Tuesday, June 22, 2004   @   9:50:10 AM Central Standard Time

ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-current/RELEASE_NOTES

Slackware 10.0 release notes.  Mon Jun 21 23:54:30 PDT 2004

Hi everyone,

This is Slackware 10.0, the third release of Slackware based on gcc3.
Many things have been fixed and improved, but here are a few of the
major changes:

The installer utilizes the 2.4.26 kernel (this still provides the
best
performance on my own machines, and is also safer for partitioning
hard drives).  If you want to upgrade to the 2.6.7 kernel it is also
included and the system will fully support it.  See the README.initrd
file in the testing/packages/linux-2.6.7/ directory for directions on
upgrading the system to use 2.6.7 (or better yet, make it an
alternate
boot choice).

GCC was upgraded to version 3.3.4, with version 3.4.0 in the /testing
directory (because some source code out there is not yet compatible
with
gcc-3.4.0, but this is changing fast).

Slackware now includes Sun's Java(TM) 2 Software Development Kit
Standard
Edition, Version 1.4.2_04 (thanks to Sun's redistribution license).

The default sound system is now ALSA (the Advanced Linux Sound
Architecture), which is also the default sound system in the
Linux 2.6.x kernel.  If you wish to use OSS instead, the modules are
still available, but you'll need to remove the packages beginning
with
alsa- and remove the OSS modules from /etc/hotplug/blacklist.

Both CUPS and LPRng are supported as printing systems.  A number of
command locations (like /usr/bin/lpr) are shared by these programs,
and
whichever package (cups or lprng) is installed last will "own" these
symbolic links.  While both systems work no matter which way the
links
are pointed, if you plan to use a spooling system you'll probably
want
to do two things.  First, remove the one you're not going to use with
removepkg.  Next, reinstall the one you plan to use with installpkg.
This will make sure the links are set correctly, and get the tools
you
won't be using out of the way.

The system init files have been further streamlined while keeping
their number small and structure easy to understand.  IP addresses
and
other settings have been moved out of /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 into
/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf.  Most of the init scripts in /etc/rc.d that
control network and other services may be enabled or disabled by
setting
them executable (or not) with chmod, and a new menu in the installer
lets you choose the initial state for many of them.  If you want your
machine to come up on the network with no open ports at the first
boot,
that's easily possible.

There is improved Linux hotplugging support.  This takes over the job
of
configuring Cardbus cards (instead of pcmcia-cs, still used for
non-Cardbus
cards).  However, this means that if you're used to configuring your
card in
/etc/pcmcia/, you'll need to set it up elsewhere.  For example, the
old way
of configuring a Cardbus network card is by editing
/etc/pcmcia/network.opts.
Now you'll need to set up the IP in /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf (or by
running
"netconfig") instead.  To make matters more confusing, non-Cardbus PC
cards
continue to use /etc/pcmcia/network.opts!
   Even with the rough edges, the addition of Linux hotplug support is
a major,
major step forward.  In most cases this new subsystem can probe for
and detect
every piece of PCI, Cardbus, and USB hardware connected to the machine
and
automatically load all the correct kernel modules.  Very nice.  
NOTE:  if the hotplugging subsystem causes problems at boot time, it
can be
skipped by passing the kernel a "nohotplug" flag on the kernel command
line.
It is highly recommended to use hotplug if possible.  As more things
are
designed to use hotplug, trying to run without it becomes like trying
to
run with half a kernel (really, it is the user space portion of the
kernel
in many ways).  If enabling hotplug causes your machine to crash or
hang,
odds are that it's loading a kernel module that your system doesn't
agree
with.  If you can figure out which one it is (perhaps the logs will
help),
you'll be able to add it to /etc/hotplug/blacklist to prevent hotplug
from
trying to load it.  If you run into this and determine that a module
needs
to be listed, let me know so it can be considered here as well.

Speaking of PC card support, we're no longer using the driver modules
that
come with the pcmcia-cs sources and have moved to the ones included
with the
Linux kernel source.  Besides providing better PC card support, this
will
make things easier for people who like to keep up with the latest
kernels.

Wireless support is substantially better thanks to improved tools and
drivers (including the linux-wlan-ng driver for Prism2 cards in the
extra package collection), and Eric Hameleers work on supporting USB,
PCI,
and Cardbus wireless cards (/etc/rc.d/rc.wireless).

Support for USB keyboards is now integrated into the installer.  If
USB
device detection causes problems (it shouldn't), it may be skipped by
passing the kernel a "nousb" flag at boot.  In the event that the
keyboard
doesn't work right away when the install CD is booted, wait.  It will
boot automatically after two minutes without a keypress, and then the
kernel should find your keyboard.

Have fun!  

Pat Volkerding <volkerdi at slackware.com>

Message posted via:
=====================
www.linuxpackages.net/forum
www.linuxpackages.net
Expanding the world of Slackware
=====================


Robert (aka B_o_B) David Felix De Mars
Lat.  45:09n
Long. 93:18w
http://b-o-b.homelinux.com


_______________________________________________
TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
Help beta test TCLUG's potential new home: http://plone.mn-linux.org
Got pictures for TCLUG? Beta test http://plone.mn-linux.org/gallery
tclug-list at mn-linux.org
https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list