Slax 15.0 is available to download and guess what: it’s based on Slackware again!

Admittedly it’s been a while since we’ve seen a new Slax release (v11 debuted back in 2019) so to find the first major update of the lightweight Linux distro is the first to be based on Slackware in almost nine years… Well, it makes the reemergence all the more notable!

Slax developer Tomas Matejicek revealed back in July that they were playing around with a Slackware-based revival. Fast toward to August and it’s available to download.

Based on Slackware 15, this version of Slax ships with Linux kernel 5.15, a nimble Fluxbox-based UI with xLunch launcher, and the most essential of essential apps preinstalled: a VTE, a text editor, and file manager – what more could you need?!.

More software can be installed using the slackpkg command. The Slackware and SlackOnly repos are preconfigured meaning a lot of well-known software is easy to install, including Google Chrome (pictured above).

As before it runs as a “live” system with changes saved to the USB it runs from (or not saved at all, if you’d rather). Configure networking using the included network utility (it doesn’t show a tray item by default, fyi). To adjust screen resolution click on the desktop and swipe into the well-populated screen resolution sub-menu.

If you’re more accustomed to an apt environment you needn’t feel left out as also released this week is Slax 11.0. This retains a Debian-based environment and repository and is, notably, also provided as a 32-bit system.

You can download Slax 15.0 from the project website. To “run it” you need to burn it to a CD or DVD, or mount the .ISO and copy the ‘slax’ folder to the root of a USB drive, then use that to boot from.

If you really love what you see you can also hep support the project. Purchase options and Patreon link can be found on the Slax homepage.

Slax — it’s good to have you back!