Slackware Linux 13.0 - Oldest Linux Distro Gets Major Overhaul [DistroWatch Weekly #323]

Well I can say that NM has the same issues in all things Gentoo (Sabayon, Gentoo, Funtoo) from personal experiance. wicd is indeed a much better replacement, atleast when I dont just kill off NM and set it up by hand. In Sabayon with our latest release we have taken to making sure that wicd is present but not active, that way at worst you have less than 60 seconds to switch over if you have the need.

Quoting:For probably obvious reasons, I resisted using that phrase. :)

Heh, yeah. But I figured it was apropos whatever anybody wants.

It's OK. IMHO, none of the cable news outlets in the U.S. are either fair or balanced. They all have their own agendas and you can pick apart any of their marketing slogans.

I didn't figure you would mind Caitlyn, but at least one obvious pun (not one of mine) seems to have pushed the wrong buttons recently, so I thought it best to avoid the issue. We've been losing too many threads lately.

@jdixon: Fair enough. I agree with better safe than sorry in this case.

I'm doing a Debian Lenny install now, the Xfce desktop, which doesn't include NetworkManager and generally shuns all things GNOMEish. I'll be looking to install Wicd.

The thing I really don't like about NM is that you have to have X running to have it work. There are times where having a network connection without X running is good.

> The thing I really don't like about NM is that you have to have X running to have it work.

I don't think that is true for wired network since we have it that way on many servers. For wireless or VPN connections it does require logging in to enable reading the password but then there is cnetworkmanager though I have never used it.

Sadly the Slackware community still contains a vocal minority that can't tolerate criticism of any kind. If you read some of the latest comments on DWW I "don't understand the software" and I'm a clueless "typical tech journalist". It's the Slackware way, which is oh so easy and perfect, or the highway.

I have no use for zealots or fanatics of any stripe. It's a pity that the LXer Slackware community isn't fully representative of the community as a whole. Oh, and yes, you guys should take that as a compliment.

Unfortunately cnetworkmanager isn't in the repository for LinuxMint, so I'll have to wait until I have more time to check it out.

Of course, Linux Questions, the Slackware forum, is far worse. In addition to the personal attacks on me and dismissing the review because I wrote it we get the idea that anyone dependent on a GUI isn't a "real Linux user" and that distros with good GUI tools "change your diapers". Yes, a few people explained where I was coming from clearly.

Oh, and the misinformation is amazing. I didn't know I was ever part of the VectorLinux development team. I don't think the VL developers knew it either. I don't ever remember calling VectorLinux a "truly excellent distro". In fact, I'm sure I haven't. I never objected to or had objections to ncurses-based installers. Indeed, I mentioned in the article and in my reviews of the various *buntus that I alwaus recommend the text based Ubuntu installer because it offers more flexibility. Of course, reading what I really said makes it much harder to launch into an assault on what I've written. It's much easier if you make it all up.

Do these people ever realize or care how this makes Slackware look to someone who finds their comments through Google and isn't a Slacker?

@caitlyn

I agree, there are a few Slackers who are annoying. It doesn't bother me that they like to compile their own software, edit their own configuration files by hand, etc. (who cares what someone else does) but they really annoy me when they claim everyone else should be doing the same.

Compared to what I've seen with other distro communities, though, I've found Slackware to be relatively tame.

One word of advice: you're doing something wrong if you take any of the comments on DWW seriously. The entire comments section is a waste of resources. I'm not as familiar with linuxquestions.

@bigg: My concern isn't that some people may take ridiculous shots at me. I don'ttake it seriously at all. I consider the source.

My concern is rather what people outside the community think when they see purile nonsense. It reflects badly on the Linux community as a whole and undoes a lot of good advocacy work.

My follow up review of GSB 2.26.3 (on Slackware 13.0, of course) will be on DistroWatch in the morning.

Gotta go get that one ... My main "worry" about all of the GNOME projects for Slackware is that they won't be supported anywhere near as long as the distro itself. ... otherwise they add a whole lot to Slackware - you tend to get much more than just the GNOME desktop. Most include OpenOffice and other apps.

@Steven: That is a valid concern. If you want to keep running an older version of Slackware the patches will keep coming. Patches for a GNOME add on are another matter and may stop fairly quickly after a new Slackware release. You might want to query the various GNOME distros (GSB, Dropline, gSlacky, GWARE) and see how long they provide security patches.

My main objection to Dropline and gSlacky is that they rip out and replace too much of Slackware. GSB keeps that to a minimum, which is why I recommend it.

My recommendation would be to run ZenWalk with GNOME.

Zenwalk doesn't support older versions so that doesn't solve the problems.

Interesting choice. I offered a Zenwalk 6.2 review to Ladislav but he wasn't terribly interested. He felt that was something pretty much everybody reviews. A GSB review was something different and he really liked the idea so I went with it :)

Zenwalk is one of those distros - I find that it runs very, very well, has a whole lot of packages, but the hobbyist factor is a bit too high for production.

I agree completely. They also don't always get out security patches on a timely basis and often not at all. If you do want them you have to go to the snapshot repository which leaves you open to all sorts of breakage. The core distro, out of the box, is really well done. Beyond that is where I have issues with it.

FWIW, this is probably also why I ended up leaving Vector Linux behind for all but my old gear. It's great for old equipment, better than anything else I found, so I keep using it. They are very prompt with security, at least for the last 18 months or so. I just know that it isn't a real business but rather a labor of love. Granted, it's lasted 10 years and may well be around 10 years from now. I just like having a corporate presence (preferably a big one) or a government presence behind an OS.