Hi, I'm flatdog, pleased to meet $YOU (and some disclaimers)

[flatdog]

Disclaimer #1: I am not advocating for any other Operating Systems available out-there, my choices are simply mine, with good- and bad consequences.
My name is Dumitru Claudiu, I'm a romanian enthusiast of open-source everything (yep, still living in Romania).
My first first encounter of the third kind with Linux was back in 2001 (RedHat 7.*, codenamed Seawolf IIRC). That got me hooked, but I wanted some deeper knowledge. So, next step Slackware (7.1 or 8.0, my memory is aging). Then this happened : Since its first beta release in April of 1993, the Slackware Linux Project has aimed at producing the most "UNIX-like" Linux distribution out there.. WTF is this supposed to mean? Led me to FreeBSD, never looked back ever since.
Disclaimer #2: What works for me might not be the right solution for you.
My entire (home-)network runs on FreeBSD (pf, samba, weewx, poudriere, lighttpd, postgresql, unbound, NAS) with 2 exceptions:

• Work laptop (company provided)

• This very-Salix machine

Disclaimer #3: I'm not a distro-hopper.
I really like/appreciate the work involved to make Salix what it is now. Slick, polished, stable (for me so far). Some users here did a great job with implementing utilities, tools for making my/our life(ves) easy(ier) installing/maintaining/upgrading this sexy system. Hats off! Once it works, don't switch. I'm here to stay.
Disclaimer #4: I'm not a developer.
Do not expect me to write kernel modules, drivers what-not. I can handle myself with C to some degree, quite at home with shell/lua/php/some perl. I'm a sysadmin, not a programmer. I love automation of tedious, repetitive tasks and a good company.
For now, the only way I see to contribute and give something back is seeding the torrent images of Salix (fiber here).
If I can contribute in some other way, please chime in here (irssi still on the "to be configured" list).

PS: already upgraded to 5.15.117, not sure if I can build packages without breaking ABI for official Salix version.

[Papasot]

Welcome Dumitru!
You said Salix seems stable for you now, but I'm sure you will eventually realize it's not just your idea. Salix is indeed rock-solid stable. It never stands on your way, it's just there and it works. Always.

You definitely can build your own packages, I actually have a small personal repository with a few packages I just want up-to-date, and never encountered problems (I'm also using kernel 5.15.117 as you do). I doubt you will have any problems there.

I am also using FreeBSD, and I can tell, from a developer's point of view, there is no real difference. I just wrote a small initial Makefile which sets system include and lib directories (which are different in FreeBSD), and installed gmake. That was all, and was done once. Other than that, the main Makefiles are exactly the same as in Salix (and actually most GNU/Linux distros). Transition of my libraries from Salix to FreeBSD and vice-versa is literally seamless. Also, applications using said libraries work the exact same way. I would expect you, as a system admin, won't have any issues as well. Actually, I'm pretty sure you will feel at $HOME in Salix.

[flatdog]

Thank you for replying Papasot.

You were right in everything you have said, Salix is stable, rock-solid. Never had any sort of problem with the system, only PEBKAC, easily solved by reading this very forum, the wiki and the other one. I feel $HOME, indeed.
In honesty, I became a fan when I first booted up the Live version, installed to spinning rust and met slapt-get together with his pretty-faced brother, Gslapt. My deepest respect to all persons involved, dependency checking is a hell no sane person would want to delve into.
With that all being said, I'm still using Salix, no reason not to.

PS: The quality of a distribution is mirrored by the number of issues filed on its forum/mailing list/bug tracker. Here, there is one issue in 2-3 months, mostly PEBKAC. That says more than any praise. Happy user here.
Είθε μόνο τα καλά πράγματα να σας φτάσουν.

[djemos]

Welcome Dimitru.
It is also possible, from within the Live environment, to make a complete Salix installation to a portable USB stick. You install the system to a USB instead of a internal ssd disk. Then can upgrade your system including kernel as you do for your installed system to ssd disk. And you can have it in you pocket to use it everywhere. You will not notice the difference. It is fast.
I have such a USB and use it in every laptop.

[flatdog]

Γεια σου djemos.
I did notice the option, but I'm more of a desktop person (laptop is company-owned, nothing to do about that, unless resigning )
However, I cannot let the amount of work involved go unnoticed. Salix is a very well polished Slackware, with goodies. If I'm not mistaking, you have also contributed to the system. My respect goes to you, as well. Well done, along with my greetings to gapan, Didier, anyone involved (apologies for not mentioning everyone).