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Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

theregister.com

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Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#31

Post by Corrado »

My first Linux distro was Slackware. I tried downloading it but my modem was too slow and people in the house kept picking up the phone. So, I supported OSS by purchasing a copy from, I want to say, Walnut Creek sometime around 1995. I still had the 7 disks 10 years ago or so. They are probably still around here somewhere.

I learned so much from Slackware and basically owe my livelihood to it. Everything from compiling the kernel to trying (and failing) to get X11 working. On the flip side, I'm super glad I don't have to do that anymore and can just use Linux without having to fiddle with the internal parts.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#32

Post by akoster »

jlarocco wrote: post #27
jbovlaste wrote: post #15

I ran Slackware for ~6 years, my first serious distro. It's kind of the perfect learning distro for Linux - a super stable base, but if you want more you need to learn how to do it yourself. You didn't need to compile your own kernel or set up tons of configuration just to boot, but if you wanted certain graphics drivers or other software, you quickly learned how to write shell scripts and manage builds and dependenc…

I was just telling a co-worker literally yesterday that a few years of Slackware was the single most effective thing I did to learn Linux well. I ran it on my desktop and an old (old in the early 2000s!) laptop with 32 MB of RAM, and learned a TON. It's the perfect generic "Linux" system, and you can take it in any direction you want, but you have to do it yourself. Funny enough, I also got too busy and moved to Debi…

I can only imagine in that era there was quite a bit more learning forced upon you than these days with our plethora of (somewhat) standards-compliant hardware and in-tree drivers. Though I'm definitely going to be channeling some of those experiences as I got a kernel-panic during the first boot after installing Slackware 15.0 on a newly built AMD B550 chipset / AMD Ryzen 5700G -based PC. I'm thinking its likely something to do with a combination of LILO, an NVMe interface SSD and EFI/CSM but I hope to get to the bottom of it. Worst case scenario, I perhaps can update the kernel via the bootable ISO as that was stable as a rock during the install.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#34

Post by akoster »

korpsey wrote: post #11

My first distro. I remember buying a Linux Magazine that gave installation CDs as a bonus and had a quick walkthrough to install it. I ended up deleting windows from my pc by destroying all partitions...It has been quite a ride :-)

Great story and brings back great old and recent memories! I recall the massive magazine rack at my local Fry's Electronics and was very glad to see that on a recent trip to Micro Center, they still have quite a selection in their newsstand / checkout aisle including the print editions [0] of Linux Magazine [1] which still includes free Linux distribution installer DVDs! Are you still using Slackware these days? As a daily driver? On a hobby box?

[0] https://linuxnewmedia.square.site/ [1] https://www.linux-magazine.com/

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#35

Post by nequo »

jmclnx wrote: post #3

Congratulations on the 30th I am posting this from Slackware 15.0 right now, my main driver, but I do boot a BSD once in a while. If not for Slackware, I would have left Linux for a BSD years ago. I hope Slackware can avoid all what I believe are crazy changes occurring in Linux Land. Already Slackware was forced to import PAM, but in good Slackware fashion PAM stays out of my way, so not a big deal.

You haven’t specified which BSD but FreeBSD[1] and NetBSD[2] have used PAM for about twenty years by now, haven’t they?

[1] https://docs.freebsd.org/en/articles/pam/

[2] https://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/chap-pam.html

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#36

Post by akoster »

hurril wrote: post #33

Oh man, good times. Those diskettes <3

I can only imagine (sans any floppy disk or drive reliability issues)!

Some links just in case you want to re-live the experience :-P

http://ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-3.3/bootdsk...

https://www.floppydisk.com/

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#37

Post by omgmajk »

Slackware was one of my first Linux distros, installed on a 286 laptop with 2mb of ram. We had to trick the installer that we had 4mb or else it wouldn't install. Good times. That's where I learned Perl.

Edit: It was probably a 386, memories of that time are sketchy.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#39

Post by akoster »

jdmoreira wrote: post #14

Brings back memories! I cut my teeth on Slackware 4 and then 7.

I can only imagine, specially back when hardware and drivers were much bigger concerns for many! I find it quite amazing that Slackware 7 released in late 1999 [0] never had an end-of-life (EOL) specified according to Wikipedia [1] but Slackware 8.1 released in mid-2002 [2] received updates until August 1, 2012 [3], over 10-years of support which I find quite impressive for a non-enterprise-oriented distribution! That's not to mention the consistency and minimal interface and tooling changes between releases to this day.

[0] http://www.slackware.com/lists/archive/viewer.php?l=slackwar...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slackware

[2] http://www.slackware.com/lists/archive/viewer.php?l=slackwar...

[3] https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware-8.1/Change...

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#40

Post by 1vuio0pswjnm7 »

jbovlaste wrote: post #15

I ran Slackware for ~6 years, my first serious distro. It's kind of the perfect learning distro for Linux - a super stable base, but if you want more you need to learn how to do it yourself. You didn't need to compile your own kernel or set up tons of configuration just to boot, but if you wanted certain graphics drivers or other software, you quickly learned how to write shell scripts and manage builds and dependenc…

Many years ago, I remember a guy working for an ISP saw me using NetBSD, I must have made some comment about how I liked it, and he said "That's what Slackware was supposed to be." I knew relatively little about Linux at the time but I always remembered that statement. (Today I use both on a daily basis.)

What hooked me on NetBSD was that early on I had a experience with a laptop where audio was not working. After a small amount of reading, I edited a file, recompiled the kernel and voila I had audio. The fact I was able to do that as a total novice was what made me a loyal user for the ensuing decades.

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