Ubuntu's ambition is to be a "Linux for everybody", and in that perspective, it's quite a success.

Salix' installer is very close to Slackware and doesn't make the installation any easier. You still get to configure your GENERIC kernel, X11, audio, wifi, printing etc. by hand. And Vector's installer is more or less a Slackware installer with bugs and typos.

Here's a little experiment for you. Install bare Slackware + KDE to half a dozen average computer users among your friends. Then watch out for phone calls if something's missing. I'm serious. I've been installing Slackware + KDE (and then Slackware + Xfce) to nearly all my friends since about 2002, so I guess I have quite a good idea of what's missing. This has also been an excellent learning experience for configuring all types of hardware.

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You hit the nail on the head. Thanks.

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If someone want an ISO of MLED, why don't make it by yourself ?

Hello All

Using: MLED 14.2 testing updated to today.

Plank does dock-like things better than the dock-like panel that comes with Xfce4, however, I prefer a single bottom panel with the whisker-menu bound to the Mod4 (aka Windows) key.

Anyone got ideas on how to disable/prevent Plank from appearing on a per-user basis?

I tried the obvious (untick the autostart entry for Plank) but the thing returns like Japanese Knotweed.

Edit: Answering my own question - right click at the very bottom of the Plank bar thing and select Quit. Then the 'save session' in Xfce4 means that it won't load next time.

Plank is defined in Xfce's autostart. Go to Xfce's preferences > Session management and uncheck the box.

That being said, my users absolutely love Plank, since it allows them to simply drag-and-drop their own most used applications to the dock. You can't do this with Xfce's bottom panel.

Some news here. Scribus has been added to the upcoming MLED 14.2. And if you wonder why there's some new multimedia libraries in MLED 14.1 (and there will be some more in the days to come), some users asked me to include VLC, since they know it from their Windows days and like it. VLC will be added to the extras/ repo, but its numerous dependencies will all go to the main desktop/ repo.

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I do wonder why you asked this question and when people told you they'd like it, you then tell everyone it isn't what you had planned and isn't what MLED is about. I understand your reasoning for not wanting to provide an ISO, but it genuinely seemed like you wanted feedback from people about it, but then when people provided you that feedback, you said that you have no intention on providing an ISO and seem to be annoyed that people were requesting it.

Sorry, I'm not trying to blast you, just trying to get some clarification

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Tried that first. Didn't work. Autostart unchecked and Plank restarts on logout/login and on reboot.

Edit: none of the settings I make as user in Session Start up are actually being retained (e.g. ticking xfce4-clipboard manager gets overridden). Looks like permissions. I have the 'default' config file copied back from /etc/skel now.

This is MLED 14.2-32bit added to a base Slackware current (updated to today and after slackpkg clean-system) using the Migrate instructions.

http://www.microlinux.eu/faq.php#migrate

Yes, if you are 'into' docks, Plank seems to be a well thought-out one. I'm one of the grumpy old gits who quite liked the look of Windows 2000.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Unfortunately for my use case, it's not workable as I have only laptops at home and the machine at my parents' home is a desktop. I would have to buy a HDD for desktop and cables/connectors and that would ruin the point of extending the lifespan of an old machine with a minimum investment (i.e a Slackware DVD and a CD/USB of MLED packages).

Re-reading that thread, you're right, and I'm feeling a bit silly now. I guess a workable solution would be a step-by-step documentation for those users who can't do otherwise than to perform an offline installation. In that case, instead of providing an all-in-one ISO, I guess the best thing to do would be to provide a clear step-by-step HOWTO on how to make your own installation CD / USB key for offline use. I'll see what I can do.

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Do a FULL, not bare installation of Slackware and you have a working system in about 20 to 30 minutes. Slackware comes "stock" with a wide variety of applications, including multimedia, and KDE has an office suite plus many other "bells and whistles" (many you have duplicated in your commercial derivative), but if a user needs more applications then Alien Bob has been kind enough to provided ready to use packages of LibreOffice, Java, Flash, Chromium, VLC, ffmpeg, etc.
Bottom line is there is really no need for yet another Slackware knockoff, other than a like or dislike for a particular graphical user interface.

I haven't used MLED, but I've followed its progression. I believe what Niki is aiming to achieve is the "one app per task" mentality, which makes using a system easier for beginners. It is obvious that Slackware doesn't follow this idea and I wouldn't want it to... I like having choice. But If you limit the choice, it can make it easier for someone like my mom to use the system. She doesn't need to choose between three different browsers, three text editors, two word processors, four different picture viewing programs, etc. This also makes it easier for you to provide support to those people, because you know your users are using certain programs, which makes troubleshooting/walkthroughs much easier. Personally, I would never use this, but I can see A LOT of cases where I would be comfortable installing it for someone else who isn't as computer savvy (which seems to be Niki's intended audience). My mom would be a prime candidate...

I think this is why Niki is so reluctant to provide an ISO. Then it makes it seem more like a "knockoff" or derivative of Slackware rather than just a slimmed down Slackware. You're still using the Slackware ISOs to install MLED, but just with limited packages selected using the tagfiles.

Honestly, I don't know the differences between derivate, spin-off and add-in (in this case). IMHO, whatever MLED is, it would be a nice alternative for people who like Slackware and it's philosophy but want a more ready to use system for their daily works. I think If an amateur user with scant IQ like me be able to fetch all of MLED stuff on his Slackware system and install it by a single command, nobody should have any problem concerning MLED installation.

Anyhow, At the moment I don't have any problem with MLED. I am just thinking if a user want to install a SBo package which needs some other SBo dependencies which are older/newer (or even the same version) than their MLED equivalents, what should he/she do? refusing to install dependencies and keep MLED packages or replacing them by SBo equivalents?
What do you recommend Niki?

I don't know what to say? Stop my work on MLED? Use KDE instead?