In addition to the documentation provided and installable with the Slackware Linux Operating System, there are a vast multitude of online resources available for you to learn from as well.
The Official Slackware Website
The Official Slackware Linux website is sometimes out of date, but still contains information relevant to the latest Slackware versions. At one time an active help forum existed there before a horde of trolls, troublemakers, and whiners descended on the forum. Maintaining the forum was beginning to be too much work, and so Pat shut it down. One can find that old forum back up and running complete with searchable archives of the old data at http://www.userlocal.com/phorum/.
After the forums were taken down on http://slackware.com, several other sites sprang up that offered forum support for Slackware. After much thought, Pat chose to endorse www.linuxquestions.org as the official forum for Slackware Linux.
Everyone who purchases an official CD set is entitled to free installation support via e-mail from the developer. That having been said, please keep in mind that we, the developers, (and a vast majority of users) of Slackware are of “The Old School”. That means that we prefer to help those who have a sincere interest and are willing to help themselves in the process. We will always do our best to help everyone who emails us with support questions. However, Please check your documentation and the website (especially the FAQs and maybe some of the forums listed below) before e-mailing. You may get a faster answer that way, and the less e-mail we have to answer, obviously the sooner we will be of assistance to those that need it.
The e-mail address for technical support is: [email protected]. Other e-mail addresses and contact information are listed on the website.
We have several mailing lists, available in digest and normal forms. Check the instructions for how to subscribe.
To subscribe to a mailing list, email:
with the phrase “subscribe [name of list]” in the body of the email. The list choices are described below (use one the names below for the name of the list).
Archives of the mailing list can be found on Slackware's website at:
http://slackware.com/lists/archive/
The slackware-announce mailing list is for announcements of new versions, major updates and other general information.
The slackware-security mailing list is for announcements relating to security issues. Any exploits or other vulnerabilities directly pertaining to Slackware will get posted to this list immediately.
These lists are also available in digest format. This means that you get one large message per day instead of several messages throughout the day. Since the slackware mailing lists do not allow users to post, and the lists are such low traffic, most users find little advantage in the digest lists. Still, they are available if you want them by subscribing to slackware-announce-digest or slackware-security-digest.
The Kung-Fu Master of Search Engines. When you absolutely, positively gotta find every last kernel of information on a subject: Accept no substitutes.
Linux-Specific searches
BSD-Specific searches. Slackware is so generic as a Unix work-a-like operating system that one can as often as not find very detailed information that is almost 100% relevant to Slackware here. Many times a BSD search reveals far more technical information than the often PR-related Linux searches.
Search through decades of Usenet posts for your pearls of wisdom.
A virtual treasure-trove of knowledge, good advice, first-hand experience and interesting articles. Often the first place you'll hear about new developments in the world of Slackware.
The officially sanctioned web-forum for Slackware users.
“A place to download and get help with Linux.”
Another FAQ
Usenet has long been a place for geeks to gather and help one another. There are few newsgroups dedicated to Slackware Linux, but they tend to be filled with very knowledgeable people.
alt.os.linux.slackware
alt.os.linux.slackware, better known as aols (not to be confused with AOL®!) is one of the most active places to find technical help with Slackware problems. Like every Usenet newsgroup, a few unhelpful participants (“trolls”) can mar the experience with constant arguing. Learning to ignore the trolls and identifying the truly helpful people is key to making the most of this resource.