Slackware wasn't the first Linux distro, but it's the oldest still alive and kicking

boem@lemmy.world to Linux@lemmy.ml – 187 points – Slackware turns 30
theregister.com

This week the Slackware Linux project is celebrating its 30th anniversary. It is the oldest Linux distribution that is still in active maintenance and development.

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I mean sure, but Debian is far more active, relevant, and only like two months younger...

When I started playing around with Linux 25 years ago Debian and APT was a small revolution in how good it worked out of the box.

I tried to get into Red hat and SUSE and I always wanted up in trouble even before I got any Windows manager up and running. Don't get me started on RPM and dependency hell

Debian just worked. I had stuff up n running BEFORE I had to go down the rabbit hole to understand how all things was connected.

For a beginner that was a game changer.

I wish I had known about Debian and apt back then! I spent years distro-hopping because I was so tired of chasing down RPMs in redhat. Like seriously, you can't just tell me everything you need, and grab all those files at once when I try installing a package?

Ugh. I've been a Debian (and derivatives) user since the late '90s, and you're unlocking memories of what chased me away from Red Hat distros back then.

I disagree with suse. suse was the first distro where I was able to get a laptop working completely without having to download additional drivers.

Debian has a lot of other things going for it - but Slackware still beat it by two months, and Linux wouldn't be the same without it. Worth celebrating! 🎉