I started around 2010-2011, I remember before 13.37 was released (the best Slackware version ever).

Sadly I think the answer to that has be two things
1) The web site - It really makes the project appear dead or nearly so. For the longest time the most recent news item, on the page was 14.2's release. As recently as Jan-22 that would have been like 6 years old! Now Pat has a single item on there that is about a year old. We all know the reasons why or can search the forum so lets not hijack the thread but if I knew nothing about Slackware, its not a great first impression.

2) 15.0's long dev cycle... The result was 14.2 was VERY old by the time 15 finally was released. In fact 14.2 was VERY old by the time -current started really seeing activity. Again if you were an experienced Slackware user and had a personal investment in continuing with it, it was not a deal breaker but, oh my if in say 2019 you'd come to Slackware and wanted to be able to install the system and build a reasonably current version of any non trivial application not included, that implied a lot selective updating and a steep learning curve if you are were new to Slackware, and steeper still if new to Linux..

So not to be critical because we know there were reasons for all of it, but the way the Administration of Slackware and its project priorities from around July 2016 - Feb 2022 were simply NOT geared at all to inviting new blood. -current is staying pretty active, maybe we see a 15.1 soonish ( when it's ready of course ;-) ), but really things have not changed much at the project level, and IF BDFL cares to bring in new people beyond a trickle of word-of-mouth invites I don't see that happening without some changes in communication habits.

7 members found this post helpful.

My college roommate introduced me to Linux and Slackware in 2003 or 2004. Back then I had plenty of time to research and tinker. I remember we looked at Mandrake but I quickly found (and stayed on) Slackware. Looking at the release history that must have been either 9.1 or 10.0 (I think I started on 9.1). My laptop came with both CD and floppy drives - they were swappable and the floppy drive could also be used externally with a USB cable. My first Slackware install was done using the floppy disk sets. I dual-booted for a while (Windows/Slackware) until switching to running Windows in a VM.

The GNOME removal in 10.2 didn't affect me as I always used KDE.

I got impatient waiting for a 64-bit version of Slackware and so ran Slamd64 for a while until Pat released 13.0. I've always run the latest stable version, except on my newest work computer I was forced to run -current for about a year or so waiting on 15.0 (due to hardware requirements).

I have the t-shirt from the 13.37 release, as well as several CD and DVD sets. I enjoyed wearing the shirt to the Microsoft store at the mall. Never got any comments.

While writing this post I've now realized that I've been using Slackware Linux for over half my life!

1 members found this post helpful.

Since about 2000. And I still think it's the best OS around.

Attached Thumbnails

 

2 members found this post helpful.

Nice 'mousepad' scuzzy_dog

I installed SLackware for the first time at 2010 but kept it only for few days- my early distrohopping days as a newbie.
Then, in 2012-2013 i was running Salix, first as a backup to Arch, and later as my main distro.
Decided to dual boot Salix with Slackware. Finally, Slackware became my main distro - a little before the release of 14.1

In 1999, I'd moved to Brooklyn, NY with my then-wife. We went to a CompUSA in Manhattan (I forget which one -- I think it was on the east side) & I dithered endlessly over which boxed Linux set to buy -- I really wanted to try it out, but had no clear idea about which distribution would be "best". Finally, she put two boxes behind her back and told me to choose a hand. Thankfully, I chose the hand that was holding Slackware 4.0, not the hand that was holding Caldera. :^)

1 members found this post helpful.

I remember huge fascination for Desqview/X which was supposed to bring the magical features of Unix' X11 on poor msdos

1 members found this post helpful.

I first tried Slackware 14.2 stable in March 2021.

Why?

I had recently retired and wanted to learn Linux. I tried Ubuntu and Mint and didn't really like them. I googled around and found the 2021 equivalent of this:
https://haydenjames.io/best-linux-distro/

Slackware is down near the bottom of the page, the write up interested me, so I gave it a go. Never looked back, it felt like coming home.

I'm not sure. I was always aware that Slackware existed but I thought it was probably beyond me. I was using Debian and Crux then and quite contented with it. I volunteered for the editing job because I like editing and I'm good at it. I was doing that sort of work for Libreoffice much earlier.

2 members found this post helpful.

Since either 10.0 or 10.1, I think. I too sure did like and miss 13.37, as someone else mentioned. It was a damn fine version! Not that it did anything better or different than 15.0 or any other version, it's just that it was KDE3 at its finest, IMHO, fast(!) and sleek.

@Hazel said:

> I volunteered for the editing job because I like editing and I'm good at it.

Yes, I remember when SlackDocs was first being set up by Eric and Kiki. You specifically offered your editing talents to assist. Even after 17 years of Slackware, I'm no expert either. My skills at SlackDocs were mostly proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting.

since fall 2005, version 10.1

NICE!!!

If you're interested in the kinda 'stuff' go to projectappleseed.net and go to the contact page. Fill out the contact form and that goes to my email. I'll get you a pass to one of our events. I run the events in Waco which ain't too far from Round Rock.