Rating: 
Summary: Great Idea but
Review: No matter how good you think your product is, you still have to support it if you sell it as a commercial product. After multiple attempts at overcoming problems in the install/configuration with fonts appearing as bar code on two different machines. I wrote an email to Slackware. No problem resolution, they gave up. I've used just about every Linux distro out there and this was a disappointment considering what I had read about the product. Maybe a great product, but some house cleaning needs to be done in the support office. When you sell something as a commercial product it is no longer a hobby. Wasted my money!
Rating:
Summary: Great Idea but
Review: No matter how good you think your product is, you still have to support it if you sell it as a commercial product. After multiple attempts at overcoming problems in the install/configuration with fonts appearing as bar code on two different machines. I wrote an email to Slackware. No problem resolution, they gave up. I've used just about every Linux distro out there and this was a disappointment considering what I had read about the product. Maybe a great product, but some house cleaning needs to be done in the support office. When you sell something as a commercial product it is no longer a hobby. Wasted my money!
Rating: 
Summary: the "Hacker's Unix" of Linux distributions
Review: One day there was a little boy named Linus Torvalds. He liked to play with computers and get them to do things. And on one very special and fateful day, he was astounded by a friend of his who was using something called UNIX. It was better, faster and did more than anything he'd ever seen before. "Where can I get this UNIX?" he asked? "And for how much?" That day he learned that not everyone could use UNIX. It was expensive. So, being a savvy, industrius and inventive little tyke, Linus set about writing his own version. It would be called LINUX, it would be every ounce as powerful, and would be free! And every little boy and girl could make their own improvements because he would give away the source code! ...Of all the LINUX distributions, SLACKWARE has been defined as the most 'UNIX'-like. It is also among the oldest, most developed and often the most advanced of the LINUX flavors. All of that aside, I found it to be the most useful way to learn to use LINUX. Let me explain... The installer is a script, with a less than impressive 'DOS' looking interface. But do not let the look fool you. Under the hood, it is every ounce the musclebound goliath you want it to be. Don't judge a distribution based on this; they may look different, but most installers have the same general set of options. Pay attention to the screen when linux is booting whether off of floppies or CD. This will tell you some valuable things (like what additional kinds of starage devices the kernel has already recognized in your machine). This makes less work and less confusion later on. If you have another drive with Windows on it, SLACKWARE can usually detect it and make it available from within your LINUX session. If you can set up SLACKWARE, you will do fine. Setting up XWindows is a great first lesson in your new environment. Find out what kind of hardware you have in your machine. SLACKWARE takes nothing for granted. You will need to tell XWindows what kind of mouse, video card and monitor you have, and d which display settings you would like to use. Why all the fuss? When you are done you will already have a good working knowledge of how LINUX and XWindows works. Using SLACKWARE means that you have a better idea of what's going on inside LINUX. Other distributions tend to remove you from the command prompt, which is LINUX in it's truest form. This means that you don't really get to see how things work, and you're not 'really learning' anything but the difference between Windows and XWindows. XWindows is not an operating System. It is a Shell or window manager. Explorer.exe and it's related components are the Windows Shell (the start button, Task Bar, System Tray, Desktop and its own kind of Window Manager). This is where the similarities end. LINUX is a much more powerful OS than Windows. Hands Down. The operating system is the command prompt. You need to learn the LINUX command prompt in order to understand how LINUX works. This will help you know what's wrong when something doesn't work, and it will empower you with a dynamic command of the LINUX OS. You almost can't set up SLACKWARE without actually learning how it works. The books are fine and the 'man' command can save your life, but nothing is as rewarding as realizing that you are the reason it works. The learning curve here 'is' the reward. Other distributions do not offer this kind of trial-by-fire approach, but when you come out on the other side of the installation of other distributions, you haven't learned much, if anything. Q) Why learn SLACKWARE? A) It's the Most like UNIX. It costs next to nothing. And it is a first rate powerhouse of an OS. Oh yeah, and you might actually 'learn' LINUX. SLACKWARE is for those of us who want to know how things work and how to 'make' things work. like what, you ask? Almost 90% of the internet is composed of UNIX or LINUX clients and servers. No kidding, when asked what he thought of the growing public interest in the internet, Bill Gates said, 'It's a phase'...'that will pass'. Boy, he was wrong on a GALACTIC scale! But this gave LINUX developers the opportunity to write the protocols and environments that are the internet as we know it. LINUX out-sold Windows in Japan last year in new OS purchases. Why? You can make LINUX anything you want it to be. Router (internet traffic) software and Tivo (record days of Television at a time digitally) machines and the SONY PlayStation2 (Everything from videogames to DVD player to internet box+ a lot LOT more) software development kit use LINUX. For example, after Microsoft had owned HotMail for awhile, they decided that it looked silly for them to be running a mail service on LINUX. So they set everything up on WindowsNT. And crashed for three straight days. Now it is being run on LINUX again. Enough said. If you do not want to know how things work, but want to use a powerful distribution, use something else. But if you are serious about 'learning' LINUX, SLACKWARE is as close to UNIX as you can get. And that's what's keeping us all connected. You can have a working http (web) ftp and telnet server in no time at all.
Rating:
Summary: Make the most of your computer
Review: Over the years, Slackware has gained a reputation for itself as being the "hard way" to do Linux. People think that because it has a text-based installer -- as opposed to a fancy-pants graphical one -- that it must be 'older' or 'harder' or 'primitive.' Well shame on anyone that thinks like this, because they don't realize that this is Linux in its purest, and un-Redmondized form. Slackware is for everyone that wants to take control of their computer, not the other way around.I've always been a no-frills kind of guy, when it comes to computers. When I used Windows, I always hated a cluttered desktop, I hated when Windows would load all sorts of useless programs in the background without letting me know... It always made me wish that there was a way to use my computer efficiently, without running "msconfig" to get rid of everything I didn't like about Windows, and Slackware was the answer. When installing Slackware, it gives you a straightforward, easy-to-use way of adding and removing any packages you don't want or need on your computer. It only installs what you want, and what you absolutely need... And it leaves the rest up to you. Configuring the X Windows system is also as easy as ever. Run one simple program, make some choices regarding your video card and monitor, and you're ready to go. Anyone that thinks this minimalistic effort is "too much" needs to step back and realize how much Windows spoon feeds them; it's time to grow up. It's also worth noting that the book that comes with this particluar package (Slackware Essentials) is pretty helpful as well. It's not the kind of book you just sit down and read, but it serves as an excellent reference when you hit a mind block. Slackware is everything you need your computer to be: Fast, efficient, simple, reliable... It's all here. If you're getting tired of being unable to take full control of your computer, this is definitely what you're looking for. ...
Rating:
Summary: Make the most of your computer
Review: Over the years, Slackware has gained a reputation for itself as being the "hard way" to do Linux. People think that because it has a text-based installer -- as opposed to a fancy-pants graphical one -- that it must be 'older' or 'harder' or 'primitive.' Well shame on anyone that thinks like this, because they don't realize that this is Linux in its purest, and un-Redmondized form. Slackware is for everyone that wants to take control of their computer, not the other way around. I've always been a no-frills kind of guy, when it comes to computers. When I used Windows, I always hated a cluttered desktop, I hated when Windows would load all sorts of useless programs in the background without letting me know... It always made me wish that there was a way to use my computer efficiently, without running "msconfig" to get rid of everything I didn't like about Windows, and Slackware was the answer. When installing Slackware, it gives you a straightforward, easy-to-use way of adding and removing any packages you don't want or need on your computer. It only installs what you want, and what you absolutely need... And it leaves the rest up to you. Configuring the X Windows system is also as easy as ever. Run one simple program, make some choices regarding your video card and monitor, and you're ready to go. Anyone that thinks this minimalistic effort is "too much" needs to step back and realize how much Windows spoon feeds them; it's time to grow up. It's also worth noting that the book that comes with this particluar package (Slackware Essentials) is pretty helpful as well. It's not the kind of book you just sit down and read, but it serves as an excellent reference when you hit a mind block. Slackware is everything you need your computer to be: Fast, efficient, simple, reliable... It's all here. If you're getting tired of being unable to take full control of your computer, this is definitely what you're looking for. ...
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME
Review: Slackware Linux is a great OS. Other crappy distributions of Linux take you away from the true Linux experience. Others like Red Hat. I mean if I wanted Windows I would buy it. Slackware is great, and is faster and more productive for me. This is because you have to do most things at the command prompt. Very Stable. Fast, Secure. What more could you want in a OS?
Rating:
Summary: Advanced Linux users/admins ... here's your answer!
Review: So this might be a little harder to use than DeadKat ... but it all depends on perspective. If you're the type of person that likes everything done for you, can't use a console, and doesn't read logs ... then this is not for you (check out BigSlack instead). However, if you're a control freak when it comes to your computer, if you know your hardware on a first-name-basis, and if you like to have FULL and UNLIMITED scalability and customization options with the power, stability, and flexibility of Linux (ie: as much or litte as you want), then this is definitely for you! There's no such thing as Linux software that only runs on one distrobution, so don't let that hold you back (if you don't believe me, then once again, this is not for you). To summarize, here's who should try something else (or rethink their motives): (1) ordinary beginners, or those who don't have the time/desire to learn, (2) people who don't like linux, or want linux to be windows, (3) those who really only need and want a simple destkop system here's who would benefit by using Slackware: (1) beginners who have the time and desire to learn everything about their linux system, and aren't afraid of challenges, (2) system admins that run webservers, mail servers, routers, firewalls, or anything else that demands a high level of customization, (3) those who want to make the most of their hardware's capabilities I hope this review has been helpful!
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