[SOLVED] Why I Run Slackware

1337_powerslacker · 07-09-2016, 05:50 AM

I have been debating whether or not to make this post, because its content could be arguably debatable, and/or result in a flame war. In the end, however, I have decided to do it anyway, because it needs to be said.

I have been giving a great deal of thought to why Slackware is so misunderstood and outright ridiculed, especially in the context of our distro's founder's comment that "we live in interesting times." Indeed. In America, where I live, we are not taught to respect our elders and to cherish the things of old. Rather, the popular cultural imperative is that we cast them aside like so much rubbish, and to chase after the young, new, fresh, shiny, and exciting.

So it is with Linux distributions. Slackware is the lone stalwart distro; still adhering to the old way of Linux, when you really had to know what you were doing to administer your system properly. It has remained true to its roots, only updating as necessary to support the latest hardware/software technology without compromising the old style.

It has changed little from when one had to install from floppies; indeed, Linux old hands (such as myself, although I am probably among the younger set) find the text-based installer to be a refreshing sight, coming from any number of jazzy GUI installers that every other distro has come up with. It also has resisted incorporating the latest trends in the Linux world. I won't mention or rehash them here, but suffice it to say that there is an imperative here as well to adopt these things, and not to have done so has rendered Slackware the subject of all manner of vociferous vituperation over the years, especially as Linux has moved away from being a pure geek's delight to something that a relative newbie could install on his/her computer.

My fellow users and acolytes, let's not seek popularity in the Linux sphere, because we're never going to get it. Indeed, to attempt to do so will only obtain frustration and anxiety as we expect respect from those who are not willing to give it. Rather, we should remember why we chose Slackware in the first place: because we wanted our computers to behave in a predictable manner, and to make the computer personal again. Let's quietly revel in the fact that we don't suffer from the ailments that afflict so many others who run distros/OSs that constantly give problems; our computers run rock solid, and are in general better performers than under those. We owe nothing to anybody for what we run on our computers (except to support those who give of their time and effort to maintain and add to Slackware's software). Nor should we actively evangelize our distro, except that we explain to those already interested in Slackware about how we do things, and let them decide, in turn, how to personalize their own computers, the way we used to in the old days, and still do.

Just my

Edd Juglans · 07-09-2016, 09:52 AM

Sir -

Anyone who knows the meaning of 'vociferous vituperation' certainly has my attention..!

All excellent points very well made. I couldn't have put it better myself.

hitest · 07-09-2016, 10:08 AM

1337_powerslacker,

Well-said!

cwizardone · 07-09-2016, 10:25 AM

Hear, hear!
Well said!

scythempress · 07-09-2016, 11:34 AM

Well it has been explained to me finally. My fascination with Slack. I thought my friend Aeon (Bill) was the reason I attempt to run this distro. In fact he did put me on this track many years ago, but it is just now hitting me that I am old school. My parents taught me to respect my elders, or else, to keep to tried and true methods in all things, and when all else fails, the belt speaks loudest and most effectively. I am a child of the 60s, arguably some of our worst years and yet, maybe that is not a bad thing. Thanks for opening some eyes 1337_powerslacker, with your two cents.

Uncle Lumpy · 07-09-2016, 03:40 PM

+1

Lumpy

astrogeek · 07-09-2016, 03:52 PM

Well said indeed!

biggiesm@lls · 07-09-2016, 04:04 PM

1337_powerslacker
I applaud you

1337_powerslacker · 07-09-2016, 05:03 PM

Thanks for all the words of praise! It is something that has been on my mind for some time, seeing all the posts on LQ regarding all that has gone on with Slackware, and thinking "There's a common thread in all this...let's see if I can capture it." Sounds like I managed it nicely. Again, I appreciate the encouragement!

chrisretusn · 07-11-2016, 05:22 AM

Great Post. My hat is off to you sir.

1337_powerslacker · 07-12-2016, 12:19 PM

Original Post Addendum:

After having given the problem facing Slackware and its users more deliberation, I have realized there's another issue at stake here: the absence of thought and reasoning.

There's another trend afoot in America: namely, that analytical reasoning is outdated, and that others are better and/or well-suited to thinking for them, and that the masses need only to look to them for inspiration and guidance for daily living. One not need look further than the way the American government has been run for the past half century to see almost endless examples of how politicians can make a mess out of what was once a simple way of life. The mindset of self-sufficiency of the 30s,40s, and 50s has gone by the wayside as the popular notion now is not to think at all. The results of this way of life are not hard to find.

Computers (and technology in general) is/are being used as tools to promote lack of mental exercise: the proliferation of programs and gadgets designed to do everything but flush the toilet in the modern home are specifically (but not explicitly) designed to promote convenience at the cost of independence, a founding principle of America. This trend is so pervasive as to be overwhelming, and particularly disgusting on a number of levels. We as Slackware users can't address the majority of these issues, but we can choose to remain independent at the cost of learning how to think.

Slackware's clean and well-thought-out design has won it a number of aficionados over its lifetime, and for good reason: it is relatively easy to understand and, by extension, is particularly extensible to any number of enhancements users care to think up and implement. One reason I can think of is the extensive use of shell scripts in Slackware. A few examples follow:

Shell scripts are used at boot time to initialize the system for use
SlackBuilds are essentially shell scripts used to convert generic package releases/source code into Slackware programs
Many tasks in Slackware are easily controllable with easily-written and -read shell scripts

As an example of the last point, my FX-8370 was overheating badly from using all 8 of its cores in compilation, easily reaching 80+ degrees Celsius, and causing the motherboard safety features to automatically shut down the system. This was not a stable situation, and needed to be addressed in order for me to make productive use of my new processor. What I did was to look into the power management features of the Linux kernel. What I found enabled me to formulate a plan of action to effectively address this issue. First, I found what commands to issue to find out what speeds my processor supported, and then to write a script to quickly switch the cores' speeds to any of those that I desired at a given moment. What I had to do before all that, however, was to switch the default thermal governor to userspace, which was accomplished by a 'make menuconfig', then a recompile. After several Google searches and some thought, I was able to come up with the following script to do what I desired:

Code:

#!/bin/bash

CORE_SPEED=$(echo "$1 * 1000000" | bc -l)

for core in {0..7}
do
     echo $CORE_SPEED > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu$core/cpufreq/scaling_setspeed
done

All I have to do is invoke the script in root (using sudo -i) and pass it any of 1.4, 2.1, 2.8, 3.4, or 4.0 as a parameter to make it run at those GHz speeds. And this is just one of innumerable tasks that are easily controlled in Slackware!

The significance and impact of an easily-understandable system should not be lost on any Slackware user. But, hearkening back to my first point, in order to accomplish these tasks, thought is required. And that, to some people, is totally unacceptable; they should (in their opinion) be able to use their system without thought; the key thought here would be 'intuitive'. The only problem with that is that you unwittingly give power to other people to administer your system for you, and the way they choose to do so may not be to your liking. Until you use the power of reasoning to take back control of your system, you will always be susceptible to other people's leading you as a sheep; whether it be to the slaughterhouse or not is less a matter of choice on the sheep's part than it is the relative benevolence or malevolence of the sheepherder. I know what choice I made, and still make: to control my computer as I desire, not as others desire. Hence, Slackware.

Another

for your consideration

Didier Spaier · 07-12-2016, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1337_powerslacker

Original Post Addendum:

After having given the problem facing Slackware and its users more deliberation, I have realized there's another issue at stake here: the absence of thought and reasoning.

There's another trend afoot in America: namely, that analytical reasoning is outdated, and that others are better and/or well-suited to thinking for them, and that the masses need only to look to them for inspiration and guidance for daily living. One not need look further than the way the American government has been run for the past half century to see almost endless examples of how politicians can make a mess out of what was once a simple way of life. The mindset of self-sufficiency of the 30s,40s, and 50s has gone by the wayside as the popular notion now is not to think at all. The results of this way of life are not hard to find.

Computers (and technology in general) is/are being used as tools to promote lack of mental exercise: the proliferation of programs and gadgets designed to do everything but flush the toilet in the modern home are specifically (but not explicitly) designed to promote convenience at the cost of independence, a founding principle of America. This trend is so pervasive as to be overwhelming, and particularly disgusting on a number of levels. We as Slackware users can't address the majority of these issues, but we can choose to remain independent at the cost of learning how to think.

Slackware's clean and well-thought-out design has won it a number of aficionados over its lifetime, and for good reason: it is relatively easy to understand and, by extension, is particularly extensible to any number of enhancements users care to think up and implement. One reason I can think of is the extensive use of shell scripts in Slackware. A few examples follow:

Shell scripts are used at boot time to initialize the system for use
SlackBuilds are essentially shell scripts used to convert generic package releases/source code into Slackware programs
Many tasks in Slackware are easily controllable with easily-written and -read shell scripts

As an example of the last point, my FX-8370 was overheating badly from using all 8 of its cores in compilation, easily reaching 80+ degrees Celsius, and causing the motherboard safety features to automatically shut down the system. This was not a stable situation, and needed to be addressed in order for me to make productive use of my new processor. What I did was to look into the power management features of the Linux kernel. What I found enabled me to formulate a plan of action to effectively address this issue. First, I found what commands to issue to find out what speeds my processor supported, and then to write a script to quickly switch the cores' speeds to any of those that I desired at a given moment. What I had to do first, however, was to switch the default thermal governor to userspace, which was accomplished by a 'make menuconfig', then a recompile. After several Google searches and some thought, I was able to come up with the following script to do what I desired:

Code:

#!/bin/bash

CORE_SPEED=$(echo "$1 * 1000000" | bc -l)

for core in {0..7}
do
     echo $CORE_SPEED > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu$core/cpufreq/scaling_setspeed
done

All I have to do is invoke the script in root (using sudo -i) and pass it any of 1.4, 2.1, 2.8, 3.4, or 4.0 as a parameter to make it run at those GHz speeds. And this is just one of innumerable tasks that are easily controlled in Slackware!

The significance and impact of an easily-understandable system should not be lost on any Slackware user. But, hearkening back to my first point, in order to accomplish these tasks, thought is required. And that, to some people, is totally unacceptable; they should (in their opinion) be able to use their system without thought; the key thought here would be 'intuitive'. The only problem with that is that you unwittingly give power to other people to administer your system for you, and the way they choose to do so may not be to your liking. Until you use the power of reasoning to take back control of your system, you will always be susceptible to other people's leading you as a sheep; whether it be to the slaughterhouse or not is less a matter of choice on the sheep's part than it is the relative benevolence or malevolence of the sheepherder. I know what choice I made, and still make: to control my computer as I desire, not as others desire. Hence, Slackware.

Another

for your consideration

Quoting John of Gaunt in "The Life and Death of Richard the Second" from William Shakespeare:

Quote:

Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain,

No offense intended, I just couldn't resist.

1337_powerslacker · 07-12-2016, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier

Quoting John of Gaunt in "The Life and Death of Richard the Second" from William Shakespeare:No offense intended, I just couldn't resist.

None taken. I have seen your posts, and they are seldom, if at all, offensive in nature. Rather, they are helpful and insightful

On a second note, I love historical quotes, and will be looking into your reference.

I hope your post doesn't mean, however, that I used a multitude of words to express what could have been said more concisely. I tried to make it as brief as possible, to say what I felt I need to say, and also to avoid losing my readers' interest in the meantime.

Didier Spaier · 07-12-2016, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1337_powerslacker

I hope your post doesn't mean, however, that I used a multitude of words to express what could have been said more concisely. I tried to make it as brief as possible, to say what I felt I need to say, and also to avoid losing my readers' interest in the meantime.

No, if my poor command of the English language allows me to express an opinion, the post I quoted is well worded. Even though the fast jump from political and sociological considerations to technical ones could give dizzy and that I be not sure to understand the link from the former to the latter.

However, I also feel that a Slackware system is easier to understand than others that I have tried, and I also agree that it's best that people think by themselves and exercise critical thinking. I just think that this is not specific to usage of computers and I tend to blame a deficient education of the sheep rather that the sheepherder.

In other words, let's teach our kids not to behave as a sheep.

It was my turn to digress, it seems

1337_powerslacker · 07-12-2016, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier

No, if my poor command of the English language allows me to express an opinion, the post I quoted is well worded. Even though the fast jump from political and sociological considerations to technical ones could give dizzy and that I be not sure to understand the link from the former to the latter.

However, I also feel that a Slackware system is easier to understand than others that I have tried, and I also agree that it's best that people think by themselves and exercise critical thinking. I just think that this is not specific to usage of computers and I tend to blame a deficient education of the sheep rather that the sheepherder.

In other words, let's learn our kids to not to behave as a sheep.

It was my turn to digress, it seems

My point in making those kinds of jumps in my post was to point out that there are underlying human issues with how Slackware is perceived, and not just technical ones, and to just point out technical issues (of which I am sure there are several) and to ignore how criticism of how Slackware is implemented is rooted in human tendencies is neglectful (in my opinion).

I agree with you about Slackware, and I never intended to imply that my post was specifically tied to the usage of computers. If I did so unintentionally, I apologize. The 'sheepherder' I referred to was more similar to a manipulator in nature than one who guides the sheep to safety. The tendency of people to follow blindly without thought disturbs me, but it's always been present in human history, and most likely will remain so, and I accept that, if only grudgingly. If an opportunist leads them to wholesale destruction for his/her advantage, then it is equally the fault of people for being easily led as it is the opportunist for taking advantage of the gullibility of 'sheeple'.