A new version of SlackEX is out today (150612). I have now included Nvidia’s Graphic driver 346.72 and Google Chrome (for watching Netflix movies).
Slackware is the first widely-used Linux system, which is still developing. Slackware has existed since 1993. Gammal är äldst (The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune) as we say in Sweden.
Slackware is the first widely-used Linux system, which is still developing. Slackware has existed since 1993. In comparison with for example Ubuntu and Linux Mint, many people believe that Slackware is “difficult”. Any novice can quickly learn to use Ubuntu they say. My remaster of Slackware 14.1, which I call SlackEX 14.1/current 64 bit Linux Live DVD, is however just as easy to use as Ubuntu and/or Linux Mint. Some tend to complain that the Program Management in Slackware is awkward. That was perhaps earlier the case, but not anymore. Now we have the Application Managers Slackpkg and GSlapt – a GTK version of slapt-get. They are a piece of cake to use! Users of Synaptic will feel at ease with GSlapt.
New features in version 150523 of SlackEX
I have replaced kernel 3.18.1-x86_64-exton with kernel 4.0.4-x86_64-exton with support for “everything”. KDE is downgraded to version 4.10.5 from version 4.11.1. All other component software is also upgraded to the latest Slackware version by now. I may mention in particular GParted 0.17.0 (latest, not in Slackware’s repositories), VirtualBox 4.3.28 (latest, not in Slackware’s repositories), AbiWord 2.8.6 (not in Slackware’s repositories), Gimp 2.8.10 (installed from source), GSlapt 0.5.3h, Firefox 31.7, Thunderbird 31.6, Samba 3.6.8 and GCC 4.8.2. Furthermore I have installed Grub2, which can be used as boot loader (if you want) after a hard drive install. Study the full package LIST.
Why Slackware?
Slackware is grossly underestimated (in my opinion). This article give you ten (10) reasons to choose Slackware.
Screenshot 1 – KDE 4.10.5 Desktop
Screenshot 2 – KDE 4.10.5 Desktop
Screenshot 3 – Netflix running
I have compiled a very useful (as I think) 64 bit kernel for Slackware 12.0 – 14.1 and/or all Slackware derivatives. For example Slax, Zenwalk and SlackEX. The kernel is compiled exactly the same way as Slackware’s latest kernel huge. “My” kernel 4.0.4-x86_64-exton has even more support for new hardware, etc. Kernel 4.0.4 is the latest stable kernel available from Kernel.org. Released 20150517.
If you want to install my kernel in your Slackware 64 bit system, do this:
1. Download linux-kernel-4.0.4-x86_64-exton.txz – md5sum
2. Install it with the command installpkg linux-kernel-4.0.4-x86_64-exton.txz
(The kernel is packed just like Slackware’s original kernels so that everything ends up in the right place)
4. If necessary, change your Grub Legacy/Grub2 configuration
5. If you have an Nvidia graphics card in your computer, you may need to look over your files in /etc/modprobe.d before restarting the computer. That is remove the “blacklisting” of Nouveau’s kernel module in the appropriate files blacklist.conf and nvidia-installer-disable-nouveau.conf. With “my” kernel functions the Nouveau “free” driver works just fine.
NOTE: When you run the command installpkg linux-kernel-4.0.4-x86_64-exton.txz vmlinuz will be “created” in /boot. If you have /boot/vmlinuz already that file will be overwritten. In case you want to switch back to your old kernel you should make a backup of /boot/vmlinuz before you run the just mentioned command.
Restart your computer and enjoy!
