While Linux headlines were dominated by Ubuntu mentions yesterday, it wasn’t the only distro to experience the launch of a new major version. Slackware, one of the oldest distributions still being actively developed, released its 13.37 version. Yes, that’s the official version number. It seems that Slackware founder Patrick Volkerding, despite having been working on the distro for nearly 20 years, still has a good sense of humor about it all.
Compared to Ubuntu 11.04, Slackware 13.37 doesn’t ship with as up-to-date software versions, as that’s not quite the distribution’s goal. Instead, that’s to be one of the most stable distros out there, while including verified stable packages. Thus, the developers have foregone the 2.6.38 kernel for 2.6.37.6, and have stuck with the tried-and-true KDE 4.5.5 and Xfce 4.6.2 desktops.
Other software included are GCC 4.5.2, Xorg 1.9.5, Mozilla FIrefox 4.0, GIMP 2.6.11, Pidgin 2.7.11, MySQL 5.1.56, PHP 5.3.6, Compiz 0.8.8 and more. One thing that makes Slackware unique is that it sticks to proven software packages for quite a while, and that being the case, 13.37 sticks with the classic LILO boot-loader, rather than GRUB. I admit I find this a bit amusing, as I can’t even remember the last time I had to deal with LILO, and with GRUB so commonplace nowadays, it’s easy to forget about it. But, if it gets the job done, it gets the job done.
For those interested in giving this well-aged distro a try, you can refer to the release notes for download information, or head over to DistroWatch for more accessible options.
(Screenshot credit: DistroWatch)
It’s true! Slackware 13.37 has been released. Nearly a year in the making, you will appreciate the performance and stability that can only come with careful and rigorous testing. Slackware 13.37 uses the 2.6.37.6 Linux kernel and also ships with 2.6.38.4 kernels for those who want to run the latest. The long-awaited Firefox 4.0 web browser is included, the X Window System has been upgraded (and includes the open source nouveau driver for NVIDIA cards). The venerable Slackware installer has been improved as well, with support for installing to btrfs, a one-package-per-line display mode option, and an easy to set-up PXE install server that runs right off the DVD!
