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Add to SafariWhen comparing Slackware vs PCLinuxOS, the Slant community recommends Slackware for most people. In the question“What are the best Linux distributions for desktops?” Slackware is ranked 5th while PCLinuxOS is ranked 38th. The most important reason people chose Slackware is:
Uses stable, plain-vanilla packages from upstream.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Stable
Uses stable, plain-vanilla packages from upstream.
Pro Strong adherence to UNIX Principals
Pro Ideal to learn more of Linux
Follows the original Linux roots. It still sees Linux as a free clone of UNIX so the distribution tries to be UNIX-like.
Pro Package management
Uses standard tar archives with shell scripting as packages.
Pro One more distro which is init based
Some users don't like to install systemd based distros because they increase booting and processing speed.
Pro Oldest surviving Linux distro
Besides Debian (which was first released in August 1993), it is the oldest still maintained Linux Distribution and was first released in July 1993.
Pro Super fast
Pro No systemd
Pro Rolling release
The distribution is continually updated, so there's no need to install OS upgrades by hand.
Pro Stable
PCLinuxOS is designed around stability.
Pro Multiple desktops available
Mate, LXDE, and KDE desktops are available.
Pro Can remaster the boot DVD
PCLinuxOS has built in tools for remastering bootable DVD into a copy of current install.
Pro Excellent hardware compatibility
Comes with nVidia drivers out of the box. Important if the PC has an nVidia chipset. Most Debian based distros don't have nVidia drivers available at install time.
LXDE version works well with older hardware.
Cons
Con Not user-friendly
It is made to be KISS (keep it simple, stupid), so you have to do everything by hand.
Con Large size live ISO
One needs to vain 3GB+ data for downloading one slackware ISO.
Con Narrow repos
Doesn't offer the same amount of options as other distros do.
Con Niche/small community
Slackware is its own niche and has a small community.
Con Very slow release cycle
Hasn't updated in 3+ years.
Con Dependency issues
When it comes to dependencies, Slackware shows more issues than many other distros.
Con Installation fails most of the time, error messages, and hard to go to full screen in virtual box
Con Uses RPM packaging system
Uses the RPM packaging system with APT, rather than the more popular DEB packages.
