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Slackware 10-RC1 Released
Chaxid writes "According to the latest Slackware ChangeLog, release candidate one of the next iteration of Slack is upon us. I asked Patrick Volkerding via e-mail if the 2.6 series of the Linux kernel would be included in this version, and this was his response: 'To have support for using the 2.6 kernel in the installer might not be a good idea quite yet, and it would delay the release a lot. I'm planning to wait on that for the next one'. It's worth noting the Slackware 10 RC1 is fully 2.6 compliant however."
As TouchOfRed writes, though, "A test kernel 2.6.6 option is offered via the 'testing' tree. Slackware does not offer ISOs for the RCs (however there are some third party users that compile the RCs or the -Current tree regularly as ISOs), so if you are already running Slackware 9.1, you can use the excellent Swaret to upgrade to the latest packages (make sure you edit your /etc/swaret.conf prior of using swaret to allow for kernel upgrades and other options)." This release includes kernel 2.4.26 , Gnome 2.6.1+, KDE 3.2.3, GCC 3.4, XOrg 6.7 and more.
Slackware 9.1 was fully 2.6 compliant, too.
Probably because bandwidth isn't free...just a guess.
Slackware was the first distro I ever used, way back in 1995. I had read about Linux in a small InfoWorld article, back when InfoWorld was tabloid size instead of regular magazine size. The article said you could run an entire operating system on a single floppy disk. Of course, I had to try this on my 386SX with 4M RAM. I downloaded Slack over a 14.4 modem and then copying it all to a set of floppy disks. I wish I could remember the name of that tool. Anyway, I ended up installing Slackware using UMSDOS so I could keep my DOS/Windows data.
:)
I remember I had to completely reinstall Slackware any time I wanted to add a new piece of software because I didn't know how it all worked. The very first question I asked on a Linux newsgroup was, "What's darkstar?" It, of course, was the default hostname for a new Slackware install. Heh. Starting X would dump you into fvwm with only an xterm and a pager; not much has changed there.
Ultimately I used that Slackware machine to learn about Unix and make the move from client-focused to enterprise-focused. Those were fun times.
I can still remember my grandpa telling me stories about this distro.
And I am still using it today. Why?
All in all, thanks Patrick ! Another great version of a great distribution !
The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
Because their current form of distribution is superior to ISO download. By using an rsync mirror, you can not only easily download an entire distro, but update that distro with any changes as they occur...without downloading the entire ISO again. For instance, when RC2 comes out, by using rsync you'll be able to easily download just the changes from RC1 to RC2. (I don't use swaret as i've got some custom scripts built to use some rsync mirrors I know of, but I'm sure it works on this concept and uses rsync).
Also: this distro method allows you to pick only those packages you want to download. Don't like GNOME? don't download it. Don't want any gui at all? skip gnome, kde, and X.
Once you've downloaded your distro, just do an NFS export on the distro dir on the host machine. Then build yourself a boot CD or boot floppy (as you prefer). Once you've booted on the target machine, you can install straight off the NFS share to the target. Works great, I do it all the time...I did my first ever Slackware install this way, even though the host machine was a Windows box.
Honestly, ISO downloads of distros kinda sucks, once you start doing things this way.
DaC
ftp://inferno.bioinformatics.vt.edu/linux-distros/ slackware/slackware-current-iso/
Slackware is not so much a cousin to Gentoo, as it is Gentoo's *mentor*. That said, any further comparison strains credulity.
Such silly, half-thought, cookie-cutter comparisons of the two distros only serve to further obscure the true nature and intent of Slackware.
Trolly, trolly, troll-troll
There's a Starman, waiting in the sky / He'd like to come and meet us, but he hasn't got the time.
(1) edit /etc/swaret.conf so that VERSION=current
(2) issue the command: swaret --update; swaret --upgrade -a
and you'll basically have installed Slackware 10 RC1. Damn, I love Slack, and swaret just makes it easier to keep 'current'.
CB
free ipod and free gmail!