Slackware 15 is Released! A Distro You Really Should Try Because You're Worth It!

The release of Slackware 15 this week caught me completely off guard, but now that it's here there has never been a better time to try Slackware.
With the latest 5.15 LTS kernel, full support for UEFI, the latest anniversary edition of Plasma, XFCE, and a range of window managers, you have choices a plenty.
In this video I demonstrate what I do, and this includes a UEFI installation with grub, sudo and a new user setup before the first reboot. I also demo how to set the generic kernel as default in grub.
Be warned, this a long video and doesn't even scratch the surface of this venerable distro and what it offers. I suggest you see this video as an addition to my other Slackware videos which cover the following:
Grub and EFI booting:
• In Pursuit of "Slack" ...
Using Slackbuilds:
• The Slackware AUR: Ins...
Setting up a multilibs system:
• Slackware 15 RC1 - Set...
Modifying libXft to show colour emoji on dwm:
• Enabling Colour Emoji ...
I hope you enjoy the video :-)
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Ramble On!

[@orcaflotta7867]

When Slackware announced the new version this channel was still called the Young Tech Bloke.

[@mooks500]

Genius

[@chuckmuckamuck8001]

I installed Slackware for the first time in late 1993, moved onto to many other distros after 1999. After this review I think it is time to go home.

[@richardmeyer418]

Similar - the kernel was 1.2.8 (or did that only come out in 1994?) at the time - I remember that like it was yesterday. I even got a friend onto Linux because he was wanting to write big C programs that worked with genetic algorithms, and he couldn't make them as big as he wanted under Windows at the time, because 640KB limits. In Linux, he just added more swap space if necessary. This was in the days when a big PC had 4MB of RAM. 😁 Those were the days.

[@stanleybroniszewsky8538]

Slackware in 1993?!?? I can almost bet you installed it from floppy discs. As the saying went, if you want to learn Linux, learn Slackware. And I thought installing MS-DOS & Windows 95 on floppies was a long and drawn out process.

[@stanleybroniszewsky8538]

​@@richardmeyer418- I think my old Compaq Deskpro DX4-100 with 32 MB of ram was impressive at the time. I just hate proprietary hardware to this day, a big time issue I had with that pc.

[@SajjadRizvi77]

Rest In Power Steve! This video is probably the most linked Slackware install video when referring to new-ish users! I've got it backed-up if it ever loses its place.

[@glenjo0]

Slackware was my first distro back in the 90s. Good times!

[@phonewithoutquestion80]

As a Debian user who prefers stable distros (still open to Arch, btw), I think Slackware will be up my alley. Looks like the perfect time to try it out, indeed.

[@gjermundification]

I use arch on some Lenovos, it's good for workstation / laptop stuff, I would not put arch on a server.

[@stanleybroniszewsky8538]

​@@gjermundification- Arch Linux on a server?!?? Heaven forbid! That's the job of a real Unix such as OpenBSD. It's focused for running on servers. Many of their projects have been adopted by Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc. The security is top shelf. And don't forget - Unix was never designed with a GUI, WM, and DE. I myself actually prefer running everything from the shell prompt as I got started that way - 1989 using IBM AIX 3.1.2 on a RS6000-150. I really miss those days.

[@gjermundification]

@@stanleybroniszewsky8538 Excactly what I was pointing out for servers; I would use debian.

[@nombreapellido9038]

I used Arch for a long time. When something broke on it - Timeshift saved my bacon. I am gonna use Slackware for a while and wallow in the 1990s.

[@johnjoyce]

Slackware and FreeBSD together will make a well-rounded learning experience.

[@orcaflotta7867]

Aaaw, now I know why I don't use that Slackware stuff but Arch: I don't need a learning experience, I need a functional OS!

[@lefennec3740]

@@orcaflotta7867 slackware is fully functionnal and stable, really have you ever tried it??

[@orcaflotta7867]

@@lefennec3740 Couple years ago I tried to install it, and failed. :( And that, for me, is a clear sign that a distro is not made for human beings. Why waste my time working at installing a OS when I should work with the computer? For me it's all just tools, soft- and hardware. Kitchen appliances I use to get shit done. When stuff doesn't work it goes into the rubbish bin.

[@rable11]

@@orcaflotta7867 So, we, the others, are not human beings, because we use Slackware? :) Stupid...

[@norgeball3971]

Slackware is one of the last bigger distros that I have yet to visit. Thanks for the inspiration, will do that now. And btw, great channel, really love the longer in depth videos👍 All the best!

[@achilles6568]

Slackware rules ! Excellent review as usual OTB

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

That is so awesome and I'm happy for all you Slackware folkes! I may get around to looking at this someday in a VM. Thanks for showcasing this OTB! Cheers! LLAP

[@OldTechBloke]

Cheers Bruce, I would really recommend having a play

[@kbaeve]

My first experience with Linux was Red Hat 5.2, back in 98 I think. From there I tried a bunch of different distros, not downloaded like nowadays, but from books at the bookshop, magazines etc which would include cdroms haha. Slackware was one of the ones that really stuck though, and got super nostalgic to see it's basically the same installer as it was back then. After years on Slackware I did fell in love with the convenience of Debian and apt though, so let's see how it goes. Still thanks for this, it sure became a trip down memory lane as well😍

[@couchcamperTM]

slackware was my first linux, I also had it from a CD Rom in a magazine, in 99. I switched to Debian, too. good old times^^

[@kbaeve]

@@couchcamperTM haha i tried get going with 15. got it installed. Followed the instructions to update the system. And boom, it's gone. No mice or keyboard support after reboot. Some People said ahhh you didn't switch kernel etc or something along those lines, but no nothing about borking the system in the official documentation. Could not figure if and eventually just went from it. A bit sad but at least I got to scratch that nostalgia itch with the installer. And hopefully they update documentation for other users

[@couchcamperTM]

@@kbaeve thx for the warning :-) I was about to try it. I shouldn't have many problems with the current live iso (that's what I hope)

[@lqlarry]

I hope you give us more Slackware. Thanks for the great video.

[@AresWuzHere]

thank you for helping me reconnect with my favorite distro!

[@robbylock1741]

Slackware was my first Linux distro way back in the 1990's. I just installed Slackware 15 on my test hardware and as always, no surprises! Stable and secure as always. Thank you Patrick!

[@tompelican]

Thanks for the video, Steve! Slackware was my first distro in the 90s. I remember the fun of getting X running in those days. I am going to give it a spin!

[@richardmeyer418]

Oh, yes - making sure that you had the timings for your monitor correct, so that it wouldn't catch fire .... 😋

[@dvrogers]

I was waiting for this video! Appreciated.

[@thebreezer]

Truly awesome the work you do and the time you take.

[@RaivoLaanemets]

Thanks for the video! I used Slackware from 2006 to 2017. I started using it because I was interested of learning how operating systems work and Windows was way too opaque and closed for that. I liked the simplicity and ease of debugging of Slackware. I learned a lot from it. The idea of "full" stable install (kernel, shell, desktop env, whatever was on install-dvd) + additional software compiled from downloaded non-modified upstream source is my preferred "distro model". It's not possible with any other distro, they include too much, often conflicting stuff. Sadly I had to switch away from Slackware after refusal to include pulseaudio and systemd as it greatly increased friction of running dependant software on it.

[@chrisretusn]

Long time Slackware user. Enjoyed the video. Gave it a thumbs up of course.

[@phrtao]

Great Video. As soon as I heard the release announcement I knew you would be doing this video next. I don't have the time to try this so the next best thing is watching you have a play about. 'StartX', ooh brings back some memories !

[@itsfish8672]

OTB you timed that well with those 2 vids on slackware a few weeks back,an now a new release,Great vid.

[@rmcellig]

What an excellent video!! I LOVE the installer!! I have never used Slackware but I had to tell you this looks very interesting. Now, I only have to find the time to install it to one of my external USB drives. Thanks again Steve!! Well done!😀👍

[@charleswilliams8368]

This covered a Slackware installation at just the right amount of detail. I'd used it in the past and plan to install it on an old laptop just for fun. Good video.

[@geezergeek1637]

You and DT are the only ones so far to take a look. Thank you!

[@OldTechBloke]

Watch this space, I’ll bet there will be more

[@andrejkosir728]

Glad that install procedure is almost the same. Thanks for grub advice.

[@davewuest]

did not think this was still a thing. thank you.

[@fossrules]

Thanks, mate. I upgraded to 15.0 on February 3rd. Thanks for the review. I posted a link to your video on LQ.

[@OldTechBloke]

Thanks for that, appreciate it

[@gamepockets]

Got that Royal Enfield in the house! Nice.

[@pctlc]

Great video thanks for sharing!!

[@alainkoningverdraag6698]

Used it as my main OS for a bit over twenty years. Awesome, fast, no virii, reliable, simple to administrate. Next step up was FreeBSD and Mainframe.

[@lesonyrra]

It's nice to see Slackware get some love. It was my first Linux distro: back in 1999 I went to the CompUSA in midtown Manhattan to buy a Linux distro. I couldn't make up my mind, so I asked my then-wife to hold two CD sets behind her back so I could pick a hand ... the one I chose was Slackware 4.0 (the one I DIDN'T choose was Caldera Linux: boy am I glad it went the way it did). Despite its gearhead reputation I found Slackware easy to install and use -- I'd argue that it isn't difficult at all if you don't mind reading text. I've distro-hopped like mad for years but have kept coming back to Slackware, for easily-stateable reasons: I like its adherence to KISS principles, its faith to its UNIX heritage, its transparency (yes, sure, you have to edit text files to do things, but at least you can *find* the text files -- there isn't some unholy set of gooey GUIs in the way of everything). It fits my head nicely and I find that when BDFL Patrick Volkerding adds things to the system, which he does infrequently, he adds the kind of things that I would have added. No, it's not for everyone, but I find no reason to apologize for the fact that it seems to be great for me. It might be great for you. If it's not, move on.

[@mikael2313]

R.I.P Steve!

[@Winnetou17]

Never tried Slackware, but one thing I really like just seeing from the installer, is how user-friendly it is. Not in the "looks pretty" department, but in the amount of documentation it offers. All the packages have some information about them, and in general, whenever you have multiple options, there's some details about them. And the amount of configurability is quite high aswell. Neat!

[@Skelterbane69]

Slackware 15 taught me all I know about the installation process and how to partition drives. It's really cool how a simple tooltip can teach you so much.

[@breadmoth6443]

One thing that Slackware has added that I haven't seen other distros, is the support for installing on F2FS , this is important imo if you want to use an SSD / NVME NAND device, as that filesystem is solely written from the ground up for such a device.

[@fgsaramago]

From what Ive seen F2FS is only really better for SD cards as its not designed to take into account the work done by the controllers in SSDs. The only benefit with SSDs would ve speed and tests point to ext4 being as fast or faster

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

arch manual install should be able to do that too.

[@boo_]

Void linux does as well

[@orcaflotta7867]

No idea what F2FS is but I run SSDs and NVMEs on Mint and Arch and Archy like systems without any probs.

[@breadmoth6443]

@@orcaflotta7867 if is a filesystem by samsung specifically for NAND devices , Arch might support it, but Mint doesn't - unless you recompile the kernel.

[@joethestack3894]

I love Slackware! I used to run it continuously since 1994, through releases 10 or 12, I forget now. But I thought it was defunct plus I no longer maintain a server. Slackware is great, I mean, it has always been great. I think I'm going to go make myself a shark-tooth necklace.

[@ShaunakHub]

Now I am having an itch to install Slackware 😱, after almost 2.5 decades. Last installed it in 1996/97 - well back then there weren't too many alternatives! Already did it on a VM using your excellent guide. Now I am thinking about doing it on bare metal (my backup system, my primary device will always be Fedora)...

[@basdfgwe]

Slackware was my first distro in the early 1990s. I should try this out.

[@batica81]

Started out with Slackware 3.5 a long time ago :) Will definitely try out this one, at least for nostalgia value.

[@user-yc6xn5ze6h]

Volkerding approves this message.

[@doctorsocrates4413]

Using mx linux at the moment and i am so itching to try slackware..curiousity often gets the better of me..Thank you kindly for the video.

[@SP800.69]

Slackware taught me so much. Respek.

[@kriskruz3792]

Not been updated for 6 years? That is a LONG time! Thanks for the video and insight into this distro.

[@rogercook1737]

You do understand that 6 years is only talking about stable, Slackware current updates almost weekly and is more stable than most other distros.

[@NickDyers]

while SUPREME archie users having ptsd for not getting new updates every 6 days

[@garryiglesias4074]

As a teen, I've seen "linux" coming to life, and I've tried the first Slackware at the time, it was on a 486-DX2/66 PC... 8 Megabytes of RAM... I'm not a teen anymore... Still a Slacker on most of my boxes and VMs. But we're getting old guys...

[@peterdambier]

Do you mean I am getting old as well? Well, I sacrificed my Samsung N10 with barely 1G of memory. Feels mostly like it always has been. I moved from 14.2 and 32 Bits to 64 bits. Not sure if all my old stuff works but I am wading through quite a disk full of SlackBuilds and had no problems so far. The thing that comes closest to Slackware is FreeBSD but that is a different story. Other distros do not work very well on this little machine. Seeing KDE birthday edition is awesome :)

[@garryiglesias4074]

@@peterdambier You mean there's a way to install slackware on a mobile phone ?

[@peterdambier]

@@garryiglesias4074 sorry no mobile phone just a small pc with no dvd built in. It has got bluetooth, a camera and wifi built in.

[@garryiglesias4074]

@@peterdambier Ok... For a few seconds I thought I could slackhack my old phones :).

[@PedroHenriqueQuiteteBarreto]

I've been using Slackware for the last days with vfio and, surely, it is a beautiful distro. Sticking to it.

[@randomsearches369]

Rest In Peace!

[@wizdude]

DT shed a tear when you unselected GNU Emacs :-) 😂

[@OldTechBloke]

😂

[@wizdude]

@@OldTechBloke you got brownie points back though when you chose vim :-)

[@DannyMexen9]

Talk about "set it and forget it". I can see a few use cases for this. But man, 6 years between releases is bonkers! I downloaded the live ISO out of sheer curiosity

[@auntiecarol]

To all the 90s guys and gals watching this... how much grief did you have kernel patching to support those massive and new-fangled Iomega Zip drives? 100MB was insane!

[@sachitshah3409]

"most people will want to do a bit of fiddling" Love it!

[@bradleyp3655]

My first intro to Linux was Slackware in the mid late 1990s when I was learning the basics of AUX (IBM Unix) in college. I didn't return to Linux until 2014. When I got very tired of Windows. Now I only use Window for my security cameras on on computer and a few games that perform poorly under proton.

[@sonopro1]

Merci !

[@osgrov]

This makes me happy to see. Slackware was my first Linux way back in 1993 when it was launched. :) It was so thrilling. I spent literal days trying to get X up and running, and then it finally clicked and it ran perfectly. My only experience with Unix prior to that was playing with SunOS at the university computers, which wasn't really comparable. There was almost no documentation, not to mention the Internet was more akin to a large BBS, lol. Fun times, I miss them dearly. I kept using Slackware until Red Hat 4 launched, which I started using full-time due to my job at the time also using it. Jumped on Gentoo when that was released, and my was that a blast. Nowadays it's mostly Debian stuff at my end, again thanks to work. It gets rather dull after awhile, but it also works really well. I'm awaiting a brand new desktop PC for home, will be trying Slack 15 on it for sure. I'm quite excited!

[@OldTechBloke]

I’m really impressed with the release

[@hostgrady]

Thanks man I basically followed this entire video to get slackware on my t60. It looks super interesting and I'm eager to try out the oddities of slackware

[@hostgrady]

I see you've liked my comment, thanks :D. Unrelated question but, is there any cache for slackpkg specifically that I should be aware of? I vaugly remember you saying something about cache with slackware. I have the small hdd of the t60 and don't want any old versions of packages unnecessarily on my system.

[@OldTechBloke]

Yes there is. Downloaded packages are saved in cache. Take a look here for solution docs.slackware.com/howtos:general_admin:free_your_space

[@hostgrady]

@@OldTechBloke Thank you very much, will have a read

[@DenisNSmith]

I started with either Red Hat or Debian, not sure which came first. Then I went to SuSE, and settled on Slackware. Never looked back.

[@kc7wzl]

I remember getting and using SlackWare 96 that came on 4 CDs and all the frustration / joy getting it up and running... I use to have friends wonder how the heck / wish they could have animated wallpaper. running on a 486... and my friends was suffering win95 or older OSes.

[@jacknjimsangkatan8971]

As slackware user since v.12.2 until now , i remember when first install is not user friendly like fedora or mandrake and i think next version will be more easly, and v.15. still using same interface :D #kiss

[@yelmazbaloch6157]

Just curious if anyone has any idea what the ram usage is on boot for xfce

[@Mach7RadioIntercepts]

Hi OTB! Nice video, as usual. I'm enjoying Slackware 15 - it is nice. You can get DWM going on this one, and build a great system for daily use with a few more apps installed (editors, media players, etc). Too bad BlueWhite64 faded out of the game, as it would have been awesome with this 15 as its guts. That's okay. We'll see people do good things with this.

[@OldTechBloke]

I have dwm on all my Slackware 15 installations 😀

[@Atari-stfm]

Goodbye Steve RIP

[@ImageJPEG]

I actually use FreeBSD on my laptop and secondary desktop. Windows 10 on my gaming computer. Soon, that gaming computer will be running Slack because I want something that’s very close to FreeBSD and don’t want to deal with Windows anymore.

[@bohdankovalchuk8137]

I sticked to openSUSE Tumbleweed for the last 3 or 4 yrs already and I've been using Debian and Arch stuff before. Of course, I've heard of Slcakware and I know much about it, but I've never used it. Well, sir, I loved your video, and if u say that now it's the best time to try -- I'll give it a chance. Thank u!

[@NickDyers]

hello, how's your Slack experience after these past 6 months, comrade? hope its going great ~

[@OzRetrocomp]

Maybe it's just me, but I associate Slackware with 386/486 class machines. I'm glad it still exists.

[@OldTechBloke]

It’s you :-) works great on modern machines

[@mayshack]

What are the benefits of using a package manager that doesn't resolve dependencies.

[@EngineeringVignettes]

I still have my Slackware 1.0 CD from 1995. It's a good learning tool for core Linux. The most BSD of all the distros... A bit jarring to see someone actually enable sudo on Slackware though... I should look into what build system they are using for it now... Cheers,

[@breadmoth6443]

I think I will also not opt to install GNU/EMACs, as I never use it, I also go in and under the KDE section and what I opt out is all of the Akonadi packages.

[@choppy1356]

Been trying to install Slackware 15 today, following this video exactly, but can't do it. Something must have changed since this was made. I get stuck after doing the upgrades, pkgtool and grub updates. On reboot it says 'No kernel modules found for Linux 5.15.63', then 'mount /dev/nvme0n1p3 on /mnt failed. No such device. Then, 'ERROR: No /sbin/init found on rootdev (or not mounted). Trouble ahead. If I reboot and choose the huge kernel (first option in Grub), I get a login prompt.

[@imantssvarcs91]

I like that you enable sudo, but never used it! :D

[@dougtilaran3496]

Back when I installed A/C in that ark I ran Slack,later I ran Vector slack. Then I got over it

[@joekamprad]

i will go slacking now ;) was my choice before arch

[@guilherme5094]

👍!

[@muchospantaloons]

"choosing the screenfont" was the main reason why i sticked to choosing slackware for my 32bit machines .. they give you some really strange ones .. and the mood it provides is so good in case you are always in cui(vt) ;) .. btw i wonder if their pipewire works in that kind of setup

[@qwarlockz8017]

I have had pipewire running for a while since it is very cool in sound manipulations. It actually feels like a dropin replacement for pulse

[@michelecostigliola2678]

Thanks for this video. Arch or Slack?

[@OldTechBloke]

Different beasts and different use cases so wouldn’t put one above the other

[@JakeTheMuss10454]

Hey is Slackware related in anyway to the Slacker app for. Streaming audio & video?

[@OldTechBloke]

No

[@sbrazenor2]

Slackware is like an old widower that keeps to himself. People forget that he's alive, and he is, but he's just a bit quiet about it. 🤣

[@tousremulla4925]

Torn which between Slackware and Void to use as my daily driver

[@OldTechBloke]

I use void on one laptop and Slackware on others I’m lucky though, I have multiple lappies

[@wheezybackports6444]

I remember the first time I used Slackware a quote came up on the terminal during the install that said "Kill your parents" I never touched it again after that.

[@scottadams7965]

Hi OTB. Thank you for your Slackware videos. I have been using Slackware for years and still learning new things. I do have a question. I installed Slackware 15 and I also installed Grub, as you stated in the video. My issue is that I also have Windows 10 installed on my system as well. On other Linux distributions, grub automatically detected the Windows installation as well as the Linux installation. My question is: How do I get the Windows boot into Grub?

[@OldTechBloke]

In /etc/default/grub you just need an entry GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false and then update grub. You should see the windows entry in grub now

[@user-cq9ze8rk8s]

Does Slackware 15 have a telemetry and kUserFeedback ?

[@DenisNSmith]

Also, why would you not use ELILO and set the default? Or use a combination of rEFInd and LILO or GRUB?

[@OldTechBloke]

Because I like grub, no other reason

[@adamu6941]

Hello OTB! Thank you very much for this great video! I currently use Arch, for more than 5 years, and I like to try a non-systemD Distro, I hesitate between Slackware and Void Linux... which one would you recommend between the two for work as a webmaster and graphic designer.

[@OldTechBloke]

Either would work well. They are two of my favourite distros so it’s just personal preference. Void is rolling and easier to maintain with a very good package manager and Slackware is just solid as a rock

[@adamu6941]

@@OldTechBloke many thanks for your reply, il think i will regive a try to void

[@adamu6941]

@@OldTechBloke One thing that scares me compared to "bigger" distros like Archlinux is data security. I'm probably wrong, but Arch is tested from every angle, by tons of people all over the world, when you install a package, you can be sure it won't install rootkits or whatever. When you use your computer and go to sensitive websites, it's very important to be sure about the source of your softwares. What about Void for example on this subject?

[@OldTechBloke]

I’ve never heard of any security issues and the source code is open to scrutiny

[@NickDyers]

@@adamu6941 > when you install a package, you can be sure it won't install rootkits or whatever here's another irony, hypocrite: when you install ton of updates every week on arch, it also won't tell you which packages will break on next reboot :) not so scary for 24/7 tinkerer, right?

[@donaldmickunas8552]

Hey OTB, I installed Slackware current after your second video. I ran into problems with broken pieces from Alien Bob and slackpkg at that time. As I recall Polybar was also problematic. So, how was your experience with 15 installing a WM. I am using bspwm. Are all those packages (bspwm, sxhkd, polybar, rofi) available just using the install you just showed or do I need to play around with your other videos making adjustments for 15? Great video as always. If I need to fiddle, I'll probably give it a few months before I play around with it. That'll give Alien Bob and Slackpkg a chance to catch up and catch their collective breaths after the rush for the past year.

[@OldTechBloke]

Hi Donald, all the packages you mention will be available in the slackbuilds repo. I’ve been using current for a while so I just switched the repos over to 15. I’d already installed everything from Ponces slackbuild repo ages ago, but the stable slackbuilds repo will probably take another few weeks to come online while they rebuild all the packages. Alien bobs repo is a great resource for big programmes such as libreoffice that would take ages to compile, but I tend to use slackbuilds for everything else. Might be an idea to give it a couple of weeks and wait for the new slackbuilds Once the new Slackware 15 slackbuilds.org is available, download sbotools. Then install bspwm etc with sboinstall bspwm

[@donaldmickunas8552]

@@OldTechBloke Thanks! I'll do that. Take care and stay safe.

[@goldie6961]

I really wanna run Slackware, gonna see if it hates my 2080super as much as I do at this point 😂

[@polnyjj]

i dont want that much pre installed apps how can minimize the installation just basic programs xfce and any terminal

[@alwanrosyidi3753]

I used to love Slackware. I used it as my main OS on my pentium 4 PC. But now it feels obsolete, especially the core technology: - Despite supports UEFI, the installer is still text based (I hope there will be a slackware built with calamares installer). - It should move to grub, instead sticking with Lilo.

[@OldTechBloke]

I actually like the installer but yes there should be a simpler option for grub

[@levskilevov4888]

Is there info for slackbuild for new Slackware 15? There is only now for 14.2.

[@OldTechBloke]

Usually takes a few weeks to rebuild for a new release. Use the ponce repo before then

[@MakeshiftMartyr]

Ok, I’ve been out of the game for a long time. I haven’t heard mention of Slack since the early 2000s. I’ve been minding my own on eOS for a while now 😂

[@ariathyf144]

I think puppy linux had iso based on it (slacko Its was named i think) but nowadays I do wonder why this over debian or gentoo? That website is so 90's I love it.

[@noahark4832]

Mine didn't found the efi partition. What to do

[@OldTechBloke]

Make sure you are booting in efi mode. Set it in your bios

[@KingZero69]

slackware in 2022 is just a MEME my guy... 😂

[@othernicksweretaken]

OTB, you mentioned that you were using UEFI boot, and if I recall correctly, created an ESP when you partioned your VM's vda. Then I didn't understand why @24:21 you are writing your new grub menu config to /boot/grub/grub.conf and not to /boot/efi/EFI/slackware/grub.cfg when pointing to the -o output path of the grub2-mkconfig command? But as long as your VM can boot and you get your grub menu when grub comes into play during bootstrap anyway that probably should not be an issue. Or is /boot/grub/grub.conf a symlink to the ESP's mount point that was created when you installed grub by passing the grub-install command the efi-specific arguments? I should install Slackware 15 myself and find out. BTW, Slackware was the first Linux distro that I was able to install succesfully as total Linux noob in the first half of the 90s on my i386, after having failed miserably to install Red Hat and SuSE although the latter was percieved to be "easier" by my study mates at uni then. I was amazed to have a déjà vu when I watched your video that during those decades I was divorced from Slackware its installer apparently almost hasn't changed at all. They even seem to have stuck to their software package bundles that back then were sized to fit on a 1.44 MiB floppy disk.

[@OldTechBloke]

I installed the grub executable to /boot/efi but grub.cfg is just the config file that resides on /boot/grub. That doesn’t need to be on your efi partition. The same is true if you mount the efi partition to /efi or /boot

[@othernicksweretaken]

@@OldTechBloke thank you for your instant reply. I haven't even finished yet appending two more sentences to my comment/question.

[@OldTechBloke]

If you want to keep your grub config files on the efi partition that is always an option, but when you do the grub-install you would add -boot-directory=/boot/ efi to the command, and you would then point grub-mkconfig to that directory. In other words, grub-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/grub/grub.cfg

[@othernicksweretaken]

@@OldTechBloke That was what I meant. Since I wasn't knowing the exact path in Slackware I was only assuming one like I am used from RHEL where I would issue # grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/redhat/grub2.cfg

[@EyeSpyHiFi]

I used to know a girl called Slackware😏

[@puyatecla9903]

is anyone else having trouble configuring elilo? I am trying to make a slackware VM and I create the EFI, swap and linux partition, skip lilo installation but I don't see the elilo configuration menu even if I execute it from the shell, somebody has face the same issue?

[@OldTechBloke]

Apologies I’ve never used elilo, perhaps someone else will comment

[@OldTechBloke]

I’m wondering, did you boot your system in uefi mode when you installed

[@puyatecla9903]

@@OldTechBloke I am not sure if virtualbox allows me to do that but I have seen others (here in youtube) make VMs and they do get the option to save their EFI partition and are also able to use the elilo menu when they skip lilo installation

[@OldTechBloke]

There’s an option on the system page to boot in efi mode. If you don’t do that elilo won’t install

[@puyatecla9903]

@@OldTechBloke thanks, I will try that and see if it works

[@DenisNSmith]

slackpkg --update pulls the GPG key (if outdated). You don't need to do both.

[@OldTechBloke]

No double dash needed

[@KcinicKGX]

all the videos i see everyone type "root" at login in the installation, its a fake login, just press enter...

[@dktol56]

I think you should have spent some time talking about the packaging system and how you deal with the lack of dependency checking. I really don't understand why slackware does this.

[@OldTechBloke]

Next week mate. You don’t need automatic dependency checking if you understand how Slackware works and the tools that you can use. Takes a bit of work but for those who want auto everything this isn’t the distro for them

[@zilog1]

ah i get it. its Arch for 90s kids.

[@NickDyers]

one big difference though, we don't have that cancerous *BTW* SUPREME DISTRO elitist community back then ~

[@satishvis]

You prepared the EFI partition but never mounted it. Then how did your computer boot? Maybe it is using the mounted drive or it may be due to virtual machine mechanics. Maybe you should redo your video with an actual computer. too.. Some problems exist which does not allow me to boot properly... My BIOS is unable to pick up the boot loader...

[@OldTechBloke]

You don’t need to mount it as Slackware auto detects and mounts. You’re probably booting in bios mode. Sod all to do with a vm, and it rarely is. Usually due to lack of knowledge

[@DenisNSmith]

If you want to learn [distro], learn [distro]. If you want to learn Linux, learn Slackware.

[@DenisNSmith]

Damn. And you said it right there :D.

[@danyel80be40]

Very nice. Please, if I could ask you, can I run it in a pen drive? If it is possible, how? I m quite impressed indeed. BTW, I loved their homepage, pure HTML, design done by tables not by css, rather cool!

[@OldTechBloke]

Don’t see why not, you’d just have to install it on the pen drive as if it was a disk

[@bencze465]

I mean there's not much out there if you want to avoid systemd. I hate debian so.. :/ Still running 14.1 on my home itx based server / nas.

[@theplaymakerno1]

Oh releasing Slackware 15 is tight.....

[@OldTechBloke]

Not at all as long as you’re prepared to learn

[@theplaymakerno1]

@Some Kind Of Master Actually it's going to be super easy, barely an inconvenience