Up to now, i have been using Slackware-current, which is a normal slackware distribution which has been equipped with the latest packages in -current tree. Normally, every new packages will be placed in -current tree first and soon, it will be available on the next Slackware release. There are two reason for Pat to do this. First, it won’t broke the stable system, as new packages tends to changes things by adding new features or removing old and deprecated APIs. This is anticipated by not putting the packages in -stable tree, which is intended for production system which need stability more than bleeding-edge packages. Pat will put it also in -stable tree if it is considered a security fix. The second reason is that it can be tested heavily with newer packages also, so most of the functionality should work for next release. After six months or so, it will be released as a new Slackware release (which should be Slackware 11.0 for the next release if there is no changes on the naming). I have seen the trend that Pat will release Slackware 11 soon. If you look on -current changelog, you will see that the bin packages has a new name,
a/bin-11.0-i486-1.tgz

My basic distro was 10.1 and then i tried to follow the -current tree as i like the bleeding-edge packages. There are advantage and also disadvantage of using -current tree. The advantage is that you will get the latest package with more function. One great example of this is KDE 3.5.x which is not being available on -stable tree but available in -current tree. Another advantage is that you don’t need to upgrade when new release is available, since you have been using the same packages.

The disadvantage is some of the packages need more testing and configuration to make it stable and it takes efforts to do that. I like to compile my own kernel now and to tune it as good as possible, i have to try for several times until i got the ideal (ideal, not perfect, as there is no perfect configuration) configuration for my machine. Other disadvantage is that it will change some configuration on your system, so you MUST read  the changelog first before you start upgrading your packages. It can broke your system if you are not aware of that.

If you are looking for supports, there is an official Slackware forum at LinuxQuestions. You can also join Indonesian Linux Forum where i became a moderator there. If you are new to Slackware, i recommend that you should read Slackbook first.

Happy Slacking from Slacker

I almost forgot that i had this blog, as i always update my other blog at Blogger. I noticed that my last post on this blog was on November 2005, almost four months ago. But now it’s updated, even though it will not be as often as the other blog, since i prefer to update the other blog rather this one. I have got some several reason for this, but i will not publish it.

Maybe it’s best if you update your bookmark link to my official blog rather this one. Perhaps i will not update this blog anymore (or perhaps i will delete this blog)

Finally i had a change to update my Friendster’s profile. It’s based on CSS, so everyone can edit the layout if  they know how to write CSS Code. The only problem is that you have to know the structure of FS. You can view the source, but it will be quite difficult, so you can use EditFriendster to generate the code after selecting the color. Mine is as the same with David’s because i tried before and it has different output (i tried it offline and when i put it online, everything was messed up). For now, i copied David’s template and i’ll adjust it in my spare time (usually in mourning). For now, i have put a nice Tux picture and also i changed my name into my full name using image. Just see them in my profile.

As usual, after working all days long for five days, it’s weekend time and should be celebrated. We (me and some of my office staffs) will have a breakfast tommorrow and we will have our first QnAp League, which will be played at someone’s house (i don’t know for sure yet). We will have Winning Eleven 9 as our primary game

Have a nice weekend everybody

I’ve been in QnAp Asia for three weeks and it was fun to work here. We have great software engineers and also fun environments, so it’s very fun and enjoyable. We always had lunch together, have our own conference, even though we were in the same room, and any other funny jokes

As i hva been accepted in QnAP Asia, i will start working there at October 2005 and in the meantime, i will have to start packing and preparing all the stuffs that i should bring to Jakarta. It will be 2 busy weeks but i’m glad, because my status is not an unemployeed again. I will work as a junior software engineer along with the other partners in QnAP Asia.

Yesterday, UKDWNet Club held an open house for the new students. It was so crowded and we have to split it into three sessions. The response was great and i hope it will last longer. Some of them have registered, but some haven’t. We should start looking a better way to attract them to join UKDWNet Club and start the annual event that we did in the past.

Since i became a practical assistant for Java Programming (OOP), i reopened my Core Java book again. It is somehow a little bit outdated, but it gives me a brief explanation about Java language, especially when it comes to OOP. I took many examples from this book to explain the concept of OOP in Java programming. It’s available on 2 edition, fundamental and advanced. I only used the fundamental as the text book, since i don’t have enough time to  explain all chapters in the fundamental (only 7 out of 12 chapters).

Thanks to the authors who wrote this great book.

Kernel 2.6.12.2 has landed into my laptop and it’s working with the upgraded WLAN module for my Centrino (1.0.4 has a compatibility problems with 2.6.12, so it’s recommended to upgrade to 1.0.6). Don’t forget to install the 80211 sub system also, because it was needed by the IPW2200 driver.

MySQL 4.1.12 has also landed smoothly in my laptop. My desktop will follow when i got home. Trouble existed, but it has already solved