Slackware 12 Released

[saulgoode]

Slackware 12 is now available, but currently only through bittorrent (http://www.slackware.com/getslack/torrents.php).

Major changes are kernel 2.6.21.5, modular-X, Firefox 2, and Apache2.

[JLB]

yippee!
Torrents are running slow btw... Should pick up tomorrow.

p.s. no troubleshooting tips please for my slow slackware torrent. I am running multiple torrent downloads and the others are insanely fast :)

[Dark Star]

http://www.imgx.org/pfiles/732/logo.jpgSlackware 12.0 also comes with two desktop environments: Xfce 4.4.1 (fast, light and easy to use) and KDE 3.5.7 (the latest version of the award-winning K Desktop Environment). There are also many other new enhancements and features brought in by this version, such as SCSI and ATA RAID volume support, SATA support, Software RAID, LVM (the Logical Volume Manager, and encrypted filesystems. The kernel support for the X DRI (Direct Rendering Interface) should now significantly improve the speed hardware accelerated 3D graphics to Linux. The SMP kernel supports multiple processors, multi-core CPUs, HyperThreading, and about every other optimization available, as the developer says in the changelog.

Highlights:

Includes a kernel patched with Speakup to support speech synthesizers
System binaries are linked with the GNU C Library, version 2.5
Installs gcc-4.1.2 as the default C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran-77/95, and Ada 95 compiler
Support for fully encrypted network connections with OpenSSL, OpenSSH, OpenVPN, and GnuPG
Apache (httpd) 2.2.4 web server with Dynamic Shared Object support, SSL, and PHP 5.2.3
PCMCIA, CardBus, USB, IEE1394 (FireWire) and ACPI support new development tools, including Perl 5.8.8, Python 2.5.1
Ruby 1.8.6, Subversion 1.4.4, git-1.5.2.2, mercurial-0.9.4, graphical tools like Qt designer and KDevelop
An impressive browser series: KDE's Konqueror 3.5.7, SeaMonkey 1.1.2 (this is the replacement for the Mozilla Suite), and the immensely popular Firefox 2.0.0.4, as well as the Thunderbird 2.0.0.4 email and news client with advanced junk mail filtering
Some useful GTK+ based applications, including: pidgin-2.0.2, gimp-2.2.15, gkrellm-2.2.10, gxine-0.5.11, xchat-2.8.2, xsane-0.994, and pan-0.131


Download/Order: The Slackware Linux Project: Get Slack (http://www.slackware.com/getslack/)

[Jaygo333]

sorry for gloat. Irresponsible of me.

So which one should I try next. Arch or Slackware?

wot's the main difference of the 2.
All posts online about the 2 can't decide which is actally better.
Both just say, exceptionallly done for both.

Plus is arch a breakoff of Slack?

[victorche]

So which one should I try next. Arch or Slackware?

Once you got Slack, you never turn back ;]

[deepclutch]

does slack and cult's got GNOME included now.no,if it bundles GNOME by default :?
this is sad,slackware bundles xfce,but no GNOME wow!gr8

[Bachstelze]

does slack and cult's got GNOME included now.no,if it bundles GNOME by default :?
this is sad,slackware bundles xfce,but no GNOME wow!gr8

No, it doesn't. There's a 3rd party project that provides Gnome packages for Slack but I don't think they have 12.0 packages yet.

[deepclutch]

that's really bad and the attitude too that GNOME cant be bundled,citing illogical reasoning.now what to say in ubuntu forum reg that?.Volkerding,its too depressing for GNOME users :(
below is what i too feels:
http://www.excelcia.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7
slackware let the GNOME out(imperialistic?) ,Ubuntu and cannonical let the kde,xfce or any wm shine with Kubuntu,Xubuntu and more.I can see the hatred for one particular project from slackware part.It sux to let GNOME go off slackware.Isnt that guy sensible enough that GNOME is the second largest used Desktop Environment and many slacks are NOT comfortable with its Kde?,they can have gtk2 libs there,but confuses that building GNOME for a "distro" is trouble.this is sheer politricks ofcorz against GNOME and may be gtk2. :x

[victorche]

that's really bad and the attitude too that GNOME cant be bundled,citing illogical reasoning.now what to say in ubuntu forum reg that?.Volkerding,its too depressing for GNOME users :(
below is what i too feels:
http://www.excelcia.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7
slackware let the GNOME out(imperialistic?) ,Ubuntu and cannonical let the kde,xfce or any wm shine with Kubuntu,Xubuntu and more.I can see the hatred for one particular project from slackware part.It sux to let GNOME go off slackware.Isnt that guy sensible enough that GNOME is the second largest used Desktop Environment and many slacks are NOT comfortable with its Kde?,they can have gtk2 libs there,but confuses that building GNOME for a "distro" is trouble.this is sheer politricks ofcorz against GNOME and may be gtk2. :x

Slackware's team decided to drop the Gnome support a long time ago. Right after 10.2 as far as I remember.
11.0 was also without Gnome...

They're focused on KDE and that's their decision. Nothing bad about it... Anyway there are enough good teams who provide Gnome for Slackware. Check these:

http://www.droplinegnome.net/

http://www.gware.org/

http://gsb.freerock.org/

Soon they will provide Gnome 2.18 for Slackware 12 ;]

Take care!

[Bachstelze]

deepclutch;

Please quit telling nonsense. Slackware's team is much smaller than Ubuntu's and they can't do everything. It is absolutely true that Gnome is far more complicated to maintain than KDE and requires much more work. Their decision to drop is is just logic. And I don't know who you think you are to tell the Slack guys what they should put in their distro. If you want Gnome, just built it form source, maybe then you'l see how much trouble it is.

Also, Slack doesn't focus on KDE. They also ship XFCE, Fluxbox, Blackbox and FVWM...

[deepclutch]

Yeah.I know i dont need to talk about slack atrocities here.but i cant stop telling if they can have xfce(now gtk as deps),Fluxbox, Blackbox and FVWM...then why not GNOME?officially.
Let their(slack) devel team be small,then why didn't they allow any other gnome packers for slack to get in sync with the development,or be a part of the team slackware.this went wrong!they can have everyother wm's available officially.but NOT gnome?
I know that it cant be good if some one external gives you GNOME and that too without the help from original distro,what about security fixes inherent to that distro?isnt that GNOME is sin for slackers?highly doubtful and FUDing idea not to support GNOME officially that is and no justification like it's the slack devel teams decision etc since FOSS is about people's ideas;if some want GNOME,why cant they do that!atleast they shud know that GNOME is second largest DE in Linux/UNIX.this is ridiculous.
if the above is justified,i am done :-| ofcourse,no dobut slackware will be there in the league of the dead tuxmagazine(kde fanboyism,gnome bashing).

[Bachstelze]

highly doubtful and FUDing idea not to support GNOME officially that is and no justification like it's the slack devel teams decision etc since FOSS is about people's ideas;if some want GNOME,why cant they do that!atleast they shud know that GNOME is second largest DE in Linux/UNIX.this is ridiculous.


You're the ridiculous one. As far as I know, no one is forbiding you to download the Gnome sources and build them on Slack. Actually, please do just that. You'll see that its hell... Oh, and you're the one spreading FUD, too.

[arox]

then why not GNOME?officially.
Because it sucks

[Bachstelze]

Because it sucks

You musn't say it like that, they just won't understand :p

[victorche]

Yeah.I know i dont need to talk about slack atrocities here.but i cant stop telling if they can have xfce(now gtk as deps),Fluxbox, Blackbox and FVWM...then why not GNOME?officially.
Let their(slack) devel team be small,then why didn't they allow any other gnome packers for slack to get in sync with the development,or be a part of the team slackware.this went wrong!they can have everyother wm's available officially.but NOT gnome?


Calm down, man :)
We are all friends here... Slackware is [almost] one man's project. Slackware is rock solid, Slackware is the oldest surviving distribution. It is not for everyone, it does not have the goals of Ubuntu. Patrick does not want to make linux for every desktop.

So as it was written in the official changelog - It is too hard for him to maintain both Gnome and KDE /He has his reasons to choose KDE in this case/...

As HymnToLife told you twice - noone stops you from downloading Gnome, and compile it yourself. Or you can use other projects who deliver Gnome for Slackware...

Besides Slackware users are not afraid to use the terminal. I'm reading the Gutsy forum here often. There are users who complain that they have to use terminal even once.

And that is normal here. Just because that's the goal of Ubuntu - Linux for human beings. Not linux geeks or sys admins.

But you want to use Slack - We use Slackware at work /I'm working in an ISP company/ and we use it on our main servers. That's the power and stability of Slack. We won't use Ubuntu for that.

Every distro has its pros and cons. But if you want to use Slack - you shouldn't be afraid of making
./configure & make && make install

;]

[deepclutch]

Because it sucks
for me kde sucks too :x .dont try trolling.Now i know that slackware is not for me.
I am happy with Debian Sid GNOME and Debian Etch anyway as stable or more than slackware.GNOME rules!!:popcorn:
yeah i too am using Linux for years(precise 7 years,dont teach me which is best kiddo!) now and it seems kde only distro that slack is.i am quitting this section as i know that slackware =kde fanboyism as per HymnToLife (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=51114) , arox (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=144303) .dont ever dream kde single handedly ruling Linux DE.It sucks to have this attitude.esp @HymntoLife being a ubuntu staff too :? kde cannot be the best and cant be enforced,got it?.Hope u better off from this forum staff position,u be better needed in kde.org :x

[Bachstelze]

I am quitting this section as i know that slackware =kde fanboyism as per HymnToLife (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=51114) , arox (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=144303) .

Wise move, and please don't come back. You're just ridiculous...

[arox]

Oh yeah, I don't even use KDE


Keep on living in your own world

[ThinkBuntu]

I'm downloading the DVD image through the torrent right now. What can I expect during my install? Is there anything I have to know going in, or is it fairly intuitive (like a typical Debian install)?

[kazuya]

I tested the DVD, it seemed to install fine until the typical stage of installing lilo to MBR. It spitted out the typical lilo error - Unable to install lilo in MBR?
This is one thing that really frustrates me about slackware and most slack-based distros in the past. The irony is that, distros like Vector linux, wolvix, and zenwalk now get past this issue; The debian-based distros and others that use GRUB never have this error . -
After all the install wait, which was not that long, my install failed due the LILO issue.

Only thing wierd about my setup is the fact that I am installing slack 12 DVD from external USB DVDROM drive as compared to an internal DVDROM drive. I am installing to hda7 partition {13GB}

Currently, I reinstalled Mint unto that partition.. I am itching to put slack back there, but not if I cannot get past the lilo to MBR step.

Sorry for my rant.

[JLB]

install lilo to the root partition and use grub from your mint install to launch it. (Chainload it).

[AriciU]

Will give it a go tommorow to see what's diff from my old Slack 11. Any idea if compiz fusion or beryl works with Slack? I've only tried them on Ubuntu so far.

[saulgoode]

Any idea if compiz fusion or beryl works with Slack? I've only tried them on Ubuntu so far.

I'm not sure about Fusion, but Compiz ships as a package.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?t=566969

[AriciU]

Installed it and ran into a problem when i tried to add it to GRUB so i can boot it.

I have 3 harddrives. hdb, sda and sdb. I've made a 10gb EXT3 partition on sda and a 1gb swap partition on sda.

Output of fdisk -l (with text added by me so you can see witch is witch):


Disk /dev/sda: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes
16 heads, 63 sectors/track, 387621 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 1008 * 512 = 516096 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 357146 180001552+ 7 HPFS/NTFS -> NTFS partition
/dev/sda2 381527 387621 3071880 f W95 Ext'd (LBA) -> FAT32 part
/dev/sda3 357147 379445 11238696 83 Linux Slackware install
/dev/sda4 379446 381526 1048824 82 Linux swap / Solaris -> Slackware SWAP
/dev/sda5 381527 387621 3071848+ 7 HPFS/NTFS -> NTFS partition

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 320.0 GB, 320072933376 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 41345 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 37199 281224408+ 7 HPFS/NTFS -> NTFS partition
/dev/sdb2 * 37200 41206 30292920 83 Linux -> Ubuntu install
/dev/sdb3 41278 41345 514080 82 Linux swap / Solaris -> Ubuntu SWAP
/dev/sdb4 41207 41277 536760 83 Linux -> Ubuntu /boot

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/hdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 * 1 16752 134560408+ 7 HPFS/NTFS -> NTFS partition with the MBR
/dev/hdb2 16753 19458 21725376 7 HPFS/NTFS -> Vista install
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.



Here is a copy of my GRUB menu.lst:


title Windows Vista/Longhorn (loader)
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic
root (hd2,3)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=UUID=1ea44946-645f-4375-bef1-262d2e21f2f0 ro splash
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.20-16-generic
quiet
savedefault

title Slackware 12, kernel 2.6.21.5-huge
root (hd1,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-huge-2.6.21.5 root=UUID=f75581a3-97a2-4ffb-87d5-06ebb373c8f4 ro splash
quiet

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd2,3)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=UUID=1ea44946-645f-4375-bef1-262d2e21f2f0 ro single
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.20-16-generic


(hd1,2) is correct for the /dev/sda3 where i have Slackware installed to.

I'm getting a GRUB 18 Error (Selected cylinder exceeds maximum supported by BIOS) when i'm trying to boot it. The Slack partition is set as bootable in fdisk also.

It would've been logical to display the same error on the Ubuntu install since it's not on the first partition also (hd2,3) so i think it's a BS error and something else is wrong.

Let me know if there's something obvious that i've missed while i start googling... Also... i did not install LILO at all. I want to use Grub.

[AriciU]

FIXED

Had to copy slack's kernel to the Ubuntu /boot partition that i already had and boot from that... Works perfectly. I hope someone would fix GRUB and get rid of that lame error... Having to use a smaller /boot partition at the beginning of the drive is kinda outdated IMO.


title Slackware 12, kernel 2.6.21.5-huge
root (hd2,3)
kernel /slackware/vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.21.5-smp root=/dev/sda3 ro
boot

[energiya]

I have to say I was amazed by Patrick Volkerding's decision to go for this massive changes with the coming of version 12. I was expecting a more conservative release, but this is good news. I'm curious how will it behave in the linux world...

[kazuya]

Got Slackware 12 to install and work for my PC. All I can say is WOW. Let's see how it goes from here on. It looks awesome to me and feels quite responsive. I shall be playing around with this distro for a while.

[ThinkBuntu]

Got Slackware 12 to install and work for my PC. All I can say is WOW. Let's see how it goes from here on. It looks awesome to me and feels quite responsive. I shall be playing around with this distro for a while.
What's "WOW" about it? We always have Zenwalk and Arch for speed, so what sets it apart?

[kazuya]

The WOW is a little exagerated. I'm just overjoyed that I finally successfully installed it past the lilo portion and everything loaded fine. Now, I need to explore and see if gslapt or some package equivalent works on it.

EDIT: My feelings dwindled once I started to try and be productive with it. It is a good OS and does seem promising. At the moment, I have been having issues with just getting DHCP set up. I am so used to that just working fine, I can eventually get it to work, but just do not have the patience.

In the end, Vector Linux is still my favorite slack and then zenwalk.

I think it is good, but the adoption of a central package management keeps me from seeing it as a true replacement for my Mint / Ubuntu install..

[ThinkBuntu]

I don't see how a distro doesn't have DHCP working out of the box. I'm a sucker, so I'm trying to get DHCP working in Zenwalk (even though I could drop in Arch and be up-and-running in an hour, Xfce and all), but this is the least common denominator of networking and I'd guess that 99% of PCs in the US have an ethernet jack.

[saulgoode]

I think it is good, but the adoption of a central package management keeps me from seeing it as a true replacement for my Mint / Ubuntu install..

Slackware has central package management. The plaintext database of installed packages and their associated files is available in /var/log/packages and their management is handled by the installpkg, removepkg, upgradepkg, and pkgtool scripts.