KDE requires MySQL, so go pester them

I agree that it would have been better if Gtk could be configured to use a null/dummy backend when needed (maybe it already allows that - I don't know). Still, CUPS is so standard these days that I can accept Gtk depending on it, rather than inventing its own printing subsystem. Be it Gtk or Qt or any other "rich" toolkit, many applications use only a fraction of the total functionality available. Since toolkits must provide "standard" functionality across all installations, you can't make them modular and let people leave their parts out.

They say that in mathematics "proofs get shorter, and the definitions get longer" over time . This is like it, you code's dependency list will be reduced to a mere "gtk", while all those zillion gnome/cups stuff will be included in a gtk installation.

I don't like the format for slack-desc files; particularly needing to affix the appname to every line.

Slackware is perfect, nothing to change.

They don't have *any* package authentication verification ( at this time) ; and so therefore, and therof , I don't consider it a _serious_ distro until they finalize their verification ( which I know is planned , but for all intents and purposes, does not exist).

Other than that, it still has predefined dependencies, I prefer my own, but that's really a small point.

The only other thing I don't like about arch is that I think they could do more "sane" default configs for some things, such as locale, hostname, etc. There's a lot of config editing the first time around using arch, which obviously only needs to be done once. But, first time out of the gate, there's a lot of config file editing, whereas Slackware for example has some pretty sane default configs (at least for most USA people).

Lastly, I don't understand why the arch dev's use "AlL dIfFeReNt CaSeS FoR tHe PaCmAn BiNaRy" ... using the cli is a typing pita.

Other than that arch is promising, but no gpg/hashes for packages is a major flaw to me.

/me takes off the tin-foil hat.

--- back on topic...

What I don't like about Slack?
- needs better imap email server (such as courrier)
- postfix in /extra would be nice.
- firefox (since it's static IMO should be in /opt)
- /var/lib/nfs/v4recovery is still missing on default install after 4 bug reports of it over time I've used Slackware.
- Slackware doesn't include much glib2/gtk2 apps; I see no reason why we typically are far back in revisions vs latest. (well I haven't built kde4 yet - so that may be different now that I think of it, but in the past, this was a big issue for me.)
- I wouldn't mind a bug-wiki of some kind, I feel bad when sending in a bug (which is rare) , cuz I have no idea if he already knows of the bug, and that I may be wasting his time with duplicity in reporting.
- I wouldn't mind seeing some kind of ncurses front end to make a rc.firewall script on install (but that's nit picking I guess)

But at the end of the day, I use Slackware cuz it annoys me *LESS* than any other distro

1 members found this post helpful.

I'd agree with those two as well.
Well we sort of treat this forum as a kind of bug-wiki. Lots of people report bugs and others get a chance to verify them or let them know it's already identified.
The team have thrown the idea around but it's never been seen as a priority.

What he said.

I agree on that point. I've had far less trouble with it than any other.
The only thing I don't like is that without something like GSB, I can't have Nautilus, and with those, it always seems to have some small complaint about DBus. It's always seemed to have more functionality than Konqueror/Dolphin to me.
Well, that and the fact that I *still* can't get off my habit of using certain gnome-panel apps. Need a way to run some of them on a KDE panel.

What I don't like about Slackware:
1. When installed on my wife's laptop, had to jump through hoops
to get wireless connection functional.
Then one day wireless connection just quit.
So I installed Knoppix to the hard drive.
Now wireless works like a champ and wife likes Knoppix better as well.
Wireless is built in to Knoppix. Why not Slackware? There is nothing
"extra" about laptops.

2. KDE4. That feature more or less forced me to use XFCE instead.

3. Poor library support for established OS apps such as Inkscape. Every
time I need to install one of these apps I have to go library chasing.

4. When slack 13 appeared Quanta Plus disappeared. I keep
a 12.1 partition around just for that one app.

Any Operating system exists to support applications. If established
apps like Inkscape, Scribus etc. require a set of libraries then those libraries
(and for that matter those apps themselves) should be included. Blaming the
app maintainers for using particular libraries is just ridiculous. Slackware is
a very minor part of their audience.

I have been using Slack since it came on a set of floppies. But it is trying my patience.

John Culleton

Installing wicd from /extra is jumping through hoops?

I wasn't aware of Slackware forcing me to do anything at anytime.

One has always had to do dependency checking in Slackware. Build what you want.

I have no clue what Quanta Plus is - although I realize it is important to you.

Its hard to believe you have been using Slackware since it came on floppies, and still not understanding the Slackware philosophy.

John, I have to agree with mlangdn, from what you've said it sounds like you'd be better off with a "Do everything for you" distro like PCLinuxOS. You do surrender a degree of control to the repository maintainers, but that's the price you pay for that sort of distro, and from what I've seen of it so far (still early days) it's actually very good.

Slackware64 13.1 so far. I must say that this version of Slackware appears to be the buggiest version that I've ever encountered (~13 years) while Slackware64 13.0 was probably one of the best. I simply can't believe what I've been experiencing ...

Bad Bulgarian localization.

I assume that you have a list of such bugs. Please share.

I feel the same way. It needs an official dependency checking PM. I also don't like it's best to do a full install and then remove un-needed apps.

I started out using Slackware & Debian and at the time both was one of the few distros that worked with my hardware and didn't try to take over the whole hard drive.

Now days I use the so-called easier distros, I've lost the lust of doing too much tinkering!

You need to search. My legitimate problems with the bugs in Slackware64 13.1 are posted all over this forum.