About the alleged lack of 3rd party tgz's these days stevesk:

There is always linuxpackages and slacky.it for those.
Or you could just install the plain old tar.gz or tar.bz2
Or compile them with or without a slackbuild script which you can get from many places if like me you cant write them.
And then there are the programs like rpm2tgz and its many cousins.

Where there's a Slacker there's a way

PS: The Radio series is best, then the first book, then the Beeb TV series, then the rest of the books, then the movie, and last and definitely least, the fish book.

PPS: Yes, I know I've forgotten many many tools here - sorry if I left out your favourite

I know my friend, I am not asking what to do to install packages for slackware. I am just saying that if I need to use rpm2tgz or compile from the source, or seek in linuxpackages because I find packages for 10 dist. but none for slackware in the projects website is because most part of people who makes projects prefer to make packages to debian, redhat/fedora, gentoo, ubuntu, freebsd and many other systems but not slackware. So what's going on with them?

The reason that Slackware tends to have fewer packages creted is simply that they are unnecessary.

Debian uses .debs, RH/Suse/Mandriva/etc use .rpms, Slackware uses source. Packages may be created for convenience or for someone to learn how to do it, but having them means nothing - they don't resolve dependencies, using them does not mean that your system will recognise them over source packages, nothing like that.

If you build from source on, say, Fedora, the rpm database will not realise the files are there and will complain of dependency issues. Build from a mix of source and packages on Slack and the system will still happily recognise all your files.

23 or 5...both work

stevesk,

Maybe we need to introduce you to http://www.linuxpackages.net where you'll find hundreds Slackware packages.

Or http://www.distrowatch.com where Slackware is ranked number 11 out of the top 100 distros.

Others have suggested that you look for another distro if you are afraid Slackware might disappear, but I'd suggest you look for ways to support Slackware to help keep it around for as long as it's useful to you. Somethings you could do are:

1. Support Slackware by buying a CD set from Pat
2. Support Slackware by getting envolved in your local LUG and promoting Slackware at any InstallFest they sponsor (Note: we run one once a month)
3. Contribute Slackware packages to Linux Packages or start your own repository
4. Help newbies here on LQ
5. Write a Slackware guide (ex. "Slackware in 10 easy steps) and get it mentioned on Slashdot or Digg.
6. Just use Slackware as your regular distro

And I'm sure you can think of many other things you could do to boost Slackware's visibility.

dennisk

In regards to the issue about 3rd party Slackware packages:

I think one of the reasons for a lack of Slackware packages is due to the fact that most Slackers just simply don't care. Even if there are 3rd party packages available, I will usually tend to build the source into my own package and install it this way. I'm sure this is the case for many other Slackware users.

For me, the attractiveness in Slackware is the focus on impowerment. Instead on making tools that do everything for you, Slackware has tools that allow you to do it easily for yourself. This is usually not the case with other distros. I think a lot of sites post packages for these other distros because a lot of the users would be at a loss as to what they would do with source tarball.

In regards to Slackware being dead:

True and steady has always been the focus over latest and greatest in Slackware. Gentoo is a good distro if you are looking for the cutting edge. I think I will stick to Slackware though.

regards,
...drkstr

Maybe it's because alot of those other distro's aim at the average desktop user. That's a whole different categorie of users with different needs. Also... there are a LOT more of them.

Not having a new release every 3 months does nog imply a dying distro. Do you want to upgrade your server every 3 months? Ofcourse not. I really don't see where OP ever got this idea.

Letting hundreds of people create packages will need a whole lot of control to keep a certain amount of stability and reliability. If you want a rocksolid distro that will run your server you don't need 10.000+ packages. If you like to run more than what is offered on the cd's or at linuxpackages, you can build your own packages. Slackware isn't for the average desktop user. It is for people who like to know more and want to be in control themselves. So maybe the average Slackware user is a little like Pat and so we think this is the way to go for slackware. I'm sure it wouldn't work for other distro's, but for slack it does.

Maybe you (OP) have a whole different view of the group slackware aims for.

Checkinstall is pretty much your friend for third-party packages.

I even use it in Debian occasionally when I can only get source tar.gzs and then compile it with ./configure make and checkinstall and install it using dpkg. For instance I downloaded Pentagram source code (Ultima VIII engine) and then compiled and installed it using Checkinstall.

It's a very handy tool to have and it works in more than one distro.

Well, I am not complaining about it being harder to compile from the source instead of using a .rpm . I was just seeking out an answer about why is that so hard to find slackware packages on the project pages. If you say it is because slackware users just like to compile from the source, I will believe in that...

It not just like to do it, it is that it fits in with the Slackware philosophy of do it yourself. Make it yourself, and you don't have others errors.

Well put cwwilson721.

If I could expand on that a bit...

Slackware attracks a certain kind of people. I'm not saying that the people who prefer Slackware are any better or any worse then those who use other distros, it's just that Slackers, through one way or another, stumbled across a distro that fits their personalities. In general, I think most Slackers could care less how many people decide to use it, or how many people are leaving it because it doesn't fit their needs. If Slackware starts changing things to become part of the mainstream, it will no longer be a distro by Slackers (or Slacker I should say) for Slackers. Then all of us Slackers would have to go find something else to ease our abnormal curiosity of the world (FreeBSD maybe?)

Is Slackware meant for the mainstream? Probably not. Do I care? Hell no!

regards,
...drkstr

I think the big thing here is even if say tommorow or 10 years down the road pat stops Slack, What is the big deal is it really dead? just Update it when 11 comes out i will upgrade but i run -current so not like i am using a new release anyway. This is Linux i do Thank pat for keeping the distro going. And i allways buy my copy so it keeps him going. But i Run my linux like I want. Not how someone tells me to. If i want Gnome or someother program i install it. Unlike another OS i know where they are now putting out checks to see if people are using the Real thing. Slack is all in what you make it. Run it how you want if you dont want to build from source use the RPM and convert it. Kind of like Burger King. HAVE IT YOUR WAY

That's the beauty of Slackware. My install is different than Foo's, and Foo's is different from Bar's, even if the started the exact same way.

I don't know if that typifies ALL or even MOST of slackware users. But . . .

I'd say dkstr & lotec25 hit my personality on the head.

Yep slack users <like me> generally like ease of customization.
Given a prebuilt or source I usually always dl only the source.