Slackware: Standard-bearer for Old-school Linux

On the first day the distribution gods created SLS and Yggdrasil and saw that it was good. However, Patrick Volkerding became convinced it could be better, so he created the Slackware distribution in 1993. Slackware is the oldest living Linux distribution. Linux devotees feel a certain nostalgia for Slackware based on that fact alone. Slackware is notable for its adherence to a number of community philosophies that have become less esteemed in recent years. Hark back: remember that before Linux there was UNIX (bow your heads) and the Unix banner proclaimed Live Free or Die. Slackware took up the banner, and still carries it, but many other distributions have laid it down. It has become apparent in recent years--some would say painfully--that  the most statistically popular distributions have chosen safety over freedom in an attempt to become more like Microsoft Windows. Some would say, god forbid. However, Slackware, besides being the standard-bearer for old-school Linux, remains the base for a  number of other distributions, most of which share a commitment to refrain from treating the user like he is something that must be saved from itself. Consider: many of the most popular distributions don't even install the gcc compiler. That is inconceivable.  A platform that was originally conceived for the creative has been replaced by one that targets the inept. If you want to know what a Linux distribution in a Unix tradition looks like, check out Slackware or one of its derivatives.