Slackware

[Thinker]

I need to learn Unix-Linux. A classmate which just landed a job with Cisco (because of his experience in Unix) told me that if I really want to learn Linux I should install Slackware. Somebody else told me to go with SuSE, as it has the best hardware detection and software package in the Linux array.

Is there anybody here using Slackware with a T-series? (I have a T23 and a T42). Is it really that hard to configure Slackware after installation? My experience with Linux or Unix is null. Any books that you would recommend?

Thanks.

[yakman]

Here is my take on Slackware:

If you are willing to do your homework and accept the challenge then Slackware is a fine distribution to learn Linux on. Slackware doesn't hold your hand and give you all the nice helpful utilities to help you set things up. Most of your configuration will be done manually through configuration files which makes you learn more about the inner workings of your Linux system. The big advantage of learning how to do things that way is that you'll almost certainly be able to apply your knowledge to any other Linux distribution.

You could also take the route of starting with a distribution that works great out of the box first so you can get comfortable with a Linux environment and slowly learn the Linux way of doing things. Once you are comfortable and know your fundamentals of getting around you can switch to something more challenging like Slackware.

As for myself, I was introduced to Unix in a summer job back in high school (late 90's). It was supposed to be a programming job, but I ended up not really getting assigned much so all there was for me to do all day was mess around with my Unix machine. Senior year in high school I started playing around with Linux and have used it off and on since then. I'd have to say that using Linux today is 10x easier than it was when I started 7 years ago, but I've learned a lot. Nowadays I prefer a Linux distribution that just works easily out of the box. They have us using an old distribution of Linux on brand new machines at work. I have enough of trying to get those to work properly. When I go home I just want something that works. That is why I was shocked how smoothly the Ubuntu 5.10 install went on my new T43.

Well, hopefully you can glean some useful information from my post. I'm sure you'll find the help you need on the internet no matter what decision you make.

-Eric

[carbon_unit]

I've been using linux since '99 and it is funny how eventually the thrill of learning how it works goes away and after a while you just want it to work without all the hassle of tweaking it.
Must be part of growing up.

[jspsh]

I need to learn Unix-Linux. A classmate which just landed a job with Cisco (because of his experience in Unix) told me that if I really want to learn Linux I should install Slackware. Somebody else told me to go with SuSE, as it has the best hardware detection and software package in the Linux array.

Is there anybody here using Slackware with a T-series? (I have a T23 and a T42). Is it really that hard to configure Slackware after installation? My experience with Linux or Unix is null. Any books that you would recommend?

Thanks.

I have Slackware 10.2 running on my T42.
After install configuration is not that bad. However, if you plan on using wireless, I recommend downloading the 2.6 series kernel. Personally, I'm using a 2.6.12 series kernel since I've experienced wireless trouble with the 2.6.13 series. You also might run into some sound trouble that can be easily fixed with alsamixer.

for a beginner, I recommend a full install.

[Thinker]

If you are willing to do your homework and accept the challenge then Slackware is a fine distribution to learn Linux on. [...]
You could also take the route of starting with a distribution that works great out of the box first so you can get comfortable with a Linux environment and slowly learn the Linux way of doing things. [...]
Nowadays I prefer a Linux distribution that just works easily out of the box. [...]
Well, hopefully you can glean some useful information from my post. I'm sure you'll find the help you need on the internet no matter what decision you make.

-Eric

Thanks for your response. I understand your philosophy, and I am a little like that (while I like to tinker with things and build stuff, I find that I usually prefer things to work right out of the box).

I went with SuSE 9.3 Pro, and I am very happy with it so far. I was surprised to see how sophisticated the KDE window manager is, and the hardware detection on my T23 was perfect as far as I can tell. I still want to install and configure Slackware in the near future (as I learn more about Linux, this should make that process feasible).

As a side note, I installed fluxbox (another window manager), and I am using that one instead of KDE or Gnome. It is the most beautiful, simple and efficient windowing environment I have ever seen. It runs way faster than KDE or any of the others (besides blackbox, which fluxbox is based on). I would encourage any of you Linux Thinkpad users to give it a try.

Thanks for your helpful answer,

Ruben

[Thinker]

I have Slackware 10.2 running on my T42.
After install configuration is not that bad. However, if you plan on using wireless, I recommend downloading the 2.6 series kernel. Personally, I'm using a 2.6.12 series kernel since I've experienced wireless trouble with the 2.6.13 series. You also might run into some sound trouble that can be easily fixed with alsamixer.

for a beginner, I recommend a full install.

Thanks for your advice. I went with SuSE, but I want to install Slackware (maybe within a few months).

Is it true that Slackware is stable as a rock? I like SuSE very much, but I have had a couple of applications crash on me (one of it, MPlayer, I installed later and doesn't come included in SuSE though), although the OS itself hasn't crashed yet.

Have you heard of Linux From Scratch? Just wondering if anyone has given that approach a try. The idea of building a Linux system from scratch seems appealing (it is going one step further than Slackware), but I wonder if it wouldn't be overkill and a waste of time.

[jspsh]

I have Slackware 10.2 running on my T42.
After install configuration is not that bad. However, if you plan on using wireless, I recommend downloading the 2.6 series kernel. Personally, I'm using a 2.6.12 series kernel since I've experienced wireless trouble with the 2.6.13 series. You also might run into some sound trouble that can be easily fixed with alsamixer.

for a beginner, I recommend a full install.

Thanks for your advice. I went with SuSE, but I want to install Slackware (maybe within a few months).

Is it true that Slackware is stable as a rock? I like SuSE very much, but I have had a couple of applications crash on me (one of it, MPlayer, I installed later and doesn't come included in SuSE though), although the OS itself hasn't crashed yet.

Have you heard of Linux From Scratch? Just wondering if anyone has given that approach a try. The idea of building a Linux system from scratch seems appealing (it is going one step further than Slackware), but I wonder if it wouldn't be overkill and a waste of time.

I have Slackware installed on 3 machines (Thinkpad, file server, and workstation dual boot). From my experience, Slackware never let me down. I never experienced any sort of downtime inflicted by the operating system itself.


However, on my workstation with a nVidia nForce2 motherboard, I've encountered some lag/high CPU usage problems with Slackware running the 2.6.13.4 kernel. It seems that regardless of what filesystem I use, whenever I perform a large file operation (decompressing, etc), pdflush spikes up in CPU usage and lags the whole system. Furthermore, when I used Slackware on an ext3 filesystem, the problem got worse. Both pdflush and kjournald (mainly kjournald) used high amounts of CPU time and I actually encountered system lockups when the system was unusable due to lag. The problem is alleviated a bit on reiserfs but it still remains a distraction.

My file server running the 2.4.31 default kernel is stable and never encountered any such problems.

I compiled Mplayer from source for all three systems and never encountered any crashes...so far.

[teetee]

I believe it's the user who is mainly responsible for system tunning and making sure it's stability. The reason why I choose slackware is because of its simplicity. There were some issues like SAMBA+ReiserFS but this kind of thing happens all the time when you've tried enough implimentation combinations. Slackware used to be only console based distro out of the box(no X and no WM) and I used to be one of the users who use consoles more than anything but now I am totally spoiled by xfce+X and I use VMD for molecule visiualization and demo, gimp for image manupilation, gaim for IM, Azureus for bt, dia/texmaker/openoffice for writing reports and flowcharts, etc. Yes. I can do all this on Windows too but I have to say I know how the program works much better in linux than that in Windows.(Off topic)

Anyway, I like slackware not only because I am a slacker but also after using Red hat 6,8,9, freebsd, mandrake, and debian I went back to slackware since I feel like I have total freedom in it.