Slackware: The Complete Guide

Slackware is the oldest Linux distribution that is still maintained. Patrick Volkerding put out its first beta in April 1993, a few months before Debian was started, and he still leads it today. It is independent, it boots with plain shell scripts instead of systemd, and its package tools install exactly what you tell them to, with no automatic dependency handling.

This page is the starting point for everything tuxai.dev has published about Slackware. It explains how the distribution works, which version to install, who it suits, and where each of our guides fits. All versions, dates and counts below were checked on 14 October 2026 against slackware.com, the official mirror and its ChangeLog files, docs.slackware.com and slackbuilds.org.

Slackware at a glance

Slackware guides on tuxai.dev

If you have never run Slackware, start with the install guide. The second guide covers how you add software afterwards, and the third follows the development of the next release.

What makes Slackware different?

Slackware is different because it changes very little and hides nothing. Most distributions add layers that configure the system for you. Slackware gives you text files, shell scripts and a set of small tools, and expects you to read them. The project describes its goal, since that first 1993 beta, as being the most "UNIX-like" Linux distribution.

Four things set it apart:

1. No automatic dependency resolution. installpkg installs the package you name and nothing else. If a program needs a library you left out, it simply fails to start. The documentation on docs.slackware.com presents this as a choice: the administrator decides what is on the system, not a resolver.
2. A full install is the normal install. Because nothing pulls in missing pieces, the install notes recommend installing every package set if you have the space, about 16 GB. That way every official package has what it needs from day one. Partial installs work, but you take on the job of tracking what depends on what.
3. BSD-style init. At boot, init reads /etc/inittab and runs scripts from /etc/rc.d, starting with rc.S. A service runs if its script is executable. To disable one, you remove the execute bit. There are no unit files and no journal. Slackware ships elogind, the login manager taken out of systemd, so desktops that expect logind still work.
4. A long, unhurried history. Version numbers jumped from 4.0 to 7.0 in 1999, and since then the project has released when the work was done rather than on a calendar. The official FAQ says it does not speculate on release dates. The gap between 14.2 (June 2016) and 15.0 (February 2022) was more than five years.

Packages themselves are compressed tar archives with a small description file and an optional install script. You can open one with ordinary tools and see every file it will put on disk.

How do you install software on Slackware?

Official packages come from the mirror through slackpkg, and everything else is usually built from a SlackBuild. Our SlackBuilds guide covers both in depth. The short version for keeping a system current, taken from the slackpkg manual:

# first time only: uncomment one mirror in /etc/slackpkg/mirrors
slackpkg update        # download the current package lists
slackpkg install-new   # add packages that joined the official tree
slackpkg upgrade-all   # upgrade everything installed to the mirror version

slackpkg also has a clean-system action that removes every package not in the official set. Read the prompt carefully before you confirm it: on a machine with software you built yourself, it will offer to remove that too unless you blacklist it.

For software outside the official tree, slackbuilds.org hosts build scripts reviewed by its volunteers. You download the script, fetch the source it lists, run it as root and install the result with installpkg. The site does not ship binary packages and does not resolve dependencies. Its FAQ explains that each script's .info and README files name what it needs, and you build those first. If you are used to apt or pacman, our comparison of Linux package managers shows how different this is.

Stable 15.0 or -current?

Install Slackware 15.0 unless you need software or hardware support it cannot give you. It still receives security patches several times a week, its install DVD is the official one, and slackbuilds.org writes and tests its scripts against it. Its FAQ says -current is not supported, although scripts should generally work there.

The cost of 15.0 is age. It is a 2022 release with a 5.15 kernel and KDE Plasma 5. -current moved to Plasma 6 on 15 June 2026 and to the Linux 7.x series on 21 September 2026, and on 5 September 2026 every package was rebuilt with GCC 16.2.0 and glibc 2.44.

• Choose 15.0 for a server, a work machine, or your first Slackware install.
• Choose -current if your hardware needs a recent kernel, you want Plasma 6, or you want to help test 16.0. Read the ChangeLog before every update, because it is where Volkerding explains changes that need action from you.

The ISO folder on the official mirror has no -current DVD. You can install 15.0 and then point slackpkg at a -current mirror, running install-new before upgrade-all. To look before you commit, liveslak.org, the Live Edition that slackware.com links to, says a -current live ISO is generated after every ChangeLog update.

Where does Slackware 16.0 stand?

Slackware 16.0 is being built in -current, but on 14 October 2026 it had no release date and no official test label. The ChangeLog shows the steps so far: the full rebuild with the new toolchain on 5 September, the kernel moving to 7.2 on 21 September, and the base package version bumped to 16.0 on 29 September. The ARM port's site already calls this preparation for the next stable release, 16.0.

For comparison, the 15.0 cycle was labelled clearly in the same log. A "15.0-alpha1" note appeared on 15 February 2021, beta followed in April 2021, the first release candidate on 16 August 2021, and the third and final one on 12 January 2022, three weeks before release. When the 16.0 cycle reaches the same points, the ChangeLog is where it will be said first. Our Slackware 16 news piece follows those changes.

Is Slackware right for you?

Slackware suits people who want to understand every part of their system and do not mind doing the work themselves. It is a poor choice if you expect the system to fix missing pieces for you.

If you want another independent distribution with its own tools, our Void Linux page covers a newer take on the same idea, and the overview of independent Linux distributions puts Slackware next to the rest. To compare it with everything else, browse all Linux distros.

Troubleshooting Slackware: Common Questions

Is Slackware still maintained?

Yes. On 14 October 2026 both the 15.0 patches ChangeLog and the -current ChangeLog had new entries dated that day, and Patrick Volkerding still leads the project.

When is Slackware 16 coming out?

There is no date. Slackware does not announce release dates, and on 14 October 2026 -current carried the 16.0 version number but had not been labelled alpha, beta or release candidate. Watch the -current ChangeLog for those notes.

Does Slackware use systemd?

No. Slackware boots with sysvinit and BSD-style scripts in /etc/rc.d. It includes elogind, a standalone copy of systemd's login manager, so desktops that depend on logind work without systemd.

How do I install software on Slackware?

Use slackpkg for official packages and SlackBuilds from slackbuilds.org for the rest, then install the built package with installpkg. Check each SlackBuild's .info file for dependencies and build those first. The SlackBuilds guide walks through it.

Is Slackware good for beginners?

Not as a first Linux system. Nothing in it is hard to understand, but it expects you to partition disks, edit configuration files and track dependencies yourself. With some Linux experience it is one of the clearest ways to learn how the system fits together.

Why does a program fail with a missing library error?

Usually because a package it needs was not installed. This is the most common problem after a partial install. Install the missing package from the official tree with slackpkg, or install the full set of packages as the install notes recommend.

How do I enable or disable a service?

Set or remove the execute bit on its script in /etc/rc.d. For example, chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd enables the SSH server at boot and chmod -x /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd disables it.

Sources

• slackware.com: home page (15.0 announcement), General Information, General FAQ, System Init and Packages
• Slackware64 -current ChangeLog and Slackware64 15.0 ChangeLog
• Slackware 15.0 README.TXT, RELEASE_NOTES and Slackware-HOWTO
• PACKAGES.TXT for 15.0 and -current, and the ISO listing on the official mirror
• The slackpkg manual page, from the slackpkg source in -current
• Package management on docs.slackware.com
• SlackBuilds.org: home, HOWTO, FAQ and the 15.0 SLACKBUILDS.TXT
• Slackware ARM / AArch64 project news
• liveslak.org, Slackware Live Edition downloads
• A Brief History of Debian, for Debian's start in August 1993