Slackware
has become my favoured Linux distribution. It embodies the underlying
philosophies of Open Source. It's fast, stable and secure. Slackware
is all of these
things but more importantly it just works. Oh yes by
the way, it's free.
This
page provides a few links to sites I have found helpful while
installing, learning
and using Slackware. Of particular note is the
The Unofficial Revised
Slackware Book
Project run by Alan Hicks and
colleagues. Alan's
site provides an up to date version
of Patrick J. Volkerding's
Slackware Book, and co-incidentally answers many of the
Slackware
specific and general Linux questions sought on the best Linux forums,
including LinuxQuestions.
If you want to learn about Linux in general
and Slackware in particular, I would recommend
downloading Alan's
version of Slack Book in PDF form. This book contains all you need
to
learn Linux to some depth. You can view the on-line HTML version here.
You
can download the current version of Slackware (12.2) from any number of
FTP mirror
sites around the world and all you need for a complete
system are the two installation CDs,
although you now get all the required packages and source code on one
DVD.
You
can
purchase installation disks from the Slackware
Store for a paltry $29 or
for the same amount
you can take out a subscription for the next
version and future releases.
Slackware
is sometimes presented as "difficult to install and maintain"
- nothing could
be further from the truth. Some experience of
computers and possibly another Linux
distribution will make the
installation an easy process lasting no more than 20 minutes.
It's
so good it should be illegal.
Also
of interest and help are the following sites:
Linuxpackages
is the place to find Slackware specific programs, libraries and
drivers.
Slax
is a live CD based on Slackware which you can download, burn to CD
and try
on your PC without touching your hard drive.
Distrowatch
is the place to keep up to date with all of the latest news on the
many Linux distribtuions.
LinuxQuestions
- see what others think of Slackware.
