Derivatives of Slackware Linux

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This section will discuss some of the derivatives of Slackware Linux. A derivative of Slackware Linux is an alternative Linux distribution that is based on but not identical to Slackware. Some of these derivatives are more closely related to Slackware than others.

SuSE Linux

SuSE Linux is distribution that is especially popular in Europe, though it also has as strong following in the U.S. SuSE is actually a commercial organization, like Red Hat or Caldera. SuSE Linux was originally derived from Slackware (and in fact, started out simply as a translation of Slackware in German), but as the company grew, they eventually created their own distribution from scratch, based on Red Hat's RPM package management tool. Today, SuSE Linux bears little resemblance to Slackware Linux.

Peanut Linux

Peanut Linux is a derivative of Slackware Linux that is similar in scope to ZipSlack, which was mentioned earlier in this chapter. That is, Peanut Linux is a small-footprint distribution that installs to only a few hundred megabytes, and so is useful in space-constrained environments. Peanut Linux is a good example of how Slackware's simplicity lets it be scaled up or down to the needs of a particular niche.

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