What I wrote in Slackware Diary – 3 about keeping Slackware up to date is not correct:
slackpkg update gpg slackpkg update
Does not do the job. A closer look at told me that I had to also run
# slackpkg install-new # slackpkg upgrade-all # slackpkg clean-system
By default, Windows assumes that the local system clock is set to local time, and updates it accordingly. Ubuntu Linux assumes that the clock is running UTC (essentially Greenwich Mean Time) and will update it on that assumption. Since it knows your location (you specified it at installation, and hopefully updated it when you moved) it will display the correct local time just like windows.
The problem comes when you have a dual boot (Linux and Windows) system. When you reboot from one OS into the other the new OS will assume the system clock is behaving according its own rules, even though the other OS was following its rules. To fix this:
I noted in Slackware Diary that I had installed Free42 under Slackware. As I wrote in 2006 I fell in love with HP calculators and their RPN notation back in the 1970s, and still find the conventional algebraic notation rather awkward. I no longer carry a physical calulator, but I have Free42 installed on my phone and my tablet, and on my Windows systems. Now I also have it on Slackware. So I circled back to see if I could install in on Ubuntu.
Following up from last time:
gmcdavid@Tyrone:~$ flatpak uninstall com.visualstudio.code gmcdavid@Tyrone:~$ flatpak uninstall com.visualstudio.code-oss
I was prompted for the root password. I may come back to Flatpak on Slackware, but for now on to some other installations….
Continuing from Slackware Diary – 1
Fixed the prompt by copying .bashrc and .profile (renamed as .bash_profile) from my primary Ubuntu system. This works and I have nice color prompts in Slackware. Need to see if I have scripts from my previous Slackware days to add environment variables, aliases, etc. Life in Slackware means a lot of time on the command line.
The next task on my list was to install Flatpak so I could use apps from Flathub
Back in February I looked at the Slackware Linux web site. After years of working with Ubuntu, and occasionally its parent Debian, I decided to see if I could install Slackware and get it to work. I used it a lot in the first years of the current century. Could I still manage it now, or had the comforts of the Ubuntu installation process dulled my edge? From Slackware 15 – The old brigade:
Slackware is deployed using an ncurses interface, with a set of menus where you must make intelligent choices, including partitioning and package selection. And then, there’s LILO the bootloader. Not GRUB, mind! Feels a bit daunting, but then, if you’re careful and methodical, there should be no issues. That said, the approach automatically precludes Slackware from being a typical desktop choice, as most people would have no idea what to do with the installer.
Many years ago I used Slackware Linux. I switched to Ubuntu because I was concerned that Slackware seemed to be essentially a one man show, and that seemed like a single point of failure. But Slackware was good to me, and I have not forgotten it. Recently Slackware came out with a new and up to date release and I am looking at it again.
The web site looks much like what I remember from 15-20 years ago. That is OK with me, although I would like to see some more current content. I decided to download the Slackware book in its pdf form. Firefox just hung when I went to that page. However, I noticed that it was an ftp site, not http. 20 years ago I was accustomed to accessing ftp sites using ftp tools, not web browsers. So I guessed that this was what once known as an anonymous ftp site, and that such sites could be accessed with the ftp command line. Feeling like Gandalf recalling a thousand year old spell, I opened a Linux terminal window and proceeded to type:
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 