>>108003973
>but with 4 year old packages you can start feeling the missing new features
what features are you missing?

>>108003993
Among other things
Python 3.9, which is eol since last year. Python programs and scripts requiring newer versions of the language and libraries used.
Nginx not supporting some new protocols, http3 and some encryption options.

Didn't say it was unusable. But things that make you choose another alternative if you want those.

>>108003973
I installed Slackware for the first time in 2000. Used it as my main distro for some years, then I drifted away (I think 13.37 was the last I used as main distro). Then I had it in a home server for a year or so, but I installed Void this year to try it and it's doing great. Slackware current is usually kind of updated, haven't checked in a while tho.
I think it's useful to learn basics, but probably most actual users stay out of pure love or melancholy for better times.

Slackware used to be a recommended distro for home use. I installed it from a cd I stole from a magazine in border's books back in 2001 or 2002. I couldn't do fuck all with it so I went back to windows for another 10 years.
Thanks for reading my blog.

>>108003973
Slack was my first distro ever in the late 90s, so it is somewhat special to me. Would I use it today as a daily driver? No. Not when I have too many plug n play distros like Pop/Mint/Fedora that just work out of the box.
I do run Slack on a VM for the hell of it and for tinkering, but not for any serious work.
I get they don't want to add flatpak at the very least. I get it the dristor's focus is you have total control, but it's not 1996 anymore... I did my time in tracking down libraries and dependencies for every app I wanted and needed. No one wants to do that these days, not when I have APT and DNF available.
It's dying and more or less dead because it never evolved. Even Gentoo has evolved.

>>108003973
GOOGLE DEPENDENCY HELL OP

>>108003973
You are allowed to run -current, anon.
$ head -n1 ChangeLog.txt
Tue Jan 27 23:51:26 UTC 2026

Pat releases when he feels like it. The idea of making releases for feature changes or because of a schedule is a newer concept that doesn't really apply to Slackware. His business model isn't beholden to quarterly reports or shareholders. The old-hippy-with-a-cs-degree situation fits well.

>Anybody using Slackware as their daily driver or server os?
Yes. Both.

>If so, why?
It is predictable. The base-install user experience changes very little over time. I started at 7 and it is still comfortable. WMaker just werks.

Major underlying components and conventions change but at a slow enough rate that they can be fully comprehended. Existing functionality like, for instance, boot-up serial port pre-configuration doesn't go missing when some hot shit engineer at Red Hat has a melty because it is "old", or when Debian's DEI policy doesn't allow Male/Female plug terminology anymore.

As a desktop, I can build my own pre-release or bug-ticket kernel and xorg/mesa drivers for new hardware (like back in the R600 days) and it won't fight me. New kernels just slot in instead of needing to be patched-to-hell and handled by a grand ceremonial build utility.

As a server, I can cut my installation target to a handful of core packages and have an idea of what to expect. It won't complain that some rarely-used tool in a package was linked against Qt and now must pull in the entire KDE wharrgarbl as a dependency. Nah, fuck that tool. Just let it hang with an unresolved library. I'll bring it in later at my explicit command if I really want it.

you can make newer packages yourself if you hate right ?

>>108004361
No, I thank you for the blog post. It was a very fun read: it starts with good intentions, then an unexpected crime, leading to a tragic ending, except the time limit gives it some hope.
10/10 would read again

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>>108003973
>Anybody using Slackware as their daily driver or server os?
I use it on my torrent machine.
>why?
It's very stable and does everything I need it to do.

>>108004667
You can't game on it, there trash it is.

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>>108003973
There is only so much a man can do without being appreciated. The older than man gets, the less important what he does that no one cares about becomes.

>>108004667
hey look, this anon actually knows what they're talking about
>>108004861
steam/proton work fine, multilib just takes a minute to setup. god forbid a computer enthusiast has to understand how their computer works

it's absolutely not a just-werks distro. I'm a big fan of its stability though. there's always -current if you actually need new features

>>108004359
>but probably most actual users stay out of pure love or melancholy for better times.
When I read about it some time ago I read that it was a conservative distro who didn't want to change things just because other distros changed. This made it stay the same over time. Which I understood it make returning user still feel familiarity to even other older Linux distros. I thought about trying it for a while just to experience an older Linux experience. I chose arch in 2021, and haven't changed because it just works for me. But think it would be interesting to try other distros some time.


>>108004396
>It's dying and more or less dead because it never evolved.
This is interesting. When Linux was new, people might have chosen slackware because it was easier than finding all sources and compiling by yourself. But when easy to use distros evolved and slackware didn't follow, it was left somewhere in between the diy and easy to use. With no specific target users besides people who just continued to use it from older times, or people who wanted it for some technical reason. Few new people started using it.

>>108004667
>It is predictable.
One of the most valid reasons. Don't fix what ain't broken. I switched to Linux because of all the changes all the time in windows. The last time I used it I couldn't even configure audio. I use arch so I experience all the changes in real time. Already during my time it was pulse to pipewire. But I totally understand how people just want to continue using their working system.

I might try it for a month when I have spare time.

>>108004832
I've been using ubuntu for 14 years now, so it ended well. Once I could use ms office at home I was happy to ditch windows entirely.

>>108003973
The main reason to use Slackware for me at least was predictability and repeatability.
I could re-create today an install that I made six years ago so long as I had a copy of the same version of Slackware install media and whatever external packages I installed. Very few other distros are even capable of offering this, as they're often heavily reliant on their online repos even at install time, and installing non-distro specific packages is often a nightmare.
This is of course entirely antithetical to Linux and the open source movement as a whole, but sometimes you really just need to know what the fuck you're actually running on your system and the only way to do that is either with Slackware or some of the more enterprise or embedded Linux distros.

>>108005868
>ubuntu
And the sequel completely destroys the hopeful seed planted in the first installment! Now I can't wait for the redemption in a few years when they release the conclusion of this trilogy.

>>108004274
just compile it. that's literally slackware philosophy. You have no idea what slackware is all about dont't you?

>>108004861
wow dumbs dumbs

>>108004667
>voöelkerding the unpronounceable as a hippy with a cs degree
>actually informative
>can work around kitchen sink packaging pulling in half of alpha centauri
>wharrgarbl
post of the year award
almost tempted me to learn slackware there anon
if it still has 32bit on current i'll be giving it a go on an old dell

>>108004861
0ad, xonotic and supertuxkart works
what more do you need anon?