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KdotJ
August 24th, 2010, 01:32 PM
I love ubuntu and I use it exclusively on my machine. Some times I play around with other distros in VMs just to see what they're like and what they offer.
I want to try a distro which is more leaning toward hardcore Linux, and one that will force me to learn about Linux in general and how to maintain it. I have kind of narrowed it down to Gentoo and Slackware. I have also had a look at Arch too.

So I need the opinion from you experts and experienced people who use these distros, and help me choose which one to go for.


Thanks

Bachstelze
August 24th, 2010, 01:55 PM
Why not try them both? They're free...

Spice Weasel
August 24th, 2010, 02:13 PM
Real men use Slackware. Microcore if you want a Live CD.

But if you want to go really hardcore, try LFS.

linux-hack
August 24th, 2010, 02:13 PM
Why not try them both? They're free...

:lolflag: :lolflag: Yhea thats Linux :popcorn:

But for me : Slackware

linux-hack
August 24th, 2010, 02:15 PM
But if you want to go really hardcore, try LFS.

The Linux From Scratch is rely hardcore, but it's the best way to rely get to know how linux works.

earthpigg
August 24th, 2010, 02:21 PM
Why not try them both? They're free...

the amount of time required to install & configure them both is likely a deterrent.

KdotJ
August 24th, 2010, 02:26 PM
Thanks for the replies guys, I think I'll go slackware.. I've just been reading up on distrowatch. Longest existing distro... Nice

Dixon Bainbridge
August 24th, 2010, 02:31 PM
You can't call yourself a linux-head until you've installed Slackware.

mips
August 24th, 2010, 03:49 PM
www.linuxfromscratch.org

Paqman
August 24th, 2010, 03:51 PM
Real men use Slackware. Microcore if you want a Live CD.

But if you want to go really hardcore, try LFS.

Real men whittle their own 1's and 0's from the bones of their enemies.

bunburya
August 24th, 2010, 03:54 PM
I'm not a Linux expert by any means, but the opne thing that would put me off trying Slackware to get more "into" Linux is the idea of resolving dependencies yourself. There's hardcore and then there's tedious, surely? I know there are a few unofficial package managers out there, but are these widely used/reliable?

Spice Weasel
August 24th, 2010, 04:50 PM
Real men whittle their own 1's and 0's from the bones of their enemies.

Using Slackware is far easier. :D

2handband
November 10th, 2010, 06:31 PM
I'm not a Linux expert by any means, but the opne thing that would put me off trying Slackware to get more "into" Linux is the idea of resolving dependencies yourself. There's hardcore and then there's tedious, surely? I know there are a few unofficial package managers out there, but are these widely used/reliable?

You really don't have to do a lot of dependency resolution (I use Slackware for most things these days). There are lots of pre-built Slackware packages these days, and even if you're compiling something from source the dependencies are always included in the readme. If you're serious about trying Slack here are some places to get packages:

http://slackware.opennix.com/?slackversion=13.1
http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/slackbuilds/
http://slackbuilds.org/

It has it's advantages... you can put anything you want on there, anything at all, and never have to worry about confusing your binary package manager... because you don't have one! It DOES mean you have to take a bit more responsibility for what's installed on your computer, though. I urge you to give it a try... it's the last word in stability and performance.

3Miro
November 10th, 2010, 06:57 PM
I went Ubuntu -> Arch -> Gentoo. I find Arch and Gentoo far more hardcore than Slack. While Slack is impressive, it is too rigid for my taste.

Quadunit404
November 10th, 2010, 07:15 PM
Real men whittle their own 1's and 0's from the bones of their enemies.

Real men type in binary.

cek
November 10th, 2010, 10:18 PM
I used gentoo way back in 2001 through about 2004. I really liked it a lot. Knowing what I know now, I would suggest arch. It has nearly the flexibility of gentoo, without having to compile from source.

marshmallow1304
November 11th, 2010, 12:57 AM
Portage is far and away the best package management system I've ever used (can download one package while installing another, can install multiple packages in parallel, mixing stable and unstable packages is easy). The whole idea of USE flags (http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=2&chap=2) is brilliant and the handbook (http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml) is very good.

/end Gentoo fanboy mode

Dustin2128
November 11th, 2010, 03:26 AM
Slack, by far. Its actually fairly easy to use; it just assumes you know what you're doing. Which I do, for the most part. Installing software can be annoying sometimes though.

Real men type in binary.
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62chevy
November 11th, 2010, 03:54 AM
You wont regret Slackware. It's rock solid and the only reason I don't us it is KDE. If your goal is to learn GNU/Linux then Linux from Scratch is the best way to learn.

Dustin2128
November 11th, 2010, 04:26 AM
You wont regret Slackware. It's rock solid and the only reason I don't us it is KDE. If your goal is to learn GNU/Linux then Linux from Scratch is the best way to learn.
... why don't you just use GNOME or xfce?