‘The first major Slackware release based on the GCC 3.2.2 compiler,
Slackware Linux 9.0 continues the ten-year Slackware tradition of
simplicity, stability, and security’, the Slackware announcement reads.
Official Announcement for Slackware 9.0
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
I have been waiting for this…I’m glad it’s here!!
BTW, (off topic) Is Distrowatch gone?
No. Just some hosting probs.
Slackware continues to be the most simple, stable and secure Linux distribution.
n0dez
What’s going on?
I like both Slack and Red Hat… but what’s going on? There are lots of news about Red Hat and Debian, lots of books about Red Hat, … few news about Slack, few books about Slackware and all of them outdated (3 years and more)…
I guess that Slackware Inc needs a marketing dpt or something… doesn’t it? Slashdot doesn’t even have an image for Slackware-only news… and it does have an image for Mandrake and others…
n0dez
I have sent the Slackware 9.0 release annoucement to several sites [Slashdot, LinuxToday, …] and none of them have published this… (excepting OSnews)
🙁
n0dez
>What’s going on?
Yes, and this is Slackware’s fault. I asked an interview with Patrick a few months ago and he declined cited lack of time, because “the last time I did an interview it took me a lot of time to complete it”.
Well, if the main guys don’t work with the press, update their site 3-4 times a month, create a “hupla-hupla” about their product, well, there is no wonder why there are so few news and books. Sorry, but they can’t have it both ways. They simply need more marketing, they are a business, and they don’t do anything about it. They think that it is still 1996 where Linux was just a geeky product and whatever they were doing back then was enough. Well, today is not. Rules have changed and the Slackware guys haven’t realized that.
>and none of them have published this… (excepting OSnews)
Yes, I am trying to help Slackware because it is a worthwhile distro, for specific uses. It is also my husband’s favorite when he used to use Linux back in the day… 😉
But the fact that only a few sites reported on the release, is NOT a fault of these sites, but I put the fault 100% on Slackware’s lack of some notion of “marketing” throughout the year.
Maybe they just don’t care about marketing… Just making a quality distro.
AFAIK, this is a business. Therefore, they should care about it. Except if they are already millionaires so they don’t care about income, so the slackware income money might be lunch money for them. If that is not the case though, then they *should* care for marketing.
Yeah, you’re right Eugenia.
Slackware, Inc. is making a nice product but, as you said, rules have changed. Regardless Slackware is a nice distribution, the product itself can’t do a lot about increasing sales. They need to update their Website more frecuently and change some little details to keep Slack alive.
However I also think that the media cares little about what happens with Slack. I have only seen the Slack 9 release annoucement on theage.com.au They care more about Slack in Australia than in Slackware’s homestate California
What about Slackware essentials…? They still sell it on store.slackware.com as new and it was released in July 2000.
In other hand I see that Patrick is working 99% himself making Slackware and they don’t have a lot of money.
It’s incredible – Slackware, Inc. is still doing business since 1993.
n0dez
PS: it’s nice to see writers that actually reply to email messages and posts.
“Linux Journal: Do you want/expect any commercial benefit from Slackware?
Pat: I haven’t accepted any so far. It would be nice to make money as a result of it, but not from selling the actual package. I’m not interested in going into the mail-order CD-ROM business or anything like that, but my experience with Linux has taught me a lot of valuable skills. It looks like the project has saved me from a life of COBOL. What more could I ask for than that?”
For the complete interview go here
http://www.linuxjournal.com/print.php?sid=2750
That may explain the reason for some o the post here.
Cheer!
I agree with Eugenia. They are in the “Linux delivery business” as I see it. Marketing plays a vital role in any business. I use Slack because one day I was bored and decided to give it a try, and I liked it. So, I can say that it was more “luck” that I use slack. I don’t think any business should rely of “luck” to gain customers, and that’s exactly what happened when it comes to me. They do in fact have a very solid distro, with a bit more effort…who knows.
99% of Windows newbies expect to do what they wanna do without reading a book… The same happens to Linux. I’ve worked in the IBM technical support callcenter and many people was frustrated because they have lots of problems with Win98/99/XP and think Windows means computing…
The same goes to MS Office… However, it was a perfect moment for me to promote open source to Windows newbies, lol… maybe because of that they fired me without reasons… I dunno… The point is that I promote OpenOffice, Mozilla and Linux. Many people was happy about changing and have found a nice product other than a Microsoft one. Another thing I noticed is that, for many people Windows or Microsoft means something big, something good, … regardless if their products are good or not. This happened to me when a customer called several times reporting problems with Windows Media. He reinstalled Windows Media Player and then Windows98… He was really conviced that Windows products and especifically Windows Media player were really good. Before he reinstalled everything… I asked him if he had the same problem with RealOne Player and replied “no, I don’t have any kind of problems with RealOne but Windows Media Player is better”… After everything was up and running he noticed that Microsoft products aren’t just good because there are Microsoft shit almost everywhere (not on my computer 
And… what about Linux… many companies -including the big ones such as HP, IBM, Dell and others- are talking a lot about Linux but … what I guess is that they’re talking shit because none of them are actually selling computers both desktops and laptops with any distribution of Linux (Red Hat, Slackware, Debian, SuSE, …) preinstalled. Linux is preinstalled on servers only and some of their servers???
It’s cool to talk but not do anything about it???
n0dez
business or non-profit org… that’s the big question
If they wanna be a business, it’s okay but do it properly, if not, just put a link on your website to let people make donations. It’s really simple, isn’t it?
I have read this [http://www.linuxjournal.com/print.php?sid=2750] and I think that Slackware and Debian have a different philosophy… They could help each other… but only this.
n0dez
Does anybody know where the ISO version can be downloaded? There doesn’t seem to be an ISO version available yet. Also I don’t know why you folks are giving the developers a hard time. I don’t think they care about making money from this. They are just acting as volunreers and giving their work away for free. Why complain about such a nice act?
Anyway if anyone has any links for the ISO verion, please let me know…
Q
I’m downloading all the files needed from the Slackware9 directory to make an unofficial ISO containing official stuff…
Once I have made it, I’ll try to put into my FTP server
n0dez
Any distro that lacks decent package management is useless.
Slackware’s ‘package management’ is a joke.
Slackware 9.0 ISO
Download it from the state of Belgium, EU.
ftp://ftp.kpn.be/pub/linux/slackware/current-iso
n0dez
but it was rejected. Yesterday.
I just don’t understand what has marketing to do with Slashdot publishing the news or not. It’s not like Debian or RedHat did any marketing towards these sites.
What was Pat supposed to do, call CmdrTaco or Hemos and ask them out on dinner?
nonsense
I bought it today to help support the project (subscribed). I have been using it since tuesday night and its the best operating system i have EVER used.
Like you, I also tried to placed an order on their site but so far I have not received any email confirming my order was successfully place. I also sent an email to the address listed on the site but no answer so far.
Did you get an email related to your order?
> What was Pat supposed to do, call CmdrTaco or Hemos and ask them out on dinner?
If Pat was updating the site more and had open mailing lists and forums, stirring interest for his distro with the creation of a more easily ‘seen’ community, Slashdot and the rest would have taken the bite. It is all about impressions about what “sells” and what not, and Slackware has created none.
Virgina Tech, Biology Computer Center
every Day at 3:00am EST with a new
ISO of the latest slackware-current…
http://128.173.184.249/ISO/slackware-current-nightly/
See? It’s on slashdot now. No dinner was required. But more exposure is still required.
>And… what about Linux… many companies -including the big ones such as HP, IBM, Dell and others- are talking a lot about Linux but … what I guess is that they’re talking shit because none of them are actually selling computers both desktops and laptops with any distribution of Linux (Red Hat, Slackware, Debian, SuSE, …) preinstalled.
HOPEFULLY no !
I do not want the Linux and XWindows disaster to rule the world…
Leo.
DistroWatch is alive and well, unlike its DNS resolution 🙂 While we fix the problem, please access the site via its IP address: http://66.111.55.60. The Slackware page is here: http://66.111.55.60/table.php?distribution=slackware. Sorry for the trouble 🙂
google.com and “slackware 9.0 iso” shows a lot of links;^)
hielvc
…as long as they keep putting out distros!
Actually, increasing their marketing may be a bad thing. If they agressively marketed, the new “customers” would mostly be Linux newbies, which definitely would not be their target market (if they had one
).
Pak should have waited a bit… KDE 3.1.1 just released… Guess I have to build them myself… oh well…
Slackware isn’t meant to be a big commercial distro.
I personally don’t care if there’s a big to-do about each release, I check the listservs and the official site frequently.
I’ve always liked slackware and use it as my main desktop. It’s what works for me and I am looking forward to a fresh install of 9.0.
“They simply need more marketing, they are a business, and they don’t do anything about it. They think that it is still 1996 where Linux was just a geeky product and whatever they were doing back then was enough. Well, today is not. Rules have changed and the Slackware guys haven’t realized that.”
Who are you to decide what someone else “needs”? Noone other than Pat himself decides that. Apparently their simple concept has worked fine for a decade and still does. Slack has a very big and loyal userbase and Pat is obviously happy as it is.
“AFAIK, this is a business. Therefore, they should care about it. Except if they are already millionaires so they don’t care about income, so the slackware income money might be lunch money for them. If that is not the case though, then they *should* care for marketing.”
He makes a living off http://store.slackware.com. Please, don’t think that _everybody_ on this planet just wants to spend their all time maximizing profits. I believe he’d rather hack away on things and enjoy life. Go read about hacker philosophy.
“AFAIK, this is a business”
That’s where you’re wrong Eugenia. Slackware is not a business, it’s a cult.
LMAO
Too true, buddy.
Long live slackware!
It should be pointed out that Slackware has been making money for quite some time now. Atleast, that’s how it was reported by The Age last year ( http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/04/1033538761935.html ). Patrick seems to have a very good picture of the people that are using his distribution and he doesn’t seem to want to change his ideals any time soon. I’m completely happy with how things are with Slackware, and the day the Slackware philosophy changes is the day I quit supporting the distro.
Hi,
Just wanna know what distribution are you using and why (give your reasons).
Red Hat/Debian/Slackware
I’m not sure but I think Pat. is the only one working on this distro. Personaly I’m impressed about the work he has done so far, he’s doing a wonderful job. The best distro ever.
Downloaded 9.0
Loaded it up.
All I can say is.
SA-WEEEEET!