That can be easily acheived in Arch:
meaning --sync --nodeps; or -Ud for local packages.

I don't look at the package manager as a brownie that I can trust, who does the work for me - indeed this is a mentality that many OSs (including Linux distros) nurture, but rather a safety measure (like error proofing programs and scripts). That means that the PM should stay simple and predictable, away of featuritis and "magic" functions, but I see the dependency resolution as the logical conclusion for someone who's serious about maintaining his/her system, so to speak.

LFS or Gentoo depending on purpose.

I've run Arch several times and I do know how to use pacman, it is a nice package manager. However, I much prefer Slackware!
When I run Slackware I feel like I'm home.
There is no substitute, man.

Hehe, that I pretty much understand! I am aware of the fact that there are far more things that make the "personality" of a distro than the package manager. I would actually use Slack instead of Arch on a server or anything else where a stable and tested release is required/recommended. I recall that several months ago I prospected for a distribution to use on a server and the first thought was Debian but then later it stroke me: "Wait, how did I forget Slack? It's basically Arch's conservatory brother!". They're both simple, nice and just make sense.
What I still find surprising about Slack is that it officially supports KDE on the desktop, which IMO comes in contradiction with its KISS principles.

What I would run in this case, if Slack disappeared? Hmm... I think that either Debian - which I'm relatively accustomed to - as a quick solution or maybe OpenBSD.

I'd probably try debian to have an idea of the 'other' serious side of linux (especially the differences under /etc)

and I would try BSD variants too, probably not for a desktop pc though. rather for the server...

If Slackware disappeared the Slackware user community would just have to get together and build from the ashes
there are enough people here to do it probably
as there is no substitute anyway

I'd probably go into some sad distro-hopping for a while. FreeBSD, CRUX, Arch and LFS would probably come up. I can't imagine a world without Slackware though - probably some awful dystopian place where building a package yourself is a day-long affair.

Pretty shure NetBSD.

ARCH

Ditto. Excellent OS without any of the fuss.

Windows, haha, sorry, I can't stop myself.

CRUX, Arch and LFS or something like that.

The follow up question to "If Slackware disappeared tomorrow, what would you run?" should be "Why aren't you using it now as your main distro?"

I find it strange to see the Debian and its derivatives such as Ubuntu so prominantly placed. I mean what similarity do they have to Slackware such that they can be seen (by some) as a substitute for, or an ersatz, Slackware?

It seems absurd. The distros I mentioned above - and some others, are close relatives to each other and to Slackware. But Debian and Co.? No way.

igadoter, as a joke, suggested Windows.
But those who voted for Debian derivatives weren't joking. I really don't understand that.

I have Ubuntu and W7 on my netbook - together with Slack, of course, and Arch. I do think of Ubuntu and W7 in one way and Slack and Arch in another. In other words, I think of W7 and Ubuntu as being similar. - They are Butler or Jeeves OS's which do everything for you and really are not designed with the intention that you do things yourself.

I find it so strange that any Slacker could, so to speak, nominate a Debian or Ubuntu type distro as a successor to Slackware - it blows me away.

I'd get an etch-a-sketch.

Well that's the reality, isn't - Slackware will not disappear - indeed it has been an inspriation for other OS', not mention those which are directly based on it.

De facto, with this community, it cannot disappear - and the community is much larger than appears here on this forum, mark you.

Slackers, like those on Arch, LFS, Crux, Gentoo etc. etc. are a particular type - like the difference between those who prepare their own meals and those who eat take-aways or frozen tv meals.

We'd all be constipated and sufffer from vitamin deficiencies without Slackware

worse!

We'd be bored and our brains would start decomposing !!!


Yup - you guessed it - Ubuntu spongiform encephalopathy

I would want a stable OS due to the unstable user :-)

So probably I will give Debian a try. I would also consider openSUSE, but I suspect that it would get on my nerves at some stage. Arch is an interesting option but it is a rolling release and I have no time to waste. Conclusion: Debian wins here (and why not?).