“If you ask a Slackware fan why she likes Slackware, she will
probably mention Slackware package management as one of the
features she likes. In what way does the Slackware package system
differ from most other package managers? In one word: simplicity.
In three articles I am going to cover some important aspects of
Slackware package management. In this article I am going to show
the anatomy of a Slackware packages. In part 2 and 3 I will cover
the package tools and the process of creating a Slackware
package.“Before getting into the details of Slackware packages I would
like to explain a few basic characteristics of Slackware packages.
These days most package managers are quite complex. For example,
the most important feature of many package managers is dependency
handling. This means that if a package requires other packages the
package manager will take care of installing them too. Most of the
times this works, but dependencies can get a bit annoying. For
example, if you install software that is not in the main
distribution, version numbering conflicts can arise. The Slackware
package tools do not handle dependencies. The means to handle
dependencies does not exist in the ‘format’ of Slackware packages
either. This can initially scare away users, but it is (at least in
my opinion) more flexible and provides more freedom. Since there is
no dependency management at all you are in control.“Well, what is a Slackware package…?”
Related Story:
Slackware.org:
Slackware Linux 8.1 Released(Jun 19, 2002)