Re: Slackware 15
Posted: 15. Feb 2022, 08:03
Non-technically-inclined, ordinary casual desktop users like me - one who is reluctant to use the command line - are often directed towards the big one-size-fits-all GUI distros like Ubuntu or Linux Mint. But when those distros start "phoning home" to report on users' hardware and habits, making huge changes in the GUI, etc., then we look elsewhere. Quite a few just go back to Windows or Mac, I suppose.
The whole reason for having distros like Ubuntu and Mint is because most users see their computer as an appliance rather than a hobby. I maintain my appliances (car, computer, washer & dryer) but I don't tinker with them all day just for fun. I run applications, not the operating system. Ubuntu, Mint, etc made Linux work for us ordinary folk and gave us an alternative to the big commercial vendors who only want to lock us into their stuff.
For me, SalixOS has done for Slackware what Ubuntu did for Debian - but without the corporate/commercial bent.
I remain reluctant to use the command line, I rely on the GUI tools. But I appreciate the "old ways," the Slackware philosophy and purity, keeping the distro free of pollution, bloatware, and cruft like systemd. Not even mighty and venerable Debian follows that way anymore. So there's a lot of value in Slackware, especially it's legendary stability. But I'd never even consider Slackware without a "friendly" way to install, maintain, and use it.
The whole reason for having distros like Ubuntu and Mint is because most users see their computer as an appliance rather than a hobby. I maintain my appliances (car, computer, washer & dryer) but I don't tinker with them all day just for fun. I run applications, not the operating system. Ubuntu, Mint, etc made Linux work for us ordinary folk and gave us an alternative to the big commercial vendors who only want to lock us into their stuff.
For me, SalixOS has done for Slackware what Ubuntu did for Debian - but without the corporate/commercial bent.
I remain reluctant to use the command line, I rely on the GUI tools. But I appreciate the "old ways," the Slackware philosophy and purity, keeping the distro free of pollution, bloatware, and cruft like systemd. Not even mighty and venerable Debian follows that way anymore. So there's a lot of value in Slackware, especially it's legendary stability. But I'd never even consider Slackware without a "friendly" way to install, maintain, and use it.