Chapter 1. An introduction to Slackware Linux

Table of Contents
1.1. About this book
1.2. What is Linux?
1.3. What is GNU/Linux?
1.4. What is Slackware Linux?
1.5. Slackware Linux on CD-ROM

1.1. About this book

This book originally started out as a project which had the goal to translate the "Slackware Essentials" to Dutch. While we were progressing we conluded that, for various reasons, it was better to start writing a book ourselves. This book is named "Het Slackware Handboek", right now we are in the process of translating it to English.

This book is written by Daniël de Kok and Paul Beurskens, and is freely available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. It is continually under development, not just to keep up with the latest Slackware versions, but also to refine the documentation, and extend it where it is deemed necessary. The latest version can be found at http://www.slackfiles.org/

We wish everybody a good time with Slackware Linux, and we hope this book is useful for you.

1.2. What is Linux?

Linux is a Unix-like kernel which is written by Linus Torvalds and other developers, who communicate using the internet. Linux runs on many different architectures, for example on many IA32, IA64, Alpha, m68k, SPARC and PowerPC machines. The latest kernel and more information can be found at: http://www.kernel.org

Linux is often confused with the GNU/Linux system. Linux is only a kernel, not a complete operating system. GNU/Linux consists of the GNU operating system with the Linux kernel. Please read the following section for a more detailed explanation of GNU/Linux.

1.3. What is GNU/Linux?

At the beginning of the eighties Richard Stallman started an ambitious project with the goal to write a free Unix-like operating system. The name of this system is GNU (GNU is Not Unix). At the beginning of the nineties most important components of the GNU oparating system were written, except for the kernel, which is still under development under the name HURD. HURD consists of some servers which provide Unix-like kernel functionality. In turn these servers run under the Mach microkernel. At the beginning at the nineties the HURD team still had to wait till the Mach sources were released as free software. In the meanwhile Linus started filling the gap with the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux thus refers to the GNU system running on the Linux kernel. Right now the HURD kernel is also in a usable state and can be downloaded in the form of the GNU/HURD operating system. The Debian project has even developed a version of the GNU operating system which works with the NetBSD kernel. We should call "Linux distributions" "GNU/Linux distributions", because GNU is a substantial part of most distributions.

1.4. What is Slackware Linux?

Slackware Linux is a GNU/Linux distribution which is maintained and developed by Patrick Volkerding. In contrast to many other distributions Slackware adheres to the so-called KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle. This means that Slackware does not have complex graphical tools for configuring a system. For newbies this can be somwhat harsh, but it provides more transperancy and flexibility. Besides that you will get to learn GNU/Linux to the bones with Slackware Linux.

Another distinguishing aspect of Slackware Linux, that also "complies" with the KISS principe is the Slackware package manager. Slackware does not have complex package manager like RPM. Packages are normal tgz (tar/gzip) files, mostly with an additional installation script and a package description. Tgz is much more powerful than RPM for novice users and avoids dependency problems. Another famous feature of Slackware are the BSD-like initialization scripts of Slackware Linux. Slackware has one initialization script for each runlevel insteas of a script for eacht daemon. It allow you to tweak with your system easily, without the need to write net init scripts yourself.

The packages in Slackware Linux are compiled with as little modifications as possible. This means you can use most general GNU/Linux documentation.

1.5. Slackware Linux on CD-ROM

Slackware Linux can be purchased at quite many (internet) shops. It is important to make a distinction between the official CD-ROM set and cheap copies. When you buy the official CD set you are financially supporting the development of Slackware Linux. So, if you would like to see continuing development of Slackware Linux, buy the CD set!