Hi

I recently got a DSL link, and have decided that it is time to finally
replace the aging RH 9 on my firewall / server / desktop with something
newer - slackware.

Perhaps to complicate things, I have installed Debian on one of my laptops
and the experience with apt-get has probably spoilt my habits I do not
know which people claimed that RH was more user friendly than Sarge, but it
was a load of _____.

Anyways, I am nearly decided that Slackware is the way to go. I however
need the following features :

1. A good package management tool (I know few things can approach apt-get,
but something close would be fine).
2. Ability to install IFC (Intel Fortran Compiler).
3. Ability to install NVIDIA drivers (card - GeForce2 MX). I have read that
Slackware 10 has changed from xfree to xorg. What changes does this
entail ? Do XF86Config-4 files work with xorg ? Why the change ?
4. How different is the configuration file structure from Debian / RH ? I
plan to install hostap etc. for my internal LAN so I need to know this.
5. Stable KDE packages (perhaps a heretical question - questioning the
stability of Slackware, but KDE is perhaps not the choice of uber geeks).
6. For reasons beyond my control, I have to run Losedoze XP on a different
partition. Is the process of running a dual boot system in any way
different than it is with other distros (I have done it plenty of times, so
I know how to do it)?
7. Are there some patches I can add to the kernels I will compile which
could harden the installation against intrusion, etc ?

I might have more questions later.

Thanks.

Madhusudan Singh wrote:

Hi,

I might just answer a few of your questions.

>
> 1. A good package management tool (I know few things can approach
> apt-get,
> but something close would be fine).

Well, frankly, you don't really need it. I spent a year or so with Libranet,
and got fed up with "Broken Packages" or having to download 140 MB of libs
(on dialup) after a simple update of Firefox/

Just install all the available libraries from the CD and get the rest at
Sourceforge)

$ ./configure -> will tell you what packages are missing;o)

Oh, yes: get checkinstall and eventually xpkgtool.

(And there _is_ a package management tool called Swaret, but up until now I
didn't see the need to install it. Maybe someone else on this list will
give you a different advice...)


> 3. Ability to install NVIDIA drivers (card - GeForce2 MX). I have
> read that
> Slackware 10 has changed from xfree to xorg. What changes does this
> entail ? Do XF86Config-4 files work with xorg ? Why the change ?

I have an NVidia TNT card. Downloaded the drivers from nvidia.com, installed
them, made some changes to xorg.conf and to /etc/rc.d/rc.modules, and
everything went fine. Operation's described in detail on the french website
www.trustonme.net.

Technically speaking, XFree86 and X.org are 99% the same thing. Type "X
-configure" as root, copy /root/xorg.conf.new to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, edit
it (you might want to take a look at your /etc/X11/XF86Config under Red Hat
to see how things were done).


> 5. Stable KDE packages (perhaps a heretical question - questioning
> the
> stability of Slackware, but KDE is perhaps not the choice of uber geeks).

I work with KDE. Sometimes Konsole has a transparency problem. That's about
the only bug I found so far)

> 6. For reasons beyond my control, I have to run Losedoze XP on a
> different
> partition. Is the process of running a dual boot system in any way
> different than it is with other distros (I have done it plenty of times,
> so I know how to do it)?

Dualboot examples galore on the web for both LILO and GRUB. But I can't tell
you how, since I'm 100% GNU/Linux)

Good luck,

Niki Kovacs

--
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one frequently goes ranting on and on at
ball-breaking length. (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,
first draft)

Madhusudan Singh wrote:

> Hi

Hi. :-)

> 3. Ability to install NVIDIA drivers (card - GeForce2 MX).

Not a problem - I'm typing this on one.

> 4. How different is the configuration file structure from Debian /
> RH ? I
> plan to install hostap etc. for my internal LAN so I need to know this.

I can't answer this - I've tried Redmond^H^H^HHat, and couldn't _find_ any
configuration files. But the ones in Slack are all right there in the open,
and all documented - I'm sure you know that Slackers recommend much RTFM &
STFW, right?

> 5. Stable KDE packages (perhaps a heretical question - questioning
> the
> stability of Slackware, but KDE is perhaps not the choice of uber geeks).

I can't speak at stability of KDE - I have noticed a couple of little
hiccups, but nothing major, and really only cosmetic stuff; but I can say
it's working well for me.

> 6. For reasons beyond my control, I have to run Losedoze XP on a
> different
> partition. Is the process of running a dual boot system in any way
> different than it is with other distros (I have done it plenty of times,
> so I know how to do it)?

I have no idea about the others, but with Slack, it's a snap.

> 7. Are there some patches I can add to the kernels I will compile
> which
> could harden the installation against intrusion, etc ?

AFAIK, the latest (2.6.x) doesn't need much patching. I'm using the default
2.4.22 that comes with 10.0, and haven't looked that much into upgrading,
security, and that sort of thing - so far, it's security by obscurity ;-) -
but from what I've read, it's not hard at all to compile the latest bleeding
edge.

I don't think it's fair to compare Slack to any other distro. Slack is such
a great distribution, the others don't stand a chance. ;-)
>
> I might have more questions later.
>
Well, be sure and at least _say_ you've read the manual! ;-)

Welcome to the Zoo!
Rich

Kiki Novak wrote:

> Madhusudan Singh wrote:
....
>> 3. Ability to install NVIDIA drivers (card - GeForce2 MX). I have
>> read that
>> Slackware 10 has changed from xfree to xorg. What changes does this
>> entail ? Do XF86Config-4 files work with xorg ? Why the change ?
>
> I have an NVidia TNT card. Downloaded the drivers from nvidia.com,

It won't be necessary to download anything with a GeForce2 MX. Mine is
working out of the box.

I did have to touch /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
----------------------------------------
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
-----------------------------------------
which has nothing to do with the display, of course. That's here:
------------------------------------------
Section "Device"
### Available Driver options are:-
### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
### [arg]: arg optional
#Option "SWcursor" # [<bool>]
#Option "HWcursor" # [<bool>]
#Option "NoAccel" # [<bool>]
#Option "ShadowFB" # [<bool>]
#Option "UseFBDev" # [<bool>]
#Option "Rotate" # [<str>]
#Option "VideoKey" # <i>
#Option "FlatPanel" # [<bool>]
#Option "FPDither" # [<bool>]
#Option "CrtcNumber" # <i>
Identifier "Card1"
Driver "nv"
VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
BoardName "NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400]"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
------------------------------------------------------

Written by Patrick Volkerding, thank you very much. :-)
(or by his configuration script ;-) )

It's not like Slack 2.1!

Cheers!
Rich

On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 18:27:53 -0400,
Madhusudan Singh <spammers-go-here@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> 1. A good package management tool (I know few things can approach apt-get,
> but something close would be fine).

There are a few automated package management tools around. Two are
swaret and slapt-get.

> 2. Ability to install IFC (Intel Fortran Compiler).

What's the problem with installation?

> Do XF86Config-4 files work with xorg ?

Yes, you can rename your XF86Config to xorg.conf.

> Why the change ?

<http://wombat.san-francisco.ca.us/faqomatic/cache/121.html>

> 4. How different is the configuration file structure from Debian / RH ?

The most major difference is the directory structure of the init
scripts. Debian/RH use a SystemV based structure (IIRC), while Slackware
follows a BSD style. init scripts are found under /etc/rc.d/ in
Slackware.

> 5. Stable KDE packages (perhaps a heretical question - questioning the
> stability of Slackware, but KDE is perhaps not the choice of uber geeks).

Slackware uses stable-release KDE packages, AFAIK.

--
Mark Hill <mrhill@gmail.com>
Email: echo zbp.yvnzt.yyvuez | rot13 | rev | sed s/\\./@/

On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 18:27:53 -0400, Madhusudan Singh wrote:

> Anyways, I am nearly decided that Slackware is the way to go. I however
> need the following features :
>
> 1. A good package management tool (I know few things can approach apt-get,
> but something close would be fine).

Swaret works, but the best package manager is the ADMIN tool. It's the
only truly intelligent package manager out there, solving all problems on
it's own, and

> 2. Ability to install IFC (Intel Fortran Compiler).

If that works on one linux distro, it should work on another. I've never
tried though, so I don't know.

> 3. Ability to install NVIDIA drivers (card - GeForce2 MX). I have read that
> Slackware 10 has changed from xfree to xorg. What changes does this
> entail ? Do XF86Config-4 files work with xorg ? Why the change ?

At this point, no real difference, other than licensing.
In the future, expect Xorg to develop much faster, picking up more new
features (like alpha transparency, etc).

NVidia drivers work fine.

> 4. How different is the configuration file structure from Debian / RH ? I
> plan to install hostap etc. for my internal LAN so I need to know this.

I don't know, but they should be similar. I think there's an LSB standard.

> 5. Stable KDE packages (perhaps a heretical question - questioning the
> stability of Slackware, but KDE is perhaps not the choice of uber geeks).

IME, they're stable enough, but it's not my main WM.

> 6. For reasons beyond my control, I have to run Losedoze XP on a different
> partition. Is the process of running a dual boot system in any way
> different than it is with other distros (I have done it plenty of times, so
> I know how to do it)?

Nope. No problems at all. If I remember correctly, the installer may have
set it up automatically for dual boot for me (but that was a while ago, so
don't trust me)

> 7. Are there some patches I can add to the kernels I will compile which
> could harden the installation against intrusion, etc ?

Yep, if you download the kernel sources and patch them.
Slackware uses a vanilla kernel.org kernel, as far as I remember, so all
you have to do is patch, bring over/make a .config of your liking, compile
and install.

> I might have more questions later.
>
> Thanks.

On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 23:48:34 +0000, Rich Grise wrote:

<snip>
> Driver "nv"
> VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
> BoardName "NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400]"
> BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
> EndSection
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> Written by Patrick Volkerding, thank you very much. :-)
> (or by his configuration script ;-) )
>
> It's not like Slack 2.1!
>
> Cheers!
> Rich

Looking at the driver, it's the 'nv' driver, not the 'nvidia' driver
(which comes packaged as a binary driver from nvidia.com), and I'm
supposing what the OP wanted to install.

The binary driver, while IME less stable, is much faster at 3d (not sure,
but I think I read somewhere that the nv driver has no 3d accel?)

Rich Grise wrote:

> I can't answer this - I've tried Redmond^H^H^HHat, and couldn't find any
> configuration files.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Thanks for the good laugh!

Niki
--
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one frequently goes ranting on and on at
ball-breaking length. (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,
first draft)

Ori Bernstein wrote:

> On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 23:48:34 +0000, Rich Grise wrote:
>
> <snip>
>> Driver "nv"
>> VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
>> BoardName "NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400]"
>> BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
>> EndSection
>> ------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Written by Patrick Volkerding, thank you very much. :-)
>> (or by his configuration script ;-) )
>>
>> It's not like Slack 2.1!
>>
>> Cheers!
>> Rich
>
> Looking at the driver, it's the 'nv' driver, not the 'nvidia' driver
> (which comes packaged as a binary driver from nvidia.com), and I'm
> supposing what the OP wanted to install.
>
> The binary driver, while IME less stable, is much faster at 3d (not sure,
> but I think I read somewhere that the nv driver has no 3d accel?)

I have no idea; what I have (afaik all defaults) is giving me 2048x1536
on the 20" monitor, and the best that Doze will do is 1600x1200. I have
no clue about 3D acceleration, although I might be getting into learning
about it before very long - I've undertaken a task to learn OpenCascade
and write a little drafting thing.

I am happy.

Cheers!
Rich

On Sat, 07 Aug 2004 18:27:53 -0400, Madhusudan Singh wrote:

> Hi
>
> I recently got a DSL link, and have decided that it is time to finally
> replace the aging RH 9 on my firewall / server / desktop with something
> newer - slackware.
>
> Perhaps to complicate things, I have installed Debian on one of my laptops
> and the experience with apt-get has probably spoilt my habits I do not
> know which people claimed that RH was more user friendly than Sarge, but it
> was a load of _____.
>
> Anyways, I am nearly decided that Slackware is the way to go. I however
> need the following features :
>
> 1. A good package management tool (I know few things can approach apt-get,
> but something close would be fine).
> 2. Ability to install IFC (Intel Fortran Compiler).
> 3. Ability to install NVIDIA drivers (card - GeForce2 MX). I have read that
> Slackware 10 has changed from xfree to xorg. What changes does this
> entail ? Do XF86Config-4 files work with xorg ? Why the change ?
> 4. How different is the configuration file structure from Debian / RH ? I
> plan to install hostap etc. for my internal LAN so I need to know this.
> 5. Stable KDE packages (perhaps a heretical question - questioning the
> stability of Slackware, but KDE is perhaps not the choice of uber geeks).
> 6. For reasons beyond my control, I have to run Losedoze XP on a different
> partition. Is the process of running a dual boot system in any way
> different than it is with other distros (I have done it plenty of times, so
> I know how to do it)?
> 7. Are there some patches I can add to the kernels I will compile which
> could harden the installation against intrusion, etc ?
>
> I might have more questions later.
>
> Thanks.

3. Nvidia drivers work fine, i am running slack 10 with the same card with
no issues
6. Dual booting is the same (well i use lilo, but its the same with lilo)