get worse with every release.

It may not be that Slackware is getting worse, but the competition is getting better. Slackware was originally the "unix-like" linux distribution, which translates into being the "geek-friendly" linux. Basically, this means that this distribution will not be holding your hand like other bad Distributions like Mandrake and Red Hat do. Now, however, there doesn't seem any point in getting Slackware anymore.

As people usually learn, when you install a distro that is more "command-line only", you usually get more advanced features and customizability. However, with Slackware 9.1, you simply do not get this anymore. To begin, you are limited to Slackware-only packages during install. This means that you do not get a very large choice of which packages you want on your system. For example, one cannot chose a Window Manager like Enlightenment because it is simply not there. However, they do give you the unecessary KDE and GNOME (which are both window managers that slackware users would not use) and TWM. They also give you Fluxbox, which is the best Window manager to chose from. Secondly, there is just NO package management system on Slackware. This is something that the development team should have conjured up when Debian came out with the 'apt-get' feature and when Gentoo came out with the 'emerge' feature. Both of these are commands that allow you to install packages from source, while also installing all of that package's dependancies. This means that all of the packages are built exactly for your hardware, and you don't get any more software than necessary on your system, and no less. Slackware really suffers from this because there is no package management present. There are plenty 3rd party ones like 'slapt-get', 'swaret', and 'emerde', but all fail because, again, these 3rd party ones only support/install Slackware-Only packages. There is really no point in doing this, then, becuase the number of packages in Slackware is very small compared to Debian's 8,000 and Gentoo's 11,000. And as mentioned before, you aren't getting any real speed increases by this command-line distribution, but you are getting lots of unecessary headaches with a terrible package management system and a very limited install. One last thing to be noted is that Slackware is behind in technology. While Amazon may say the 2.4.22 kernel is "advanced", it is actually old school now compared to the latest and greatest kernel, 2.6.5 - which is the absolute best kernel I have ever used.

If you want a distribution that is going to be user-friendly but still on the high-performance side, you can go check out Arch Linux or Debian. If you want a high-end performance distribution, then you should really go with Gentoo. Gentoo is currently the best for the power-user because, in Gentoo, you build every known package on your system from scratch. This means the kernel, Xfree86 (or Xorg), and even Window managers. Again, this means you get no more packages than necessary, and no less. The system is perfectly tailored for your hardware.

I hope this review helped for some. Slackware used to be the best of the best, but times have changed and there is no reason to get Slack anymore. Slackware tries to be unique in allowing users to have a very unorganized setup, but this is a problem because Slackware uses packages customized for Slackware, and using source packages can result in build errors and dependancy conflicts.

It's too bad Slackware just let themselves go like that.

Rating:
Summary: Stick with the best
Review: If Linux is what you want then go with the oldest distribution around. Slackware has been with us for 10 years and keeps getting better with every release. These are not 4 or 5 times a year like the other distros!

Although install is still text it is very easy to follow and getting a system up and running is a matter of minutes. Most everything (if not all) is recognized by the setup program so on startup all is well.

On first login you won't have a graphical login. But that is easy to remedy. Just put a line into the /etc/rc.d/rc.local file that goes like this:

/opt/kde/bin/kdm (if you chose KDM as your window manager)

or use

/usr/bin/gdm (if you chose GNOME as your window manager)

or /usr/bin/X11/xdm if you did not install KDE or GNOME.

and if you don't want to do any of the above, log in and type

startx

and the GUI will start up.

I've used this distro for close to 10 years along with FreeBSD. It is not bloated, it is fast, and there is lot of help on forums and search engines if you run into trouble. Highly recomend it. And if you like it, support Slackware, get a subscription.

Rating:
Summary: Stick with the best
Review: If Linux is what you want then go with the oldest distribution around. Slackware has been with us for 10 years and keeps getting better with every release. These are not 4 or 5 times a year like the other distros!

Although install is still text it is very easy to follow and getting a system up and running is a matter of minutes. Most everything (if not all) is recognized by the setup program so on startup all is well.

On first login you won't have a graphical login. But that is easy to remedy. Just put a line into the /etc/rc.d/rc.local file that goes like this:

/opt/kde/bin/kdm (if you chose KDM as your window manager)

or use

/usr/bin/gdm (if you chose GNOME as your window manager)

or /usr/bin/X11/xdm if you did not install KDE or GNOME.

and if you don't want to do any of the above, log in and type

startx

and the GUI will start up.

I've used this distro for close to 10 years along with FreeBSD. It is not bloated, it is fast, and there is lot of help on forums and search engines if you run into trouble. Highly recomend it. And if you like it, support Slackware, get a subscription.

Rating:
Summary: A little hard work never killed anyone :-)
Review: Slackware 9.1 would be a bit too daunting for the beginner to cope with. That said, it's not too difficult, given a couple of trial and error installs along with perseverance to get familiarised with things.

Three are as many packages provided as most other distros, so there's not much to complain about on that score. Desktop options are all available by using the XDM , before startx, and selecting which one you prefer to use. Gnome, KDE, fvwm2, blackbox, fluxbox, etc. They're all there if you use the default option at the installation stage. KDE is the best of the bunch, and runs more quickly than Gnome. If a package isn't there, it's a matter of getting the source code and compiling it.

An essential addition is the package manager utility SWARET. This is available in the EXTRAS FOLDER on disk 2. This utility works in conjunction with pkgtools to keep track of any upgrades and dependencies. For instructions go to swaret.org .

Using the CUPS print server and gimp-print will provide high quality printing for the majority of printers out there. To set CUPS up, launch your web-browser, input http://localhost:631 and use the web-links to add and configure your printer, which will now show up in kprinter if CUPS is selected.

Installing over a previous Linux install requires that you overwrite the hard drive with something like Autoclave to obliterate any files. If you don't do this, a lot of instability and hassle will ensue, I find.

When shutting down, be sure to wait until ALL processes have terminated, otherwise you can easily blitz the system. Also be sure to unmount any floppy or cdrom drives to avoid hassle with error messages about file systems not properly handled, or a blown system.

The only major omission was no Acrobat Reader in the packages. You can download the 5.08 version from the Adobe site, and place the .tgz in a new directory Then launch a terminal and gunzip the .tgz , extract the contents with the tar xvf command, and install using the shell script provided. For hyperlinks in a .pdf to function, you will also have to have Netscape installed, since only Netscape and Explorer are supported.

Once up and running, the Slackware user will have a good solid system, but one which will need a fair knowledge of command line instructions, and the ability to find and edit configuration files.