Hi I am wondering which is best(big error to past a question, I know I know) there are a few areas that I am wondering about but the most important are:

(1)Boot Time
(2)Software support i.e the package manager
(3)ease of install
(4)hardware support, wireless cards, USB devices etc

I have noticed that Slackware seems to be more popular so it probably would be easier to get help on, but I read some ware that Puppy Linux has a 30 second boot time which is awesome. Any thoughts or suggestions on a fast booting distro?

I will be honest with you Slackware is great, it really is!

(1)Boot Time
Well by default Slackware's boot time is okay, but if you modify the scripts a little its FAST! I mean 12-15 sec boot time if you know what you are doing.


(2)Software support i.e the package manager
pkgtool is a very good software management system, it doesn't track dependentcys, but it lets you do what you want without nagging at you, or screwing something up is you install the package correctly.


(3)ease of install
Slackware is very simple to install and configure, it lets you do what you want to it without crying or not listening to your commands.


(4)hardware support, wireless cards, USB devices etc
Slackware out of the box, supports a wide range of hardware, even some wireless cards, but I will tell you know you will have to get your hands dirty (most slackers prefer this), every USB device I have used has worked under slackware, everything from keyboard and mice to media card readers to webcams. Some hardware slackware doesn't setup for you, so like I said before you will most likly need to do some work.

Hi z3r0.0v3rrid3,
12-15 sec. is really fast. Can you share with us what are the scripts that are to be modified and how?

also I was wondering why there are 6 CDs, seems like a bit much to me.

Their is a patch floating around that will make the nessary changes, it can be adapted to make what it boots more useful, it also depends on what options you have enabled in the kernel and what hardware you have, there is no "udev" support, it is achieved by using static device nodes and running some scripts in parelle, when you get a bash prompt slackware is not actually done loading it just continues loading into the background, this can break somethings like NFS or samba or anything executed by rc.local because it runs very last.

EDIT: BootFast, you only need 2 CD really, the first and second cds are the install, the 3rd cd is international support and cds 4,5,6 are the slackware books and the sourcecode.

It depends on what your needs are...i only use cd1, and from there i go with slackpkg and/or swaret.

The last 3 cds have the sources, so you probably won`t need them.

If you want to install the 2.6.17.13 kernel (huge) you'll need CD #2. If you want to install the 2.6.18 kernel (testing) you will need CD #4.

Yes, there is udev. But you have to use the 2.6 series kernel.

The comment about "no udev", was in the system that has been modified to boot quickley, not the "standard" one.

But really, how often are you booting that you need to go in and make radical changes to save a few seconds.

Cheers.

Most of the modding you can do is within the rc.M script (/etc/rc.d/rc.M). I usually comment out ldconfig and fc-cache and run them manually when required. Also you can comment out nearly everyhing you don't need, just be sure you know what you're doing . Also (i use a laptop) you can edit rc.pcmcia if you know what module your pcmcia card requires and comment out the ones that you don't use. In the end, you can add on top of lilo.conf (/etc/lilo.conf) file option "compact", which gives you a faster boot. Just my 2c.

So which of the CDs is the liveCD? or is there a slackware LiveCD?

You really only need CD #1, and possibly #2 if you want to use the 2.6 kernel modules (often this means ethernet card support)

None of the slackware live cd's are live , but there is the slax project which is basically live slack.

You also need #2 if you want to load KDE.

Cheers.

Yep, you do need CD #2 if you want the 2.6.17.13 kernel modules. And you need CD #4 if you want the 2.6.18 kernel modules. If you're going to install a 2.6.xx kernel you will need to mount the CD and install the kernel modules and headers.