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Got into Linux in 2008 with no knowledge and no help, Slackware was the first distro I successfully installed (after trying Debian). I tried Slackware after hearing the phrase "If you use RedHat, you learn RedHat. If you use Debian, you learn Debian. If you use Slackware, you learn Linux." Also, I had an old computer and very poor internet, so the all-in-one DVD approach appealed to me. I downloaded the Slackbook and got to it, and it patiently taught me what a filesystem was, how boot works, what X was, how to use the terminal, and so on. Other operating systems took a lot of that for granted! They assumed I had resources, and Slackware would work with pretty well nothing. If Slackware took more time to use, time was all I had! And if Slackware made me learn things to use it properly, it was well worth it! Even now, 14 years later, lots of skills I learned are still useful - bash, the boot process, compiling software, managing dependencies (I once wanted ffmpeg with all dependencies coming from subversion, so I coded up an updater/build manager in 100% shell! Slackware taught me to do that :) I used it for many years, distro hopping in the background, before eventually migrating to Debian. Life moved on, and I had less time to deal with "how do I build THIS from source?" and I wanted something that would help me out a bit more. Slackware has given me an appreciation for stability. There is really something big about lasting decades. I can use those things, and also the things I know today, rather than having half the things I knew two years ago going in the bin. Bit of a ramble. I suppose I have a lot of affection for the distro, it was a formative environment for me. |