Salix OS

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.

Pat Volkerding and his opinion about GNU/grep 3.8 release

https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resou ... tory=14934

Here is my take on this, already posted there:

To prevent this kind of issue, rule of thumb: preferably use shell and utilities (as) specified by POSIX and do not use extensions not specified by POSIX. For instance, use bash only with the --posix option. Syntactic sugar is as good for health of programs as sugar is for health of users[1]. The issues triggered by not following this advice go both ways:

• When a utility not specified by POSIX is obsoleted, you need to update accordingly all programs that make use of it (cf. egrep).
• If a programmer use an option or feature (not specified by POSIX) newly added to a shell or utility, using his or her program with a previous version of this shell or utility will fail (this is also what makes smartphones quickly obsolete, but I digress).

[1]Did you notice that Shell Command Language is way easier to digest than 'man bash'?

hugok wrote: ↑24. Sep 2022, 08:43 https://pspodcasting.net/dan/blog/2018/ ... sktop.html

As it happens Dan Simon has translated the previous version of the Slint installer to Norwegian

Yes https://pspodcasting.net/dan/blog/2018/ ... ional.html

@hugok: Fantastic guide! All thumbs up.

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the correct place. Can someone explain how to install Gslapt on Slackware? Thanks.

Not the correct place but no worries.

Go to https://www.jaos.org/ to learn more about how to install Gslapt and what it requires/dependencies, then go to https://www.jaos.org/slackpacks/ and download the correct packages.

For instance, Slackware 15.0 64 bit https://www.jaos.org/slackpacks/slackware64-15.0/