Setting up Slackware as your daily driver

1337 March 31, 2026 4 reads

1. Download the newest ISO

Go to Alien Bob’s mirror (this is the official/recommended way for --current):

https://slackware.uk/people/alien-current-iso/slackware64-current-iso/

Verify the MD5/SHA after download (files are in the same directory).

2. Boot the ISO

Stick in your USB and find out it's name

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,MOUNTPOINTS

Burn to USB

sudo dd if=~/Downloads/slackware64-current-iso/slackware64-current.iso of=/dev/sda bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync && sync

Boot it (secure boot off, boot from USB).

3. Partition & Format the drive (MOUNT FIRST)

Run cfdisk /dev/nvme0n1 (or /dev/sda if SATA).
Create:

EFI partition: 512M → type EF00 (will be formatted fat32)
SWAP as linux swap - double the size of your RAM or so
Root partition: rest of the disk → type 8300 (ext4)

4. Install Slackware (FULL/terse)

setup

Target → /mnt
Select “full”
Set up Grub or ELILO (or LILO). I go with ELILO now.

5. Post-install configuration

Set root password
Create your normal user (add to groups wheel, audio, video, cdrom, floppy, plugdev, power, netdev)
Enable SSH if you want
Network Manager

Reboot.

6. First boot → XFCE (use whatever you want, but I really like XFCE).

startx

Blacklist the kernel (important!)

or just do su

and open it in kate or any other text editor

nano /etc/slackpkg/blacklist

Uncomment these:

kernel-generic
kernel-huge
kernel-modules

7. Set up slackpkg+ + Alien Bob repos

# Download and install latest slackpkg+
wget https://slackware.uk/people/alien-current-iso/slackware64-current-iso/slackpkg+-*noarch-1.txz
installpkg slackpkg+-*noarch-1.txz

Edit the config:

nano /etc/slackpkg/slackpkgplus.conf

Add

SLACKPKGPLUS=on

REPOPLUS=( slackpkgplus multilib alienbob alienbob_current restricted )
MIRRORPLUS[slackpkgplus]=https://slackware.nl/slackpkgplus/
MIRRORPLUS[multilib]=https://slackware.uk/people/alien/current/multilib/
MIRRORPLUS[alienbob]=https://slackware.uk/people/alien/current/x86_64/
MIRRORPLUS[alienbob_current]=https://slackware.uk/people/alien/current/x86_64/
MIRRORPLUS[restricted]=https://slackware.uk/people/alien/restricted_sbrepos/current/x86_64/

Then do (the normal update process, remember these)

slackpkg update
slackpkg install-new
slackpkg upgrade-all
slackpkg clean-system

9. Install SBOpkg (SlackBuilds.org helper)

slackpkg install sbopkg
sbopkg -r          # first run to download repo
sbopkg -i          # interactive mode

add Ponce's repo

https://github.com/Ponce/slackbuilds

10. How to find & install stuff

Search officialslackpkg search keyword

Search Alien Bobslackpkg

Search SlackBuildssbopkg -f keywordInstall from SBosbopkg -i packagename

Update everything slackpkg update && slackpkg upgrade-all

8. Enable Multilib (for Steam, Wine, 32-bit apps)

slackpkg install multilib

This installs all the -compat32 packages you need.

Optional but recommended - install the compat32 tools:

slackpkg install compat32-tools

Now you have full multilib support.

10. NVIDIA Proprietary Drivers

# Blacklist nouveau first
slackpkg install xf86-video-nouveau-blacklist

# Install NVIDIA from Alien Bob or SBo
slackpkg install nvidia-driver nvidia-kernel

Or via SBOpkg (more up-to-date sometimes):

sbopkg -i nvidia-driver
sbopkg -i nvidia-kernel

After install:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

Reboot and you should have proprietary NVIDIA drivers.

11. Steam

slackpkg install steamclient

Or from SBOpkg:

sbopkg -i steam

Then just run steam from the menu. It will download the rest on first launch.

12. Wine

slackpkg install wine

Or latest from Alien Bob / SBOpkg:

sbopkg -i wine

For best gaming performance, also install

slackpkg install dxvk winetricks

Quick Commands Summary

# Update everything
slackpkg update && slackpkg upgrade-all

# Search packages
slackpkg search keyword
sbopkg -f keyword

# Install from SBo
sbopkg -i packagename

You now have a modern, gaming-ready Slackware --current

1337