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<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
  "/usr/share/xml/docbook/xml-dtd-4.5/docbookx.dtd">

<chapter>
<title>Introduction to Slackware</title>

<section>
<title>Why Use Slackware?</title>

<para>
Slackware has a long tradition of excellence.  Started in 1992 and
first released in 1993, Slackware is the oldest surviving commercial
Linux distribution.  Slackware's focus on making a clean, simple Linux
distribution that is as UNIX-like as possible makes it a natural choice
for those people who really want to learn about Linux and other
UNIX-like operating systems.  Slackware's simplicity makes it ideal for
those users who want to create their own custom systems.  Of course,
Slackware is great in its own right as a desktop, workstation, or server
as well.
</para>

</section>

<section>
<title>Differences Compared to Other Linux Distributions</title>

<para>
There are a great number of differences between Slackware and other
mainstream distributions such as Red Hat, Debian, and Ubuntu.  Perhaps
the greatest difference is the lack of "hand-holding" that Slackware
will do for the administrator.  Many of those other distributions ship
with custom graphical configuration tools for all manner of services.  In 
many cases, these configuration tools are the preferred method of setting
up applications on these systems and will overwrite any changes you make
to the configuration files via other means.  These tools often make it easy
(or at least possible) for a rookie with no in-depth understanding of
his system to setup basic services; however, they also make it difficult
to do anything too out of the ordinary.  In contrast, Slackware expects 
you, the system administrator, to do these tasks on your own.  
Slackware provides no general purpose setup tools beyond those included 
with the source code published by upstream developers.  This means there 
is often a somewhat steeper learning curve associated with Slackware, even 
for those users familiar with other Linux distributions, but also makes it 
much easier to do whatever you want with your operating system.
</para>

<para>
Also, you may hear users of other distributions say that Slackware has
no package management system.  This is completely and obviously false.
Slackware has always had package management (see Chapter 16 for more
information).  What it does not have is automatic dependency resolution -
Slackware's package tools trade dependency management for simplicity, 
ease-of-use, and reliability.
</para>

</section>

<section>
<title>Licensing</title>

<para>
Each piece of Slackware (this is true of all Linux distributions) is
developed by different people (or teams of people), and each group has
their own ideas about what it means to be "free".  Because of this,
there are literally dozens and dozens of different licenses granting
you different permissions regarding their use or distribution.
</para>

<para>
Probably the most popular license in use within the Free Software
community is the GNU General Public License.  The GPL was created by 
the Free Software Foundation, which actively works to create and distribute 
software that guarantees the freedoms which they believe are basic rights. 
In fact, this is the very group that coined the term "Free Software."  
The GPL imposes no restrictions on the use of software.  In fact, you don't 
even have to accept the terms of the license in order to use the software, 
but you are not allowed to distribute the software or any changes to it 
without abiding by the terms of the license agreement.  A large number of
software projects shipped with Slackware, from the Linux kernel itself to 
the Samba project, are released under the terms of the GPL.
</para>

<para>
Another very common license is the BSD license, which is arguably "more
free" than the GPL because it imposes no restrictions on derivative works.
The BSD license simply requires that the copyright remain intact along
with a simple disclaimer.  Many of the utilities specific to Slackware
are licensed with a BSD-style license.
</para>

</section>

</chapter>