Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 21st May 2007 23:27 UTC, submitted by FreeRhino
"VectorLinux has been one of my favorite projects since my first test of the distribution almost 18 months ago. I like VectorLinux because its roots are firmly planted in the stability and simplicity of Slackware, yet it comes with an extensive software base and lots of out-of-the-box great looks; in other words, a rock solid foundation with eye candy and useful functionality. While standard VectorLinux comes with the Xfce desktop environment and a variety of general-purpose applications, VectorLinux 5.8 SOHO offers the KDE desktop and a host of applications for small and home office users."
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Member since:
2007-03-17
As for longevity, I've been using VL since 2003 and I have no idea what you mean when you say that it "fade(s) as time goes on only to reappear..." It's had more releases since Slackware in this time period.
Forking? One of VL's strengths is its commitment (to date) to supporting Slackware packages. Has it improved on Slackware's package management? Absolutely. But you can still go to slackware.com or linuxpackages.net to get packages that work without any problems if you can't find what you need in their repository. Other than improved package management, VL has introduced tlz packages which are ultra-compressed. This is the secret in fitting so much into a 699MB CD.
Finally, with respect to your "simple tasks" comment, I use VL for scientific computing and routinely use everything from Octave, SciLab, R, XMaxima, etc... (most of these have been in the package archive in the past, or can be easily compiled from source code without dependency hell) I also have used it as my development platform for C/C++ and JavaScript. It has as many development utilities as other distros I have used.
Now don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with Slackware itself and I feel that Patrick Volkerding does an incredible job. It's just that I don't have to waste as much time setting things up with VL (on the other hand, Slackware has more packages in their repository). VL is not dumbed down. It's just more finished - and for me, at least, this is what makes the difference.
[Edit] - I forgot, you can look at Slackware vs. VL statistics at distrowatch.com. Currently Slackware is rated 14th (566 hits per day) whereas VL is rated 17th (460 hits per day).
Edited 2007-05-22 00:57