My choice...

My first experience with Linux was in December 2006. And I never left... I've tried many distros, at least twenty-five (25). From July 2008 to June 2009, I used Slackware 12.1. Then I had the desire of trying another distro, which I did but after four (4) months, I really "needed" to come back to Slackware, which I did too. A few weeks ago, I installed Slackware 13.

Slackware attracts me like no other distro. There's of course its stability, its originality but also the fact that it makes me learn. When I succeed in something new, I'm glad. And I like the fact that the philosophy behind is constantly the same.

On some other distros, you're offered "tons" of updates every day. And it's not rare that tons of problems come with them... On Slackware, don't expect such frequent updates and this is a very good thing...

My reasons for using Slackware are much the same as yours man.I did try a few distros early on before I used Slackware.Mandriva which I got free with a magazine seemed Ok.I didn't have internet then so I wasn't bothered with pesky updates.Once I got myself broadband I became more aware of what was out there.The first thing I downloaded was Slackware 8 or 9 (can't remember) and I have stayed ever since.Now using 13 64 bit with xfce.I haven't really had a desire to try others out as Slackware worked well from the outset.I actually enjoy building from source and since I discovered sbopkg this has become even easier.

I like slackware cause it's old... like me

Actually, I like that they keep it simple and close to unix

Gentoo was a PITA (portage was OK, but too much hands on to keep things up to date)
ARCH, better than Gentoo, but still too bleeding edge (I like fixed releases, not rolling, did like pacman)
OpenSUSE, Fedora, Ubuntu, Mandrake/Mandriva (added too many additional scripts and moved things around)
(NOTE: not everyone is a newbie, don't automate and simplify everything, you loose configuration control)
Debian and Frugalware were OK, but not for me
SalixOS is nice, I have it on my laptop
I keep a disk w/ Puppy on it, can't beat that distro for memory usage 64meg total for everything!!
Most of the other distros are variations, I've tried many, didn't stick with any

Now BSD is right up my alley, I like OpenBSD, but FreeBSD, NetBSD or DragonflyBSD are OK
(hardware support is sometimes an issue, the manufacturers rarely make BSD drivers)
I'm on Slackware now because I needed the proprietary ATI Catalyst driver for Linux to get
HDMI video and sound out of my new video card.

I'll be sticking w/ Slack as long as I keep this hardware, then it's BSD or Slack!!

By the way, my first distro was RedHat 5.1 Manhattan around 1997

Interesting and I thank you, Reg.
SalixOS is a distro I intend to try one of these days.

SalixOS is nice, they do automate the configuration
but that was fine for my laptop.
The cool thing is they remain 100% compatible w/ Slackware, and all the
additional packages I added to my desktop Slackware system were
Salix packages from http://slackfind.net/en

I'll look for a SalixOS package, before I look for anything else!!

Right, they're compatible with Slackware. In our Announcements, I regularly post new packages offered by SalixOS.org. Have a look at this:

http://slacklinux.darkbb.com/search.forum?search_keywords=salixos

My Choice, My OS, My weapon.. . and my Tool.

My first experience with Linux was using Red Hat.. before it tuns for price/money.

I felt so strong fascination for these cute settings text-files.
The ability to configure every aspect of the system by editing these files.
To Know all about my system details..

After that.. . Mandrake, Fedora, OpenSuse. . . the wonder Ubuntu!.. .
(if you close your eyes and say: "Installs yourself, ubuntu".. . It's really.. become installed and working!)

But, in my experience with these Distros.. I learn about each distro.. However, When I started to use Slackware.. really
I felt like.. really.. learn Linux.

Here, I need to study, learn about system conf.. and, this is awesome for me.

Toys are for kids.. Does not Slackware.


¡Saludos!

Hi and welcome here, Nachzeher.

Right, Slackware is wonderful to learn Linux. And there are many aspects of the distro I really like. Slackware forever...

Cheers,

I've been running Ubuntu for 3 years now, I didn't learn anything, tried fedora, mint, backtrack, red hat and many others
I have read a lot, and many people suggested either Arch linux, Gentoo or Slack to get in depth with linux.
I went with Slackware, however, with the DVD, everything was installed, and I found myself with lots of software that I didn't even need.
Now with 13.37, I want to give it another try, do you think that installing just the first CD (bootable installer, kernels, slackbook) rather than the dvd would be a good start?
http://www.slackware.com/getslack/torrents.php

thanks!

Hi Panthy,

What I know is that you need the first two CD's as a minimum. That's how I always install Slackware. With only 2 two CD's, though, the desktop environment that you have is Xfce and not KDE. But that's OK with me.

Thanks a lot for the info, Oncle Jean! I'll give you a feedback as soon as possible

Panthy,

You're welcome and yes, please keep us informed.

Regards,

Hello sorry for my late "feedback"! so I've installed "13.37" (on vmware) and I wanted to know if the "slackbook" was enough to get a hold of slackware or is there any other materiel I should check out? I'm reading a lot of resources lately and I've decided to set slack as my main distro (woot!) thank you for your help

Hi Panthy,

Here are a few texts I've used more than once:

1. The Perfect Desktop - Slackware 12

Written a few years ago for Slackware 12.0 but (still) good for a beginner:
http://www.howtoforge.com/the_perfect_desktop_slackware12


2. Slackware, les SlackBuilds : Questions fréquemment posées

In French but good.
http://wiki.slackware-fr.org/slackbuilds:faq


3. SlackWiki

Rich source of information.
http://www.slackwiki.org/Main_Page


4. Eric Hameleers (Alien BOB)'s Wiki pages

Rich too !
http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?do=recent


5. Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition

More than complete
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz


6. Sécuriser la Slackware

Translation of a very good text. Not very young, though.
http://www.lea-linux.org/documentations/index.php/S%C3%A9curiser_la_Slackware


7. Slackware System Hardening

For Slackware 10.2 but many tips are still useful.
http://dentonj.freeshell.org/system-hardening-10.2.txt


These are the main documents I've used but I'm sure the others are about to add very interesting sources.

Regards,

Thank you very much Oncle Jean! great information there! if I'll come across other resources I'll make sure to add them!

Et merci pour les liens en français