{"slug": "slackware", "name": "Slackware", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 8, "warners": 0, "score": 4.591, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2025-11-17", "latest": "2026-09-15", "why": "I stick with release because it is extremely stable", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 4, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I stick with release because it is extremely stable", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "http://www.slackware.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Slackware"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 784929250, "item_id": 49058078, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49058078", "by": "shevy-java", "date": "2026-07-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is still a great distribution but it is not really active anymore.", "excerpt": "So, I disagree about your statement here, but let's for a moment assume it were correct - so let's not evaluate THAT particular statement, thus. You most likely refer to sysinit or something like that, right? Because to what else do you compare it to? Shell scripts? Shell scripts in general are crap. I don't understand why linux systems use them. When I transitioned to linux a long time ago, I wrote - and still write", "context": "", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Systemd Linger"}, {"id": 779916755, "item_id": 48744797, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48744797", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-07-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "No Windows. Slackware in a NUC with a debblobbed kernel from Linux-Libre", "excerpt": "It's still there, at IRC/Usenet/some niche forums. Replace phreaking with maybe some mesh networks and ways to connect computers without calling an ISP. There are still niche blogs and even phlogs. And you can still use Pidgin and libpurple plugins to connect to a huge array of protocols. Ditto with core Biltbee or Bitlbee+libpurple allowing you to use any IRC client (even the ones without TLS for DOS and Win9X) to c", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "main desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "The Internet I Grew Up with Doesn't Exist Anymore"}, {"id": 740086386, "item_id": 46255399, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46255399", "by": "sombragris", "date": "2025-12-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Slackware is in fact very simple in comparison to other distros.", "excerpt": "I used it sometimes when I needed a live Linux, and I liked it, because it used to be based in Slackware, and it had KDE as its desktop. Now they added Debian as another base, and that's great. Sadly, they dropped KDE. There's also Porteus, also a Slackware derivative offering KDE Plasma -- https://www.porteus.org Slax was and still is a great live distribution. The fact that (at least one of its flavors) is based on", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Slax: Live Pocket Linux"}, {"id": 735261376, "item_id": 45953836, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953836", "by": "jmclnx", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I stick with release because it is extremely stable", "excerpt": "First on-topic, you can use runnit on Slackware: https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/system/runit/ Now another point of view :) As a Slackware I stick with release because it is extremely stable and my main System (Thinkpad W541) works fast as most modern systems with 16G mem and 8 CPUs. If I ever got a brand new system (doubtful), I would use current until the next release. Also, I like the fact I do not have to", "context": "Slackware user", "use_case": "main system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "anthk", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48744797", "date": "2026-07-01"}, {"by": "notorandit", "context": "Linux user for 22 years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46352216", "date": "2025-12-22"}, {"by": "jmclnx", "context": "Slackware user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953836", "date": "2025-11-17"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["linux os", "old linux on 386", "daily os", "main desktop os", "desktop os", "main system"], "compared": [{"slug": "ubuntu", "name": "Ubuntu", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "manjaro", "name": "Manjaro", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "windows", "name": "Windows", "co": 1, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "debian", "name": "Debian", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "gentoo", "name": "Gentoo", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "fedora", "name": "Fedora", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49699297", "title": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49693613", "title": "A 386 PC for Your RP2350", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49056351", "title": "Systemd Linger", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48744655", "title": "The Internet I Grew Up with Doesn't Exist Anymore", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48732056", "title": "Knoppix", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46347108", "title": "I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 795312545, "item_id": 49707034, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49707034", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "asked my buddy to burn a whole bunch of floppies so I could install Slackware", "excerpt": "This was the era when I had replaced explorer.exe with litestep and had a reminder to reinstall Windows every six months to keep the computer running smoothly. It wasn't MS \"shipping\" stuff that broke it IIRC (though patches did have that effect), but rather a steady degradation in performance over the months. I tried to hold in abeyance with tools like defrag, but to no avail. http://litestep.net/ I was doing random", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 795106704, "item_id": 49694169, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49694169", "by": "weinzierl", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my old Slackware kernal 1.2.13 some time. I used it with a 4MiB, 25Mhz 386 DX", "excerpt": "Looks like it can even run Windows 96. Incredibly cool. I'll have to try if it runs my old Slackware kernal 1.2.13 some time. I used it with a 4MiB, 25Mhz 386 DX back in the time, so it should.", "context": "", "use_case": "old Linux on 386", "switched_from": "", "story": "A 386 PC for Your RP2350"}, {"id": 784929250, "item_id": 49058078, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49058078", "by": "shevy-java", "date": "2026-07-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is still a great distribution but it is not really active anymore.", "excerpt": "So, I disagree about your statement here, but let's for a moment assume it were correct - so let's not evaluate THAT particular statement, thus. You most likely refer to sysinit or something like that, right? Because to what else do you compare it to? Shell scripts? Shell scripts in general are crap. I don't understand why linux systems use them. When I transitioned to linux a long time ago, I wrote - and still write", "context": "", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Systemd Linger"}, {"id": 779916755, "item_id": 48744797, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48744797", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-07-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "No Windows. Slackware in a NUC with a debblobbed kernel from Linux-Libre", "excerpt": "It's still there, at IRC/Usenet/some niche forums. Replace phreaking with maybe some mesh networks and ways to connect computers without calling an ISP. There are still niche blogs and even phlogs. And you can still use Pidgin and libpurple plugins to connect to a huge array of protocols. Ditto with core Biltbee or Bitlbee+libpurple allowing you to use any IRC client (even the ones without TLS for DOS and Win9X) to c", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "main desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "The Internet I Grew Up with Doesn't Exist Anymore"}, {"id": 779741074, "item_id": 48733817, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48733817", "by": "TacticalCoder", "date": "2026-06-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "was already on Slackware", "excerpt": "Same. Back then we weren't booting off USB memory sticks: CDs it was. Knoppix and memtest to troubleshoot friends and family's PCs were my go-to tools. Always had a few bootable CD roms in the car. Heck I'd even take a HDD with me and wouldn't hesitate to open other people's PC and hook my \"rescue HDD\". Worst memory ever troubleshooting a friend's PC was in the 386 or 486 days (didn't have Knoppix yet but was already", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Knoppix"}, {"id": 741635456, "item_id": 46352216, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46352216", "by": "notorandit", "date": "2025-12-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I switched to Linux (Slackware, Gentoo, Kubuntu, Arch Linux) some 22 years ago.", "excerpt": "I switched to Linux (Slackware, Gentoo, Kubuntu, Arch Linux) some 22 years ago. It has been a pain and sometimes I still get issues. But I am grateful my PC basically does whatever I ask it to. A desktop PC lasted 10 years before dying. A laptop another 6 years. No NAGs, no service subscription. And no ads from software (browser sometimes excluded), no nothing. I could still install it on a very old machine, with som", "context": "Linux user for 22 years", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone"}, {"id": 740086386, "item_id": 46255399, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46255399", "by": "sombragris", "date": "2025-12-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Slackware is in fact very simple in comparison to other distros.", "excerpt": "I used it sometimes when I needed a live Linux, and I liked it, because it used to be based in Slackware, and it had KDE as its desktop. Now they added Debian as another base, and that's great. Sadly, they dropped KDE. There's also Porteus, also a Slackware derivative offering KDE Plasma -- https://www.porteus.org Slax was and still is a great live distribution. The fact that (at least one of its flavors) is based on", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Slax: Live Pocket Linux"}, {"id": 735261376, "item_id": 45953836, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45953836", "by": "jmclnx", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I stick with release because it is extremely stable", "excerpt": "First on-topic, you can use runnit on Slackware: https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/system/runit/ Now another point of view :) As a Slackware I stick with release because it is extremely stable and my main System (Thinkpad W541) works fast as most modern systems with 16G mem and 8 CPUs. If I ever got a brand new system (doubtful), I would use current until the next release. Also, I like the fact I do not have to", "context": "Slackware user", "use_case": "main system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision"}]}