Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG 2.0
I finally did it. I busted out the Breeze 3110, backed up some files, and installed Slackware on it. I figured that configuration of the system would be a cinch since the system has integrated graphics courtesy of Intel. I reformatted the partitions that were already there and installed everything off the DVD.
Getting KDE Up and Running
I of course chose KDE as the desktop environment. I like it. The menus are familiar enough to me, and I don’t mind if it gets cluttered. I first logged in as root and entered the adduser command. I set up the user thomas as being a part of the plugdev group. When it gave me the option to add the user to other groups I hit the up arrow key on the keyboard and other groups popped up, such as cdrom and such. I added thomas to those groups as well. Then I logged out of root and logged in as thomas.
I first ran startx and up popped KDE with its first time wizard. I then started playing around a bit to get a feel for what the system was capable of. I discovered in a Konsole window that direct rendering wasn’t on. I checked the xorg.conf file to discover that the vesa driver was being used. I changed over to the Intel driver, and exited KDE. When I entered startx again, KDE came back, and the graphics became smoother. I then tested GLX Gears, and it seemed to operate at a much faster rate than before. Yay!
Adding Additional Packages
I’m lazy. I don’t feel like compiling source code for six hours. I also don’t feel like messing with Slack Build scripts, so I used Google and eventually stumbled upon this page at slacky.eu. It contains many packages that can be installed with the installpkg command. I also found Robby’s Slackware Packages to a be an excellent resource, especially since it has OpenOffice.org 3.0.
What I Liked
Slackware forces the user to learn a thing or two about the command line. With a decent quick start guide, just about anybody can set up the system, especially if they’re used to setting up Windows NT 4, 2000, and XP. I like the fact that the system doesn’t hold my hand constantly, and that I’m allowed to log in as root. It gets out of my way and lets me run the system.
What I Didn’t Like
I don’t care for having to hunt down package after package. I’ve been too spoiled by dependency resolution, which can be a double edged sword in many distros. I’d love to see more point and click tools, but I also recognize that Slackware doesn’t cater to the point ‘n click crowd. Instead, it caters to true power users who want to tweak their system as they see fit without warning dialogs interrupting them every so often.
The setup routine can be improved a little bit though. For starters, it would be nice if I was asked if I wanted to create a user at the end of setup instead of having to log in as root. That would have saved some time. In addition, allowing the editing of the xorg.conf file during setup would have been a time saver as well.
The Next System
I plan on installing Slackware 12.2 on my Dell Optiplex GX400 system, a.k.a. the Ball ‘n Chain System. I also have the main desktop to fiddle with. Who knows how well it’ll work. Thus far, I’m quite thrilled with Slackware 12.2.
Important Note
I decided to install GNU Ice Cat on the ASUS notebook, and well…… I went with the compiling path for the heck of it. I’ll never make that mistake again. It was a freaking web browser, and it took so long to compile. Oh well. Keep in mind that when compiling programs by hand, it can take a while depending on the amount of code there is in the software itself.
*NIXEDBLOG 2.0 
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