Zenwalk (formerly known as Minislack) is a Slackware based distribution. Don't let its previous name fool you: Zenwalk is more like Slackware than some of the Slackware-driven pendrive distributions, such as SLAX. In the right circumstances, there are major advantages to using Zenwalk over Slackware (or SLAX).

I published a review on the new Slackware 13.0, which I really didn’t like for numerous reasons. However, I did a search for Slackware based distros, to see whether the base ideas could be built upon. Slackware itself is higly stable and customisable, but maybe another developer could mix these attributes with usability.

SLAX is a minuscule version of the well-known Slackware Linux distribution. It is a LiveCD operating system that does not need to be installed on a computer’s hard drive as it can boot and run from either a USB or a CD drive. There is also an option to run SLAX from RAM. It is now time to take a microscopic look at this tiny distro. But first, some SLAX facts...

Slackware and some Linux distributions based on Slackware don't include GDM and don't have a graphical tool to set language and locale on the fly. However, if you're willing to edit one or two configuration files and install a few packages you can make Slackware speak your language, working in whatever language you are most comfortable with.

Despite this claim ease of use is something Slackware is just not known for. Even with improvements in Slackware 13.0 I still don't think there is anything easy about this distro for anyone other than advanced, experienced users who are extremely comfortable on the command line and with editing configuration files by hand.

Slackware Linux is still going strong. The Slackware Linux Project released Slackware 13.1 on May 24th.This is just a little by shy of the 17th anniversary of Slackware 1.0 and not quite a year after Slackware 13.0. Delve back into yesteryear with me; you're in for a treat.

Slackware is one of the few distros still in existence from Linux’s early days, right along with Debian, SuSE, and Red Hat. Because of this decision to keep things as UNIX-like as possible, Slackware has a reputation for being somewhat difficult to install and confusing to use.

Zenwalk has always had the reputation as being a distro for the more seasoned Linux user, with the release of Zenwalk 6 Gnome, has this changed? Has this Slackware based distro taken the route of Ubuntu? Short answer – not really, but then why should it?

Well folks, it's that time to announce a new stable Slackware release again. So, without further ado, announcing Slackware version 12.1!