Slackware 13 is out....

now I'm in a delimna....I've moved my work over to linux, and Ubuntu 9.04 is working so well I can't see a reason to change...but, I've been waiting so long...oh, decisions, decisions.....LOL

 

I gave up on slackware a long time ago. It was my first distro and was ok but the package manager is/was severely lacking. I think there are some 3rd party apps that have filled the role to a bit, but I would never go back to it. I am only sticking with distros that use APT, YUM or something of the sort. I just don't have time to play around with these distros and headaches anymore. I guess it depends on your patience level, desire to learn it and how much time you can afford to spend on it. Just my opinion...

 

I take issue with all that obviously, but definitely Slackware is not for everybody that's for sure. Actually, I see no reason whatsoever that I should switch from Ubuntu right now as everything is stable and secure, and well supported. ahhh, maybe.....

 

Yeah, the lack of package management was what pushed me away from slack. It's not only that you have to custom compile a lot of apps. I do that anyway with arch, but once I've written an arch PKGBUILD, I can make my own custom package known to the package manager. That way, I can easily uninstall the package 6 months later when I've forgotten where everything is. Furthermore, at least in my time with it, slackware had the same outdated software disease that Ubuntu suffers from.

 

Archer, that's not simply not true with Slackware or Ubuntu....what do you mean? I use SBOPkg with Slack, and the builds I installed (binaries) were being kept up to date. With Ubuntu, it's easier than with any other distro to find a deb pkg of a current version if the repo is lagging, or build your own pkg....

 

Thats' ok. Not trying to bash any distro but I am just stating that my priorities have changed. Just fooling around with a lot of distros for days and days, constant reinstalls, playing with endless config scripts and make files is not an effective use of my time anymore.

 

I hear you guys ....I don't have time either, that's why for work Ubuntu is working very well....however, the 'tinkerer' in me wants Slack back on here.... Once I moved my work over (which is nice btw) to linux, the distro hopping slowed down ...

 

This is why you need to buy a new computer, so you can have a slackware test box.

But seriously, I know what you mean. I kind find a quick fix for just about anything that comes up in Ubuntu. I don't feel the same way about other distros. For that reason I am loathe to switch my primary laptop from an Ubuntu-based distro to something else, even though I recognize that the other distros offer some pretty awesome advantages.

 

I'm more eagerly expecting RHEL 6 - or better said CentOS 6 ).

 

^^^ Try out Mint or Mint KDE which, in turn, are based on Ubuntu and Kubuntu respectively. Another good one is Sabayon.

If they don't automatically install your drivers, they will provide a handy installer for you.

 

Probably just Ubuntu or like Viking said, Mint....try a live CD of each and see how it handles your hardware....and, HARDWARE you certainly have !!

 

^^ I would recommend (K)Ubuntu look at some screen shots and deside what you like best . I personally use Ubuntu with Gnome and Compiz fusion.

holy crap what do you do for a living? and where can I sign up!

 

Wow, wicked specs! I haven't run slackware yet. I've made my lappy a crunchbang linux machine. Ubuntu never meshed well with my laptop. What are slack's selling points?

 

I have not kept up with Slack for a long time but at the time I was trying it, Slack was supposed to be very close to Unix compared to the other distros(also you compiled a lot of stuff yourself figuring out dependencies and such). I liked this aspect since I was working a lot on Solaris Unix at the time. I liked Slack at the time but it was too much work for me to maintain with not a lot of benefit for me.