Cheap web hosting - 385Chapter 14Running Slackware LinuxSlackware comes with a good
385Chapter 14Running Slackware LinuxSlackware comes with a good set of libraries that will take care of the dependencyneeds of most Linux applications. However, for video, audio, and some other typesof applications, you may find yourself hunting around for libraries. Tools for satisfyingpackage dependencies (such as yum and apt) can save you that trouble in otherdistributions. Characterizing the Slackware CommunityLike many other successful Linux distributions, Slackware was started by a strong- minded individual who created the kind of Linux system that suited himself. Slackware users are people who pretty much agree with him. The Slackware CreatorPatrick Volkerding started Slackware in 1993 as a Linux distribution to use for him- self and his friends. He was kind enough to answer some questions I had aboutSlackware, and I want to share his answers with you here: Patrick originally used a Linux distribution called SLS Linux (named after SoftLanding Linux, the company that made it). Why didn t he just contribute to SLSinstead of starting his own distribution? Patrick:I tried. By April of 1993 I had collected a huge list of bugs in SLS, along with the fixes for most of them. Plenty of people tried to get these toPeter MacDonald (SLS s author/maintainer), but the bugs in SLS (many ofwhich were quite obvious) never seemed to get fixed. Of course, I d started work on my patched version of SLS with no plan to tryto launch a lasting distribution. I figured I d get it online and SLS would fix theissues, and that might just be that. SLS was a great distribution and isn t givenenough credit for all the ideas that started there. Unfortunately, it was whilePeter was busy working on inventing kernel modules that SLS sat online for afew months, full of bugs and not getting any updates. Patrick decided to take the leap to separate Slackware from SLS after MacDonaldsuggested that Slackware was infringing on his copyrights (despite the only licenseon the SLS code saying Distribute freely; do not restrict. ): Patrick:So, I promised Peter that I would write a new installer for Slackwareinstead of using a modified SLS one, and that the new installer would be thenext change made to Slackware online. Did the great success of Slackware from the get-go surprise him? Patrick:Absolutely. I knew it worked better than the other distributions thatwere out at the time, but I didn t expect the kind of mass exodus from SLS thatoccurred. Note21