Hi, > I've read differing opinions about the ease of use of Slackware - what > are your personal opinions? Is Slackware more secure 'out of the box'?
Yes. A better configuration by default, and only tested and approved version of all packages instead of the very last version of each. > From what I gather Slackware is a little harder to learn than Redhat, > but a little more... configurable? But a very more instructive ! Once you will know Slackware, you will be able to manage any Unix system. You will learn the filesystem, what is set up where, the syntax of each config files and so on. In Red Hat, Linuxconf or some others tools do it for you, so you do not learn so much. One time, I received a Unixware computer. I even did not know about the OS before this moment. But re-using my knowledge of Slackware was enough to operate and re-configure this exotic Unix. Some other time, I debug Solaris with my books and man pages from Salckware : the most Unix-like Linux distribution. > Am I right? Half right : more configurable ? No : all you can do in Salckware, you can do it in Red Hat. But Red Hat hides you so much with its automated tools, doing his own configuration by hand, like in Slackware is much more powerful. > I have no problems with > using the console and learning anything the hard way :D So do it : once done, you will masterize all Unixes and understand much more about computer in general. > What advantages/disadvanages does Slackware 8.0 have over Redhat 7.0? the possibility to lets you learn about Unix. Did you re-compile a kernel in red hat ? A good chance you will have to do it in Slackware. Do you know which information are used in the X main configuration file ? You will learn about that and much more with Slackware. Jacques Bourdeau
