384Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionAsk Slackware (Tomcat web server)
384Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionAsk Slackware devotees the value of Slackware, and they might recite their mantra, the 4S Rule : Stable, Solid, Simple, and Sensible. By keeping things basic, Slackwareoffers the following advantages: .Better comprehension.Because you use commands and configuration fileswith Slackware, you learn more about how Linux works on the inside. Mostgraphical installers and GUI tools hide the actual configuration that is goingon and often limit the features you can use. If something goes wrong, it can behard to debug a problem with most graphical interfaces. The Slackwareinstaller is menu-based, very flexible, and quite intuitive. .Less bloat.In general, graphical interfaces consume far more resources thantheir command-line counterparts. GUIs require more room on the distributionmedium, plus more hard disk space and more RAM. Slackware relies primarilyon basic Linux commands, text-based configuration files, and some simplemenu-driven administration tools. With a Slackware 4.0 system, you can installa command-line version on a 100MB hard disk. .Better for low-end computers.Slackware is the first distribution I recommendto run on low-end machines. A special ZipSlack distribution (www.slackware. com/zipslack) can be installed from a 100MB Zip drive or floppy disks. ZipSlack can install on a 386 PC with as little as 4MB of RAM. Even with the latest Slackware distribution, if you want a GUI, the installation procedure forSlackware lets you choose small, efficient window managers, Web browsers, mail clients, and other graphical tools. .Packages as projects intended.Slackware doesn t mold the software itincludes into one look-and-feel. The Apache Web server, KDE desktop, orSamba file/printer sharing projects work pretty much as they are deliveredfrom those projects. So, again, the knowledge you gain from using those pro- jects will transfer fairly easily to those same projects on other Linux systems. Instead of providing a unified look-and-feel, Slackware allows the desktop environ- ment or window manager you choose to dictate the desktop presentation. You canchange your desktop as you like, using the menus or preference windows that comewith those environments. Full KDE or GNOME desktops are available with Slackware(contained mostly on the second of two Slackware installation CDs). Or you can optfor a lighter, more efficient window manager, such as xfce, fvwm2, or twm. For system administration, Slackware offers some tools that are based on the ncurseslibrary. Ncurses allows an application to provide a screen-oriented interface from acharacter terminal, so you can use forms, menus, and sometimes even a mouse toconfigure some basic Linux features from any shell (no GUI required). Anything you can do with other Linux distributions, you can do with Slackware. Itmight just take a bit more manual work to get there. Slackware doesn t yet officiallyuse a package management system, such as the Red Hat RPM or Debian deb files. (Although there are some software management tools you can use, which aredescribed later.) In general, however, most Slackware users become adept at build- ing and installing their own applications (using tar, make, and similar tools).