Can someone explain how packaging in Slackware works?


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Hi guys,

 

Just a quick question really.  Been grinding my teeth on K/Ubuntu and thought I would try something different.

 

I was looking at trying out Slackware, but I have read that they don't sort out dependencies, but what does that actually mean?

 

Does it mean I will have to manually track down and install each dependency before or am I missing something?

 

Thanks

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Yes, that is what it means. Slackware is one of the oldest distros and requires a lot of user manipulation. Not that it is impossible to do it, but in my case, I would go with the ease of distros that can sort through software dependency issues themselves instead of me trying to track down all of the packages needed to make a program work.

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37 minutes ago, Barney T. said:

Yes, that is what it means. Slackware is one of the oldest distros and requires a lot of user manipulation. Not that it is impossible to do it, but in my case, I would go with the ease of distros that can sort through software dependency issues themselves instead of me trying to track down all of the packages needed to make a program work.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.   Looks like I will Slackware alone for the time being. Not that I wouldn't be able to get to grips with it, I just don't want to waste time.

 

What would anyone recommend as a distro to move on from Ubuntu etc. Ive tried Arch and openSUSE so far. Want something a bit more in depth really.

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One thing to remember is that Linux is Linux. All distibutions end up with the same basic functions in different package managers. In the past I have toyed with Gentoo, but I do not have time to spend hours compiling their tarball in order to get a program or two. I would suggest distrowatch to read up on all of the various flavors of Linux. You could try Fedora, for instance, however, everyone who uses Linux has a different aspect of a specific distro that they like. Also remember that you can use different window managers (KDE, Gnome, XFCE-4, fluxbox, ect) to change the look of your specific distro. Take a look at distrowatch and see what they say. They cover almost all of the popular as well as obscure distributions of Linux.

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If you're grinding your teeth on K/Ubuntu, give Mint Cinnamon a try. I was in the same boat as you -- frustrated, ready to throw in the towel with Ubuntu and its' derivatives. Mint fixed all of that frustration for me, and then some.

 

It's got a KDE Edition, too; based on a stable, late-4.x version. Or go with a clean slate and try Cinnamon. It's got sane interfaces. :yes: 

 

I hear good things about Fedora, if you're in the Professional Sector. That's based on Red Hat, so it uses .rpm for package management.

 

Arch was a bit too much learning curve for me, and I just needed something that I could get up and running without the endless hassle of setting up and configuring. Recently, one of the "easier Arch" derivatives (Antergos) really put me off that line.

 

Up to you.

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If you want something you can just install and use thent he following are all good

 

Ubuntu and its derivitives (kbunutu etc)

Mint

Fedora

Suse

 

If you want to give arch a try but not go through the process of setting it up you ould try

 

Majaro :)

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Thanks guys for everything.

 

I think the safest thing for me to do will be to load up a few VMs and see what clicks with me.

 

I have a feeling that I do lean towards KDE environments, I use Cinnamon Mint at work and I tbh I don't really like the way its laid out.

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