1. Getting Linux from Other Online Sources
If you have access to another computer network such as CompuServe or Prodigy, there may be a means to download the Linux software from these sources. In addition, many bulletin board (BBS) systems carry Linux software. A list of Linux BBS sites is given in Appendix D. Not all Linux distributions are available from these computer networks, however—many of them, especially the various CD-ROM distributions, are only available via mail order.
If you have access to another computer network such as CompuServe or Prodigy, there may be a means to download the Linux software from these sources. In addition, many bulletin board (BBS) systems carry Linux software. A list of Linux BBS sites is given in Appendix D. Not all Linux distributions are available from these computer networks, however—many of them, especially the various CD-ROM distributions, are only available via mail order.
2. Getting Linux via mail order
If you don’t have Internet or BBS access, many Linux distributions are available via mail order on diskette,
tape, or CD-ROM. Appendix B lists a number of these distributors. Many of them accept credit cards as well as international orders, so if you’re not in the United States or Canada you still should be able to obtain Linux in this way.
Linux is free software, although distributors are allowed by the GPL to charge a fee for it. Therefore, ordering Linux via mail order might cost you between US$30 and US$150, depending on the distribution. However, if you know someone who has already purchased or downloaded a release of Linux, you are free to borrow or copy their software for your own use. Linux distributors are not allowed to restrict the license or redistribution of the software in any way. If you are thinking about installing an entire lab of machines with Linux, for example, you only need to purchase a single copy of one of the distributions, which can be used to install all of the machines.
3. Getting Slackware
Slackware is a popular distribution of Linux maintained by Patrick Volkerding. It is easy to install and fairly
complete, and may be obtained both from the Internet as well as on CD-ROM from a number of vendors (see Appendix B).
The Slackware distribution consists of a number of “disk sets”, each one containing a particular type of software (for example, the d disk set contains development tools such as the gcc compiler, and the x disk set
contains the X Window System software). You can elect to install whatever disk sets you like, and can install
new ones later.
The version of Slackware described here is 2.0.0, of 25 June 1994. Installation of later versions of Slackware should be very similar to the information given here :
Slackware Disk Sets
Unfortunately, Slackware does not maintain a complete list of diskspace requirements for each disk set. You need at least 7 megabytes to install just the “A” series of disks; a very rough estimate of the required diskspace would be 2 or 2.5 megabytes per disk.
The following disk sets are available:
A = The base system. Enough to get up and running and have elvis and comm programs available. Based around the 1.0.9 Linux kernel, and the new filesystem standard (FSSTND). These disks are known to fit on 1.2M disks, although the rest of Slackware won’t. If you have only a 1.2M floppy, you can still install the base system, download other disks you want and install them from your hard drive.
AP = Various applications and add ons, such as the manual pages, groff, ispell (GNU and international versions), term, joe, jove, ghostscript, sc, bc, and the quota patches.
D = Program development. GCC/G++/Objective C 2.5.8, make (GNU and BSD), byacc and GNU bison, flex, the 4.5.26 C libraries, gdb, kernel source for 1.0.9, SVGAlib, ncurses, clisp, f2c, p2c, m4, perl, rcs.
E = GNU Emacs 19.25.
F = A collection of FAQs and other documentation.
I = Info pages for GNU software. Documentation for various programs readable by info or Emacs.
N = Networking. TCP/IP, UUCP, mailx, dip, deliver, elm, pine, smail, cnews, nn, tin, trn.
O = OP Object Oriented Programming. GNU Smalltalk 1.1.1, and the Smalltalk Interface to X (STIX).
Q = Alpha kernel source and images (currently contains Linux 1.1.18).
TCL = Tcl, Tk, TclX, blt, itcl.
Y = Games. The BSD games collection, and Tetris for terminals.
X = The base XFree86 2.1.1 system, with libXpm, fvwm 1.20, and xlock added.
XAP = X applications: X11 ghostscript, libgr13, seyon, workman, xfilemanager, xv 3.01, GNU chess and xboard, xfm 1.2, ghostview, and various X games.
XD = X11 program development. X11 libraries, server linkkit, PEX support.
XV = Xview 3.2 release 5. XView libraries, and the Open Look virtual and non-virtual window managers.
IV = Interviews libraries, include files, and the doc and idraw apps.
OI = ParcPlace’s Object Builder 2.0 and Object Interface Library 4.0, generously made available for Linux developers according to the terms in the ”copying” notice found in these directories. Note that these only work with libc-4.4.4, but a new version may be released once gcc 2.5.9 is available.
T = The TEX and LATEX text formatting systems.
You must get the “A” disk set; the rest are optional. We suggest installing the A, AP, and D sets, as well as the X set if you plan to run the X Window System.
Continue : Slackware From Internet
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