The state of Freenix / Freeslack, Slackware, and the *BSDs (and other contenders) in 2023.
I was a Linux distro hopper from 2009 to 2013, when I started mining Bitcoin. At that point, I was using Ubuntu and Arch Linux, mostly. However, I had trouble getting my mining rig to start automatically, and I eventually narrowed down the problem to a lag in systemd startup services. That turned me onto the entire systemd debate, which got me curious to try non-systemd distros. After trying several, I eventually settled into Slackware. They say, once you go Slack, you'll never go back. I've found that to be personally true. Ten years later, and I use Slackware exclusively on my machines. Is this still the best choice in 2023? Let's take a look.
I joined the Slackware community right before the 14.0 -> 14.1 update. I eventually found my way to Freeslack (now Freenix), and was running Freenix on a few compatible machines by the 14.2 era. I stayed on that for a few years, until 14.2 started to show it's age. I switched to the -current branch sometime in 2020 or 2021 in preparation for 15.0. There was no official Freenix 15.0 release, but it's realtively easy to convert a stock Slackware installation into a legitimate Freenix installation. In fact, I'm almost done writing a BASH script that does exactly that. More on that later...
Is this still the best choice? What are my other options? These can be loosely broken down into two categories: UNIX-like, and non-UNIX-like.
In the UNIX-like category, you have contenders such as Devuan, FreeBSD (and other *BSD varieties, my personal fave being DragonFlyBSD). However, with only one exception, most of these have some sort of package management. After ten years of not having to deal with package management on Slackware, I've gotten quite used to that notion, and now any sort of package management seems to work against me more than it helps me. As such, it's really only Slackware (and it's derivatives) that can offer me a package management-free experience. Even the *BSDs do some sort of package management. The one exception to this might be CRUX, which I find to be a very interesting distro. My attempts to run it have been much less successful than my Slackware installations, so I've stayed on Slackware up to this point.
In the non-Unix category, there's not much hope, really. 9front is not really usable with the modern web, although it is aesthetically pleasing in some sense. Haiku crashes often and is single-user only with a very weak security model. Anything else is too obscure to use day-to-day, and is more of a research OS, like KolibriOS, for example. I need something that will stay out of my way AND let me check my bank account, at the same time. When I think if it in those terms, Slackware stands out as the winner, every time.
Hardware is a completely different discussion, and deserves it's own post. For now, I'm sticking with a liberated Slackware in the spirit of Freenix/Freeslack, when the hardware permits it. Some hardware does not allow the Linux-Libre kernel to be run, but other than that, all the other non-free packages can be removed and/or replaced quite easily. And it just keeps on working and staying out of my way. Thanks Patrick, you're the best BDFL a SubGenius could ever ask for!