Puppy Linux "Slacko" edition is an open source Linux distribution based on the avant-garde Slackware Linux operating system. It provides users with a minimalistic computing environment suitable for low-end machines and computers with old hardware components.
Distributed as Live CDs for PAE and non-PAE systems
It is distributed as two Live CD ISO images, one that supports the 32-bit PAE (Physical Address Extension) specification, and another one tailored for non-PAE x86 hardware platforms. Keep in mind that this distro is not suitable for 64-bit architectures.
Boot options
There is no boot menu on this edition of Puppy Linux and it has been designed to automatically boot the live environment in 5 seconds. However, experienced users can press the F3 key before the medium boots to access advanced help menu and set up specific boot options. On the other hand, novices should press the F2 key to access a basic help screen.
The live session will load in about 2 minutes on a low-end computer, and it will present users with a quick setup screen that allows them to configure the screen resolution, network interfaces, hostname, firewall, system language, hardware clock, as well as keyboard layout and num lock.
Simple and user-friendly desktop environment
The desktop is quite simple, providing users with a single taskbar on the bottom edge of the screen, from where they can access the main menu and launch applications, interact with the system tray area, switch between virtual workstations, and manage active applications.
Default applications include the Sylpheed email client, Mozilla Firefox web browser, Transmission torrent downloader, Pwsget download manager, gFTP FTP client, XChat IRC client, mtPaint image editor, Viewnior image viewer, InkLite vector editor, and ROX-Filer file manager.
Bottom line
Overall, Puppy Linux “Slacko” proved to be a very fast and optimized Linux operating system. We strongly recommend it to all of you who want to revive an old computer or laptop and don’t want to spend any money during the process.
What is new in this release:
- Latest bugfixes from upstream Slackware64 - 14.1
- NEW - 64 bit EUFI boot capability! It is designed to boot on any x86 computer but will only boot UEFI 64 bit computers (rare anyway)
- New kernels following LTS branches of 3 series built with f2fs support and 4 series kernels. The shipped kernel is 3.14.55
- New "change_kernels" script to easily change kernels
- Many Icon and Graphical User Interface improvements throughout the system.
- Ffmpeg and supporting programs including Pmusic and Mplayer.
- Joe's Window Manager (JWM).
- Visual and bugfix improvements to the tools to configure JWM, including the new PTheme, a global theme manager for JWM and ROX desktop
- Updated Firefox ESR
- Improvements to the graphical firewall program
- Samba, used to share files with Windows, is shipped by default
- evince pdf viewer
- Many other updated programs.
What is new in version 6.3.0:
- Updated "First Run" GUI with bugfixes and visual enhancements.
- New kernels following LTS branches of 3 series built with f2fs support and 4 series kernels. The shipped kernel is 4.1.11
- New "change_kernels" script to easily change kernels
- Many Icon and Graphical User Interface improvements throughout the system.
- Latest Ffmpeg and supporting programs including Pmusic and Mplayer.
- Updated Joe's Window Manager (JWM).
- Visual and bugfix improvements to the tools to configure JWM, including the new PTheme, a global theme manager for JWM and ROX desktop
- Updated Firefox and Abiword
- new graphical firewall program
- Samba, used to share files with Windows, is shipped by default
- replaced epdfview with evince pdf viewer
- Many other updated programs.
What is new in version 5.7:
- A significant development has been to redesign the pup_event_frontend_d daemon from a single script, to a modular format with a small compiled daemon
- Support for running Internet applications as user 'spot'. The original LoginManager has now become the Login and Security Manager
- QuickSetup now displays extra network configuration options
- A new IPC (InterProcess Communication) system based on inotify
- A long-time problem we had with overlapping desktop drive icons fixed
- Many more bug fixes and improvements
What is new in version 5.6:
- Improved SFS Manager
- Improved Updates Manager - to get the latest Slackware security fixes
- New kernels following LTS branches and either patched or already built with f2fs support
- Improved graphics support, with KMS and Mesa
- Proprietary video driver upgrades available for Nvidia and AMD/ATI graphics for new and legacy cards
- Ffmpeg-2.0 and supporting programs including Pmusic and Mplayer
- Abiword-2.9.4 and geany-1.23.1
- Sylpheed-3.3.0 for email
- Many other updated programs.
What is new in version 5.5:
- A gadzillion fixes and improvements
- Improved Multiple Sound Card Wizard
- Trash applet fixed
- Puppy Universal dd (Pudd) improved
- Full support for udf filesystem
- New top-level /run directory
- Preliminary support for f2fs (Flash Friendly File System)
- Infrastructure to support Frisbee network manager
- Major overhaul finding categories of packages
What is new in version 5.4:
- It's out! Slacko is one of our flagship puppies, built with the latest Woof from Slackware 14.0 binary packages. It is all-puppy right through, with the advantage of binary compatibility with Slackware 14.0 and access to the Slackware package repositories.
What is new in version 5.3.1:
- Slacko has had a very good reception, but as always there are things that can be improved, and Project Coordinator Mick Amadio has now released Slacko 5.3.1, a minor upgrade and bugfix release.
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