Slackware 15 RC1 - Setup A Multilib System With Slackpkg+

I started using Slackware in 2004 and it's been a constant on one or more of my laptops since then. It doesn't suit everyone, but as the distro that has been around longer than any other it deserves a look.
Slackware development does tend to be glacial, with the last stable version released in 2016, but the next release, Slackware 15, is now imminent.
So, time to install current, which will be the next stable release, and run through some post-configuration steps.
This will be the first in a series of videos looking at Slackware. Today I demonstrate how to update the system and use the Slackpkg+ plugin to configure a multilib syste. Next up I will be looking at the slackbuilds.org repo and how to install software from it.
I hope you enjoy the video :-)
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Ramble On!

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

To its credit, Slackware was the first Linux distro I used back around 1998 when I remember getting it on Walnut Creek CD-ROMs. I remember always liking it, it appealed to my "engineer's brain" at the time though I then went on to Mandrake, SuSE and Red Hat (before it went commercial). Then in 2003, I settled on Gentoo and I have been here ever since! I should take a look at it again, though, if only for old time's sake!

[@themroc8231]

Good seeing you again! Slackware is a terribly underappreciated distribution, glad you are giving it a look.

[@KillSwitchI]

When I first tried to install Linux it was Slackware 12 years ago. No wonder I gave up after 10 minutes. :-) Thank you for this review.

[@cameroncarter3332]

Thank you for uploading this video and explaining everything simply. Got Slackware 15 installed today after waiting months for Slackware 15 to be released.

[@chrinaldi]

Slackware 15 is around the corner, but I never realized it's THAT close (to RC). I'll fiddle with Slackware 14.2 first. Fingers crossed, hopefully I was just being too fearful about the Slackware. I am a casual and relatively new Linux distro user (fiddled with it for about 2 years), I am afraid that this will be one of those Gentoo-based distros that require a certain level of technical expertise to successfully configure, but this video quelled some of my worries. I think if I can (with a lot of effort) install Arch, I can install this. Welcome back! A much appreciated upload to tickle my noggin.

[@systemtrader1]

Slackware Rocks

[@stefhannington2218]

Yey, who doesn't like our favourite old tech bloke😁 great video as always

[@dubioussa]

don't forget to blacklist kernel and kernel modules, these ones are best updated manually and one has to run lilo -v or grub.. I prefer to have at least recent 2-3 kernels installed. Apart from this, great material for every slackware noob - thanks a lot!

[@TheEzemikedirnt]

sir we need more videos about slackware! I got into it and there is a lot of data obviously on the website but these videos are of great help. thanks and regards

[@cmdreltonpoole6303]

Hey mate! We used to knock about at CovLUG. Glad to see you well.

[@OldTechBloke]

Hello mate, long time no see

[@jessicapennell5252]

This has been my favorite OS since always. So excited they're up to RC2 already!

[@prbrad514]

Good to see you back Steve. Really enjoyed the video

[@taidee]

Welcome back OTB, you have been missed.

[@kennethpaulsen7510]

Thank you for this video. I was able to follow it through on my own machine. Good stuff.

[@RobBoudreau]

Nice to see you Steve. Hope you had a good summer, got to put some miles on the bike. That was a bit of a jaunt down memory lane. Used Slackware for a while back in the mid-90's, haven't touched it since. Great video, nice to see it get some exposure.

[@BoilingPointuk]

Welcome back

[@itsfish8672]

good to seeya

[@stefhannington2218]

I used to rock with Slackware. The install was so different from other distro's and I have to say it was always cleaner and faster than other distro's. I only moved away from it back 1999 or maybe 2000 mainly because of Mandriva Linux and good old Lindows (the rip off Windows) and then finally Ubuntu which became my main distro for more than 10 years before switching to Fedora, vector (based on Slackware) and of course arch. Now in 2021 I'm back on Ubuntu😳😱 so I may give Slackware another look soon.

[@neotwenty-nineBzH]

Thumb up without even having watched the video 👍😉😉😉. Glad to see you're back in business 😊

[@crsimp9790]

Thanks for the upload, pretty useful

[@doublezerocool7624]

Nice tutorial on slackware linux

[@grosses_wassertier666]

This video series is the most comprehensive resource to getting the system running, though it would be easier to follow if it was written out. The official docs are really quite lacking in giving comprehensive outline in setting up what is quite self explanatory in most modern distros - it's far from being as well structured as the arch wiki. But at least you learn something new in the process.

[@trueriver1950]

Welcome back. Were you on furlough from the channel?

[@OldTechBloke]

Just a little break for a while

[@obsoletepowercorrupts]

Slackware need to make these multilib systems (especially using lilo systems without grub) for the handheld (usually intel/amd) "handheld gaming" devices so that you only run slackware on it, but, a deciduous vm can be run on a spare couple of cores if needed for a different OS to handle comms (email, etc.) that you do not want mixing with your sleek battery efficient gaming system. So lilo is thereby fine for all that.

[@breadmoth6443]

I have been following Slackware since version 10. I rather like it, and it is my daily driver. I have mixed feelings about it switching over to a non-LTS kernel though.

[@daol03]

They will switch over to LTS kernel when the next LTS is out.

[@breadmoth6443]

@@daol03 no indication of that, since Slackware is RC 1 status, usually that means no more major changes, and it is likely the kernel will stay as is. But obviously I cannot say I am sure of that either, not until Pat himself comments on what he plans to do regarding the kernel.

[@daol03]

@@breadmoth6443 well pat has wrote about, in the changelog a while back: ”Hey folks! Sorry about the delay in getting this batch out but I had other distractions going on here last week that prevented getting this one wrapped up. Anyway, probably the highlight of this update set is that we've decided to abandon the 5.10 LTS kernel in favor of following the latest one. We've never really had a policy that required LTS in a stable release although that is how it has been done for years, but based on comments from the Slackware community it seems like 5.10 LTS isn't getting a lot of love and lacks hardware support that people need now. Conversely, the reports on 5.12 have been almost entirely positive, so we're going to provide what we think is the best available kernel. It's unlikely that we'll see another LTS prior to release, so the plan for maintenance is to keep following the latest kernels as needed for security purposes. If that means we have to jump to a new branch while supporting the stable release, we'll start the kernel out in testing first until we've had some feedback that it's safe to move it to the patches directory. Sooner or later we will end up on an LTS kernel again, and at that point we'll just roll with that one. Feel free to comment (or complain) about this plan on LQ... I'll be curious to see what people think. Anyway, enjoy!”

[@Norbert9696]

I was just thinking about Slackware today as I've never used it and plan to try it when the final release comes out.

[@OldTechBloke]

Current is already very stable so I decided to go for it anyway

[@Norbert9696]

@@OldTechBloke I might do the same. Really appreciate you doing a series on it!

[@trueriver1950]

32 bits is not just for gaming. You may have 32 bit legacy software you need to use for work One such use case for 32bit packages is if you employ anyone in the UK you have to run software to file there wages with the HMRC (income tax ppl). If you don't want to pay for software to do that then the govt supplied package is still 32 bit and has a number of 32bit dependencies. The UK govt kept with 32bits for so long so that they were not forcing small traders to buy new computers just for them. That will change on 6th April 2022, when it upgrades to 64bits and by then you must have got a 64-bit computer. Those of us who already have one can then retire those 32bit libraries. I know this because I am in that use case myself. To be fair I was impressed that they offer a Linux version at all, and that they give all the cli commands to install the obsolete libraries on Debian. They leave other tux ppl to figure out how to get the same libraries into other Linuxes.

[@StephenSE9]

Before I press Play I just want to say it's good to see you back. (I just about had enough of Windows Ten today and so have migrated to Kubuntu)

[@Zero11s]

Kubuntu is unstable

[@Zero11s]

I'm on Cinnamon (ubuntu remix and Mint)

[@StephenSE9]

@@Zero11s There's definitely something up. I can't transfer my videos from my Android device via the usb 🤔

[@Ironpants57]

@@Zero11s What problems are you having?

[@LDWilliams]

Good to see you back in the saddle. Bike saddle perhaps?

[@shiachan2644]

On your VM host in this video: is this polybar? Have you got dotfiles/a list of dependencies to configure it like that? It looks really neat!!

[@dougtilaran3496]

The old Vector was the best

[@trueriver1950]

All three of Steve's tutorials on Slack 15 are in this playlist of mine. kzbin.info/aero/PLKD3-VuBUskN_NIxBNU_DrFM45DAutQUx

[@khronosschoty]

I'm not sure if anything changed, but historically, its been suggested that you shouldn't do package management with a simple su. Instead you should do something like su -l root or if you do, a plain su then you probably should source your profile... example . /etc/profile.

[@OldTechBloke]

The issue is that you ideally need to be in roots path rather than the users path. Most of the time you can get away with either but technically you should do su -

[@fstoplive1991]

Love your instructive videos. Installed 15.1 current having trouble with WIFI configured automatically at install, but doesn't stay connected long enough to do any downloads or anything. Could you please do a quick overview of files to configure to get a stable connection. Also I need to change my mouse option, is the a config file or do i have to run setup again?

[@OldTechBloke]

I’ll set something up

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

Good to see you OTB! It's always good to see a video from ya! Slackware. Hummmm.. Sorry! Nope! You can't entice me to go there this time... :-P Not going to say never cause we all know what happens when we say that... Lol While I do find the video(s) interesting and I will watch them. My plate is full... Lol I said to the dogs a week ago, I bet OTB will be making video's soon. It's a bit too cold to be riding motor bikes... LOL And here you Are... LOL (They agreed btw.) Thanks for the video OTB! LLAP Ya want to see a ugly bloke go over to "Bruce's Electric World" I kinda dipped my toes in the video biz... LOL The box I had everything set up for OBS, ect is going to be the next video as the HDD is dying. Went from 10, 50, 150 bad sectors in 2 days and I have had to scan it 3 times rebooting. Not to worry I have all the good stuff on a backup... Lol It has EndeavourOS on it but think I will use EzArcher Cinnamon on it this time. :-) Not going to be a play toy... Not what I had planned but hay, turn a "well Crap!" into a plus.. Why not right? :-) Later!

[@OldTechBloke]

Lol cheers Bruce

[@encapsulatio]

Is there a way to benchmark CPU and GPU usage by the desktop environments?

[@fstoplive1991]

Got wifi working as an ether net adhoc connection, don't know how but its Joy. My question now is since I don't use KDE how do I keep all it's packages from showing up when I issue #slackpkg install-new command? Figured it out just used #slackpkg upgrade-all will pull down only the system I have installed.

[@OldTechBloke]

No the install new command pulls down any additional packages that have been added to the system. Don’t miss it out.