Customer Reviews

Slackware Linux 9.1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

This is a Linux lesson from someone coming from the Windows user end. By all means if you are other than that, skip this review and go play with all the Linux variations until you find one you like, but this a general review from someone looking into Linux. I offered a review of Suse Linux and gave it five stars but the review was taken wrongly by maybe some in the Linux community who felt I underrated Linux because it should have been a Windows-word-free-review, but it wasn't, I had said "XP 2 + SUSE removable hard drive = ideal for learning UNIX", or maybe it was the UNIX community who felt bad about it because I am trying to comparing a cheap version of UNIX (Linux) to their expensive OS? Maybe it was just the brand (Suse) that got pounded. Who knows? Anyway this review will not have the W word again because I do not recommend mixing Slackware with another OS (Suse is better for that because of its more user-friendly installation), although you can do it with Slackware, I do not recommend Slackware for anyone new to Linux, or another OS, go dig for my Suse Linux review (you will find it easily - March 18, 2005 SUSE Linux OS product review), that is what you want to read and the Linux brand you want and is also about OS systems in general. This is 2005. Late 2004, early 2005 was the best time to get a spanking new top of the line PC. When you are happy that you understand how to install Suse and use Linux on your extra hard drive then it is time to install Slackware. How about that old PC? How about installing Slackware 10.1 on that? Slackware comes in 4 CDs. You should turn off your PC and boot from CD1. Set your system's boot configuration during start-up to boot from the CD. Now you MUST load the right kernel. There are loads to choose from. Find the right kernel that can find your hard drive hardware and you are in business. Slackware crudely does this and is often the top reason for Slackware installation failure. Then you must `cfdisk' and format a drive from a DOS type command prompt. If you can not `cfdisk' or issue any hardware commands that it is probably the wrong kernel you are using. Find the kernel on the CD (F2, F3 and then type 'x.s' where `x' is the kernel you need; listed), `cfdisk', after you have setup a boot partition (CD1 + CD takes up 1.3GB!!!! although less selection of software minimizes this but do not minimize! Slackware comes with Zipslack on CD4 for specialist mini-Linux installation), `setup' next and you are into the Slackware installation. Next is the `addswap' in the installation to include the Linux partition, `targets', `source' media, `install' configuration and you are ready to install. The package runs and asks you for CD2, install that and then the installation will end asking you to install a mouse, forget the network unless you are on one (you can install it later) but when you get to LILO you have a big choice here. If you install LILO then you are almost guaranteed 100% start up if installation was okay. If you do not then Linux may not read the hard drive right and fail to start Linux meaning `boot disk' is needed to get Linux running again and then install LILO so that LILO starts Linux for you.

Login after start-up as the legendary `root' and the password you gave on installation. You will see a command prompt. This is what all your trouble was for. That command prompt is almost like UNIX using mostly UNIX commands, so immediately you can start learning UNIX (Like advanced DOS) commands. Cool. But type `startx' and you get a Linux variation of the UNIX xwindows, that runs as a graphical user interface with folders and copy and paste (just like that W word program) and you are free to explore that. Anyway click the K in the KDE menu below and click the `command prompt' icon, now type `xterm' and you got the command prompt window pop-up inside KDE, haha, now you can see how Linux is quite interesting, you can issue UNIX commands from this `bash xterminal'. Stick CD3 and CD4 in and copy them over (you will learn something called `mounting' here) and they contain extra software packages that you can use at a later date. CD3 has all the manuals (just learn Linux by the book, as per that book) so if you have CD3 in a PC next to the intended Linux installation machine it makes like easier although this is far from the simplest Linux to get running, it has the biggest Linux brand community as it was the first Linux brand, meaning development-wise this is Linux at its core, a community, without the bells and whistles of a big name software developer financing it, the purest Linux there is and if you are to learn computing then having a laptop with only this running is exactly what you need to be taught to pass all those software related exams. Linux is an all-in-one "learn me!" and for a few hours a week you will have most commands by heart. Read CD3 and go on from there. The key is to learning the Linux `box' this way until as such time as you can do everything from the `bash' xterminal window. Then go BUY yourself a fully privileged SHELL account from a UNIX provider, command that terminal from any PC of your choice, using the shell terminal to command any other legal terminal of your choice. That is what it is all about - Learning Global Commands and Systems.

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 xwmconfig , 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 slapt-get, to keep track of any upgrades and dependencies. 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. This will avoid a lot of instability and hassle, 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 configure the path command in the reader's web-link dialouge box -- Edit > Preferences > Web Link. This simply involves finding your web-browser's .exe. or shell script launcher. For Netscape it's: /usr/bin/netscape For Knoqueror it's: /opt/kde/bin/konqueror Use Konqueror in the KDE desktop for brisk results. And Netsacpe in the Gnome desktop. 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. Slackware Users Belfast is a good place for support.