Why thou shouldest use Slackware 14.2 in 2025

By the time I am writing this, Slackware 14.2 is a nine-year-old Linux distro (it was released in 2016). Nevertheless, I use it in 2025, and I am pretty sure it is the most time-proof Linux distro out there.

So, first, why am I using it?

To start, I would like thee to look at my desktop:


Thou hast probably not seen such a picture in years. Yes, this is KDE 4.14, running on kernel 4.4.14, and this is a 32-bit operating system (running on a 64-bit computer).

I like KDE 4. It is by no means the most beautiful desktop Linux has ever had; I call it the Windows Vista of Linux. It has so much transparency (or: aero), glow, lights, that noble silver theme (oxygen), the customisability.
By default the KDE 4 desktop displayeth nothing. For newcomers it may be confusing: where is my desktop? But once thou catches it, it is really good.

Thou canst not just one desktop. Thou canst add multiple "bubbles", where each can show a different folder on thy computer. And each of them is scrollable, so there is no running out of physical space, unlike on any other desktop.

KDE 4 was just so ahead of its time. So beautiful, yet so practical. So high and noble.

KDE 5 just hath not the same vibe, the icons thereof are flat and boring, and the transparency is gone.
And KDE 6 looketh just like Windows 11, which meaneth that it looketh like nothing in particular.
That floating panel is just useless. I would understand a dock like certain DEs have, but who needs a panel that just hideth when a window cometh out?

Asides from the desktop, the other reason is that Slack 14.2 is independent of the internet.
Thou canst install Slack from a DVD (or, if thou feel particularly retro, thou mayest use a full set of CDs to get the job done), and the distro hath not a centralised package manager like APT in Debian or DNF in Fedora.
In Slack thou art supposed to build packages for thyself, and SlackBuilds.Org just helps thee to do that.
There is no dependency handling that would criple thee, just do whatever thou wantest. That's the ultimate freedom.
Thou canst also for example put all the packages thou usest onto a DVD for offline use, or whatever.


But why am I talking about that? Isn't the internet just a fact?

Well, not exactly. At least, not long-term. In Europe, our benevolent and inerrant rulers can shut the internet down at any time, because Elon.
And even if they won't, power outages will do the job. More wind energy = more outages, and as there be more and more wind energy, there will be more outages and less actual energy, that meaneth, less time to access the internet.

But let's assume that thou livest in America, and carest not about our European affairs.
There is still the problem of things getting shut down. Let's say that thou usest a program, and then it getteth discontinued, and in a few years there are no more copies of that program to be found on the internet. But with an internet-proof system, it is not a problem, since thou hast a copy of that program on a physical medium.

Owning is better than borrowing, and using online servers to download software, or to do anything is unreliable.
I had such a situation where I was watching a film with my family. It was quite long, so we did watch it in the span of several days, and in the middle thereof, it got deleted from YouTube, because of course it did.
And had I not downloaded it onto a DVD before, we would have no way to continue watching it.

That is why I am archiving pretty much everything. I archive websites, videos, films, movies, software, etc, and I do that on actual physical media, that is: CDs, DVDs, and SuperDisk floppies.

Yeah, this article is unfinished, but who careth?