Slackware Linux 10.2 Released

excelblue writes "Slackware Linux 10.2 has finally been released. This release comes with Linux 2.4.31, with 2.6.13 available in the testing packages and glibc 2.3.5. This time, they've decided to get up with times and switch to Firefox, Thunderbird, and subversion instead of using the Mozilla suite and cvs from the previous distros. Here are Torrents of ISO images."

Comments

YAY!

[frinkacheese]

Time to test the 2Gb/s Internet connection with some torrent seeds :)

Well done to the Slackware team on another nice release of the nicest, most stable and most usable (for admins) Linux release there is.

Really, the completr lack of package management and silly whizzy clicky admin tools makes Slackware a lllot easier to admin when you have 120 servers running it.

Re:YAY!

[RiotXIX]

But there are package management tools. They've been working on it. And they're useful when you want to mass upgrade several packages on your system without having to uninstall (yes I still don't know how to uninstall a generic packages..like when I download something, untar; make; make install : where can I find out where it put all it's stuff?). Having a database/registry of where an application put's it's files is a damn good idea.

"Updated versions of the Slackware package management tools make it
    easy to add, remove, upgrade, and make your own Slackware packages.
    Package tracking makes it easy to upgrade from Slackware 10.1 to
    Slackware 10.2 (see UPGRADE.TXT). The slackpkg tool in /extra can
    also help update from an older version of Slackware to a newer one,
    and keep your Slackware system up to date. In addition, the new
    slacktrack utility (in extra/) will help you build and maintain
    your own packages."

Seriously many have a perception of slackware as being dated/non-user friendly, but it's one of the most integrated/structured distros I know - it DOES move forward/evolve with the times, it just keeps it's releases at stable versions.

Re:YAY!

[Mr. Underbridge]

Slackware is a bit more mature and less prone to change. You also have a lot of people who use Slackware because they know it inside and out.

Basically, if people haven't stopped using Slackware yet, they're not likely to.

Re:YAY!

[part_of_you]

I am a newbie learning slackware. Many people have warned against it, but I am not having any problem with it, other than the fact that I STILL can't find the c:\ and I can't get ANY of the *.exe files to do anything

cvs & mozilla still available

[richlv]

well, if i understood this submission correctly, it implies that mozilla & cvs now are missing - that's not true.

it contains mozilla-1.7.11 and cvs-1.11.20

at least in latest-current that should be identical to 10.2 :)

Re:Retro Linux - Sweet!

[richlv]

until 2.7 will be split and 2.6 stabilized a bit, i agree that 2.4 should be the default - that's what most people use in servers where they don't want to upgrade kernel in a couple of weeks.

and slackware is fully 2.6 ready, to use it just compile it, dropin replace, lilo & it's done.

oh, i forgot that you also have a precompiled one in testing that also should be easy to deploy :)

My (quick) distro of choice

[Punk Walrus]

I am looking forward to trying this out. Slashdot alerted me to Slack fans, and I have been using it steadily in personal and professional environments for years now. I like LFS and Gentoo, just because I can tweak every living thing out of my hardware and software, but if I need a "quick set and forget" distro just to get a box running, Slackware is hard to beat.

I don't know why people claim the installation is so hard. I guess the disk partition thing might be intimidating, but then again, I have FDisk'd so many times because Windows/DOS had issues back in the day, I find the two-tone ncurses thing to be a positive boon!

A hearty congratulations to Pat and all the people who worked for this!

Up with the times

[bwaynef]

Re: up with the times... Slackware has never tried to be up with the times. They're just now allowing 2.6 kernel (from the installer). Firefox is still a 1.0.x release so its not as stable as the mozilla suite has been (though its pretty good). I think Pat just lets everyone else work out the bugs before he incorporates it into his release. Stability and Ease of Use.

Re:This is nice but...

[Punk Walrus]

I'm still waiting for "Slackware Enterprise Linux" to come out.

Slackware has 28 distros based on it (29 if you include the new PocketLinux), some of which are trying to be "Enterprise Level."

Making me a Slacker again . . . . .

[failure-man]

I could:
a) Get some work done tonight so I don't fail classes.
or
b) Install some new Slackware on my primary beast.

I think I hear the torrent's call . . . . .

Nice one Taco

[big_groo]

Instead of linking to the torrents, which are easy enough for anyone to find, why not link to the Slackware Store and try to support Pat's efforts.

You have no problems pimping ads and subscriptions on /., but you won't link to the store of the oldest linux distro out there.

Re:Sad there's no GNOME

[a.different.perspect]

Thanks. I assume you mean this?

From the changelog, and for anyone else interested:

gnome/*: Removed from -current, and turned over to community support and distribution. I'm not going to rehash all the reasons behind this, but it's been under consideration for more than four years. There are already good projects in place to provide Slackware GNOME for those who want it, and these are more complete than what Slackware has shipped in the past. So, if you're looking for GNOME for Slackware -current, I would recommend looking at these two projects for well-built packages that follow a policy of minimal interference with the base Slackware system:

http://gsb.sf.net/ http://gware.sf.net/

There is also Dropline, of course, which is quite popular. However, due to their policy of adding PAM and replacing large system packages (like the entire X11 system) with their own versions, I can't give quite the same sort of nod to Dropline. Nevertheless, it remains another choice, and it's _your_ system, so I will also mention their project:

http://www.dropline.net/gnome/

Please do not incorrectly interpret any of this as a slight against GNOME itself, which (although it does usually need to be fixed and polished beyond the way it ships from upstream more so than, say, KDE or XFce) is a decent desktop choice. So are a lot of others, but Slackware does not need to ship every choice. GNOME is and always has been a moving target (even the "stable" releases usually aren't quite ready yet) that really does demand a team to keep up on all the changes (many of which are not always well documented). I fully expect that this move will improve the quality of both Slackware itself, and the quality (and quantity) of the GNOME options available for it.

Folks, this is how open source is supposed to work. Enjoy. :-)

I'll look into the alternatives, though it's still sad I won't be able to depend on their stability as I would the base system.

Re:Patricks Health(Actinomycosis)

[Anonymous Coward]

He had Actinomycosis.
Brave guy to keep working as sick as he was.
You can rad about it here-
http://linuxreviews.org/news/2004/11/17_0_slackwar e_PAT/

For the player haters

[CatsupBoy]

Come on, i'm tired of hearing the same old misconceptions about slackware here on /. (wait, i think thats why i stick around)

MISCONCEPTIONS

1: Slackware doesnt have a package management system

FALSE: Slackware uses a very simple package management system that accomplishes two things. 1. it allows you to track files installed. 2. allows you to upgrade to newer versions (yes there is versioning). And as a bonus, your not bogged down with dependancies.... oh wait you want cyclical dependancies???

2: Slackware is outdated/behind the times.

FALSE: Why? because it still uses 2.4 kernel? Please! stability is the issue here. Purchase a RedHat Advanced server and you'll find it STILL uses 2.4. You cant please everyone all the time, but you can still produce a quality product with proven technology.

3: Slackware is too hard to use for newbies and/or my grandparents

AD-HOMINIM: This argument is too often used against Slackware in general. For what it is, an "everything is a file" operating system, you must expect to have to get to the command line eventually. If your using it as a server in place of another Unix OS, its not any harder to manage. If your using it to replace RedHat or SuSe, still, its not any harder, and with the added bonus that you dont have as much bloat (did i mention cyclical dependancies?).

4: Pat is a selfish dictator and I dont like his direction

TRUE: So is Linus Torvolds, and as far as direction, every company, ceo, lead developer must make thier own decisions and you just cant please everyone all the time.

Before the mods make me -1 troll, let me just say Slackware is not perfect, but nothing is. I dont like the fact that PAM will probably never be added :(

I use it as a desktop and a server. My servers are usually stripped down and single serve boxes, and slackware is a perfect fit. By trade, I work with Solaris, AIX, and RedHat. The only reason I dont push Slack at work is that my company wants to spend the money to have a finger to point at (specifically a large company to point at) when a problem arises.

But in the 5 years i've been using slackware, I've never encountered a show stopper.

Got Slack? The Linux that switched me from Windows

[MindPrison]

Slackware is a special Linux distribution, the fact that it's being maintained and directed by one man (of course with a lot of other contributors) is baffling to me.

It's baffling because with the 8-10 years I've got behind me now...trying and TRYING to get Linux distro's to work for me...so I can leave Windows forever - Slackware is the ONLY Linux that made me switch completely.

Yes... I'm now officially an Slackware Fanboy! But what's wrong with being a fan? I love this distro - it just works!

Back in the heydays when I used Mandrake (now Mandriva) and SuSE ...I used these because they offered a Quick-Fix...everything worked from scratch...well...nearly everything that is...except from compilation of other sources, windows mediaplayer formats etc. etc. And hoo-and-behold if you should dare to venture into compilation on your own....then you'd be in knee deep with problems, why? Because these packages makes you dependent on packages, it makes you a slave to downloading RPM for "your-package" and if you want to do things on your own...there's simply too much to learn for a beginner because of all the dependencies and installs you must do (and KNOW) before you can do anything useful at all.

It's possible that a lot of you reading this using (insert-your-favourite-package-here) will go into "flame-shock" and tell me that (your-package-will-do-this-and-that-and-I-dont-kno w-jack) but that's not the point here. The point is that Slackware comes with tools to make you independent! It already installs a TON of utilities, libs, devs, compilers etc. to make your life easier when you want to do stuff on your own instead of being a package-whore.

That's what I like about Slackware! I'm free here, not "strategically" controlled by a corporate that figures out WHAT to bring me so I can "somewhat" be steered into the direction they want me to take by handicapping me doing stuff/learning on my own!

It's also the only package that made myself completely independant from windows, I can see whatever I want in Slack, configure the heck out of it, because of all the utilities and (smart hints and docs by the man himself) I've learned gradually what Linux is all about...and now I don't need to sit in a user-group and feel like an idiot just because I don't know jack even after 10 years with Linux...simply because Slackware teaches me to do stuff on my own and in fact encourages it.

Got slack?! Yeah - you bet!