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64-Bit Slackware Is Alive
t0mg writes with this news from the top of Slackware.org "from the Slackware64-current changelog: [tap tap tap]... Is this thing on? ;-) Ready or not, Slackware has now gone 64-bit with an official x86_64 port being maintained in-sync with the regular x86 -current branch. DVDs will be available for purchase from the Slackware store when Slackware 13.0 is released. Many thanks go out to the Slackware team for their help with this branch and a special thank you to Eric Hameleers who did the real heavy lifting re-compiling everything for this architecture, testing, re-testing, and staying in-sync with -current. We've been developing and testing Slackware64 for quite a while. Most of the team is already using Slackware64 on their personal machines, and things are working well enough that it is time to let the community check our work. We'd like to thank the unofficial 64 bit projects for taking up the slack for us for so long so that we could take our time getting everything just right. Without those alternatives, we would have been pressured to get things out before they were really ready."
If you want a linux engineer to fix things up for you pick a Slackware user not an Ubuntu one.
http://ebgp.net/ccc/
First linux I tried was Fedora. Second was Slackware. I never went back.
Slackware is for two kinds of people: those allergic to rebooting, and those who like to play with their operating system. I learned more about Slackware in the first two days than I knew about computers from the previous 17 years of my life at the time.
As it has always been said: If you use Red Hat, you learn Red Hat. If you use Ubuntu, you learn Ubuntu. If you use Slackware, you learn linux.
I havn't used Slackware in years, but I owe my knowledge of the nitty-gritty workings on Linux to it. It's a great environment for learning how to compile your own kernel.
From Gentoo to Suse! Ouch. My path was Slackware -> FreeBSD -> Gentoo and never got tired of compiling. Such is Unix.
http://ebgp.net/ccc/
I loved slackware but got sick and tired of compiling everything myself...
Ah, but you're missing the fun. The whole point is that Slackware is perfect for people who like compiling their own software. It just gives them a world to stand on while they do so.
I'm not a Slackware user. It has been many years. I think 2004 was when my server finally stopped running Slack. It was a time thing. I wanted to have the same distro on my desktop and server so I only had to keep track of one way of doin things. That said, I really do like that Slackware is still around. Slackware is basically a story about one guy and his distro. And its nice to know something like that still exists in the Linux world. Its a statement of individualism and simplicity that is sometimes lost in a world of sophisticated integrated products.
And to be honest, the simplicity of Slackware has its definite payouts. It means the system you end up with has a simple and relatively easy to maintain architecture, without much fluff. If you want a machine to do one thing, and do it well... I think Slack is a very excellent choice and still worth considering. Congrats on going 64 bit!
Your point appears to imply that Slackware is somehow archaic. Why is that? It cannot be the kernel or the applications as these are as up to date as any other.
If the lack of a GUI installer or package dependency management is the basis for your criticism then that's really a reflection on your particular skill set, not on Slackware.
There are many fine Linux distributions out there (and BSD's too). The more of these you are comfortable using the more effective you are when choosing a platform for your particular needs at any given time.
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Also my first distro, ill never leave as long as its maintained! LONG LIVE BOB!
It's getting hard to buy a new machine that ISN'T 64 bit, and Slackware's just now releasing for x86_64? Why does Debian get all the shit for slow release cycles?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Well, he did credit the unofficial ports. If you're unhappy that it wasn't by name, uh, I dunno, deal with it?
As for why no co-operation, you'll have to ask Pat himself for that. He takes fixes all the time by e-mail, and x86-64 support has been in many of the build scripts since even before SLAMD64 started, so everybody who has followed Slackware should have known that this was coming.
AMD-only. No (ok, very little) Intel. Kthxbye
from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
Really?
Putting my sysadmin cap on, the first thing that comes to mind when seeing a Slackware, or for that matter Gentoo, box is "Oh God no, a tweaker".
I'm in the ChangeLog/copyright notices where appropriate. All my published work on Slamd64 is free software; I don't care what's done as long as the licenses are followed.
This is probably a good time to say why I made slamd64 again:
I wanted a 64-bit Slackware. I didn't want to be a distro lead, or anything like that. I like Slackware, and I needed a 64-bit distro. I made it for my own use, and uploaded it in case anyone else wanted to use it. Now there's a 64-bit Slackware, that reason's gone.
Slamd64 will be continued in some form for the foreseeable future, but possibly as something slightly different.
A true Slackware64 is better for you too:
Slackware doesn't exist to hold your hand. Get over yourself.
As for the target audience, it's Pat Volkerding. Slackware exists for him. Anyone else who wants it can have it, but it exists to meet his criteria, not yours.
Five years ago I ran Slackware with Grub, automatic updates, a wireless card, and still got laid. More than I do now in fact. Now I'm using a MacBook.
Volkerding makes Slackware to fit two criteria: 1) Stability. A Slackware system should be able to run for 10 years without rebooting. Fantastic server system. 2) Security. A Slackware system should have an absolute minimum of bugs and/or holes.
There are no other criteria for a Slackware release.
If it is not for you, then fine. Don't use it. And while you're at it go be petulant twerp somewhere else.
"When you know Slack', you know Linux."
May the Maths Be with you!