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Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

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Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#101

Post by pjmlp »

rconti wrote: post #48
Corrado wrote: post #31

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 compili…

My favorite Slackware memory was how the version I downloaded disksets of (on a 14.4k modem, yeah) had a broken bootloader. Not sure of the Slackware release, but it was kernel 1.2.8, before the ELF transition. Anyway, every time I reinstalled, the bootloader hung on `LI` because the config was just broken , and I had to remember how to fix it.. every time. So many hours recompiling kernels. My 4MB-equipped 486 took…

Kernel 1.0.9 was the first with ELF support, and I remember it quite well, because it is written on the CD from Slackware 2.0 ("now with ELF support").

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#102

Post by pjmlp »

dsXLII wrote: post #20

In 1995 or so, I wanted to play with something not-Windows, but wasn't yet advanced enough in my degree to have access to my school's AIX setup. Bought a Slackware disk set, and a BSD (probably FreeBSD, honestly don't remember), took them both home. Slackware had drivers for my weird non-IDE CD-ROM drive, the other one didn't, and it's been nothing but fun since then. Without Slackware, I would not have learned how t…

On my case, we did have access to DG/UX on the student lab, and had Windows NT offered proper POSIX support, I might never have bothered with Linux at home.

It only took about 30 years for Microsoft to accept POSIX matters, regardless of its caveats.

Naturally there were a couple of factors that led to that change of mind.

Back on the subject, I have spent endless hours going through the packages on Slackware, specially GCC, given my interest into compilers.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#103

Post by pjmlp »

aynyc wrote: post #72
akoster wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very nice! Was there a reason your school gave out Slackware installer floppies? Was it required for a class? Or through a student organization? And if you recall, were you running a Creative SoundBlaster? Ad Lib? Gravis ultrasound?

One of the professors were giving them out. Not a class requirement as we all had school Unix login. Remember pine? I don’t remember the sound card anymore. It was pentium and expensive as hell. Spent all my money earned during summer construction. Like $2K. I might be mistaken, I think I had a CD rom instead of floppies.

I surely do remeber pine, using it from ambar and green phosphor terminals to check on mails from our lab assignments, which were mostly the only use I had for emails at the time.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#104

Post by hulitu »

Rediscover wrote: post #86
icedchai wrote: post #16

Slackware was my second Linux distro, after SLS. I ran a heavily customized Slackware for about 4 years: custom kernel, aout->ELF upgrade, many packages built from source.

Hey, how about the gcc->egcs->foo->gcc upgrades?

Upgrades ? My main issue with gcc is not being able to compile old version on newer systems and the new versions not being able to compile old programs. But Slackware is great. My only complaint is that it doesn't ship static libraries anymore.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#105

Post by pjmlp »

arjvik wrote: post #76

Relative young'un here, my first introduction to Linux was Ubuntu 12.04 in 2013, when I was in elementary school :). The very first day I installed it, I managed to disable admin access for my user, so I had the pleasure of obtaining a recovery root shell and learning about the sudoers file. These days I run Arch Linux, which is the closest I can get to total control of every aspect of my system (without sacrificing…

I started using computers at the age on 10 on a Timex 2068, so I am bit curious at what age that was.

While coding BASIC and Z80 Assembly were a bit of challenge, but doable, installing a UNIX based OS is another level.

Regarding trying Slackware today, I think it would be more interesting to try out another UNIX like one of the BSDs, or getting hold of HP-UX, Solaris, Aix somehow, as they do provide a complete different experience, while Slackware it is still a Linux distribution, dispite the differences.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#106

Post by InfamousRece »

I used Slackware on Pentium with 16MB of memory. In order for my sound card to be detectable from Linux I had to run a special proprietary program to set it in “Sound Blaster” mode. So my computer actually booted in MS-DOS, ran the sound card utility and then started Linux using LOADLIN.EXE. All from autoexec.bat.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#107

Post by bluedino »

mattl wrote: post #81
bluedino wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A T1 was about ten times faster than a 3-1/2" floppy drive wasn't it? I never thought of a T1 as "slow" until I started downloading CD images for Linux distros. The first cable modem connections I had were so much faster for downloads.

T1 is about 1.54mbit/sec IIRC

You could download a floppy in like..10-15 seconds on a T1

It would take a minute to copy the files to a floppy.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#108

Post by jmclnx »

nequo wrote: post #35
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

Yes I know :)

I have used then all to test what I developed on Slackware for use in work, I like to be sure what I due can work on most "free" OSs. But their PAM, from what I understand is a different code base (bsdpam). But in these cases, PAM is invisible to me too.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#109

Post by jmclnx »

pkulak wrote: post #96
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.

What do you like about Slackware? Is it super bare bones? Have they resisted Systemd? If that’s it, why not something like Void? Are “packages” really just tarballs that you extract into /? I have so many questions! Haha

The main reason is it is very easy to set up and maintain. One big thing is I can use grep(1) to find what package a file came from, ls(1) to get a list of packages. No need to remember various obscure commands to search to query what is installed.

Re: Slackware Linux distribution turns 30 years old

#110

Post by jmclnx »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #40
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…

> That's what Slackware was supposed to be

After many many years of using Slackware, I still believe NetBSD was used as inspiration for the design of Slackware.

BTW, I really like pkgsrc, I wish that ended up being a standard for Linux instead of all the multiple package/dependency managers that exist.

And NetBSD is really my favorite BSD, I only wish it worked without a minor hardware issue on the Laptop I have. I may end up putting in a PR for 10.0 BETA once I am sure of the issue.

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