Interested in trying Zenwalk but have some questions
ZenwalkThis forum is for the discussion of Zenwalk Linux.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Interested in trying Zenwalk but have some questions
Hello everyone, first time posting here on LinuxQuestions!
I've been using Linux desktop for about a year now, with Debian and some Debian-based distributions. I started out with those distributions as they are the most common, and kind of a default for most new desktop Linux users. But now I'd like to try something else. I stumbled upon Zenwalk GNU Linux on DistroWatch, and it seems like an interesting project. However, instead of diving right in and possibly getting lost or finding out that it is not for me, I'd like to ask some questions.
Besides being one of the first distributions, what is significantly different on Slackware compared to more mainstream distributions?
Would gaming on Steam work fine on Zenwalk? In terms of AMD GPU drivers, mesa version, and whatever else is needed
Can Xfce be uninstalled, for example if I wanted to use just a window manager without a DE? Or is Zenwalk meant to be used with Xfce?
If there is anything else that I should know, please let me know.
Distribution: Mainly Devuan, antiX, & Void, with Tiny Core, Fatdog, & BSD thrown in.
Posts: 5,506
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DinoSaar
Could you elaborate please?
If you check the website you will see that you can install it 3 different ways, each being a different amount of programs from the start - you can start with the least install, & then add the programs that you want - easier than removing programs from a large installation.
Quote:
Salix has three different modes of installation:
Full: Everything that is included in the iso is installed. That includes a complete desktop environment and a complete selection of applications that matches the respective environment, always following the "one application per task" rationale.
Basic: This installs only a basic desktop environment, with very few extra applications installed on top, such as a web browser and the gslapt package manager. Ideal for advanced users that would like to install a lightweight desktop environment and add their own choice of applications.
Core: Only the minimum essentials for a console system to start are included. A graphical environment is not provided. This is ideal if you are an experienced user and want to customize your installation for any specific purpose, such as a web server, file server etc.
If you check the website you will see that you can install it 3 different ways, each being a different amount of programs from the start - you can start with the least install, & then add the programs that you want - easier than removing programs from a large installation.
When DinoSaar says "Could you elaborate please?" I suspect what they mean is is WHY are you responding with "use Salix" when they have asked about Zenwalk.
If you're attempting to answer their third question, then a more direct response of "Yes, Zenwalk is XFCE-only* but Salix is a similar distro that supports using a window manager" would make more sense.
(*I don't know if Zenwalk is XFCE-only or not, nor do I know whether Salix actively supports window managers. Irrespective of that, I think any OS which advertises gambling on its homepage is one to stay away from, and thus would recommend against Salix.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by DinoSaar
Would gaming on Steam work fine on Zenwalk? In terms of AMD GPU drivers, mesa version, and whatever else is needed
Drivers come via the Linux kernel - thus you need to identify which version kernel is required to support your hardware, then you can check a distro's DistroWatch page to see if it comes with an equal or newer kernel: https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zenwalk - scroll down until you see the package "linux" and check the version number in the column relating to the version of the distro you intend to try. The same table has a row identifying mesa version.
When DinoSaar says "Could you elaborate please?" I suspect what they mean is is WHY are you responding with "use Salix" when they have asked about Zenwalk.
If you're attempting to answer their third question, then a more direct response of "Yes, Zenwalk is XFCE-only* but Salix is a similar distro that supports using a window manager" would make more sense.
(*I don't know if Zenwalk is XFCE-only or not, nor do I know whether Salix actively supports window managers. Irrespective of that, I think any OS which advertises gambling on its homepage is one to stay away from, and thus would recommend against Salix.)
Drivers come via the Linux kernel - thus you need to identify which version kernel is required to support your hardware, then you can check a distro's DistroWatch page to see if it comes with an equal or newer kernel: https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zenwalk - scroll down until you see the package "linux" and check the version number in the column relating to the version of the distro you intend to try. The same table has a row identifying mesa version.
Thank you, that answers my questions.
I looked into Zenwalk a little more and I noticed that it uses the LILO bootloader. I am not very comfortable with using it, since it has been discontinued for a couple of years, and it seems like people generally have a pretty bad memory of it. So for now I will look for another distribution to try instead.
Distribution: Mainly Devuan, antiX, & Void, with Tiny Core, Fatdog, & BSD thrown in.
Posts: 5,506
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by boughtonp
When DinoSaar says "Could you elaborate please?" I suspect what they mean is is WHY are you responding with "use Salix" when they have asked about Zenwalk.
Quote:
But now I'd like to try something else. I stumbled upon Zenwalk GNU Linux on DistroWatch, and it seems like an interesting project. However, instead of diving right in and possibly getting lost or finding out that it is not for me, I'd like to ask some questions.
I responded with my answer because they are looking for another distro, & want it a certain way, & suggested Salix because it would be easier to get what they wanted, on a Slackware based distro.
Hello everyone, first of all I would like to thank PV for the excellent distro Slackware that it has provided us over the years, without having to worry too much about package security and the stability of the KISS system.
Responding to the user in question. I also use zenwalk since it exists and I can say that the distro is more and more robust and stable.
Regarding the window manager, you can use any one. If you can uninstall xfce I don't know. I personally have fluxbox installed with xfce by default. I never tried to uninstall it because I don't know how much I can corrupt the system with it.
In terms of games, everything will depend on the graphics card used, but I think you won't have any problems installing multilib on your system.
The new version of slpkg helps to install multilib packages. Don't forget to read the README file.
Regarding my experience with zenwalk, I use two package managers. The netpkg that comes with the system for updating system packages. Periodically you can do a netpkg -uu to update the packages. And the slpkg I use compiling the packages I need.
Until today I had no problems with it. Regarding the lilo, I never bothered with that. Only if necessary format the partition and reinstall zenwalk. Once that's done it doesn't affect me whether I'm using lilo or grub.
This is my personal experience with Zenwalk. Hope this helps. My first publication here. Thank you all.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.