• The Site
• The Packages
• Using the site
• About Me

We began many years ago as ghost.org then changed our name to linuxmafia.org.  At the time there was no website for slackware
there was slackware.org but it was really not well maintained at the time and provided little in support.  We wanted to get the word out and to provide some support to the slackware community.  At first it was just a mailing list and a forum. It was ran on a server I had in my house that was connected to an ISDN line. This worked well for a year or so but as my son grew up and started using the net the connection just got to slow to use.  I then moved the server to the internet company I was doing consultation for where it remains today (it has had several server and OS upgrades since that time). At some point we changed the name to linuxmafia.org , linuxmafia I can't recall where was associated with Slackware many years ago.  So we took the name and created a new site.  We soon figured there was a need for third party packages for Slackware.  We started with a simple system that allowed me and Robert Stan to post packages for others to download.  Well this kept growing and growing and we expanded to allow other people to post packages to the system. After hearing so many complaints about the name over several years we changed the name to Linuxpackages.  We redesigned the web site and added more things for users. I remember this took me almost 7 months to write this version of the site.  Again the user base kept growing, last year we did another site rewrite which is what you see today.   The site you see today is the hard work of many different people and is not based on any of those plug in portals that most seem to be running today.  The size of the site is about 88 megs including graphics which we don't have much. The approval backend is 30 megs of pure php code. We have seen the community grow over the years and other slackware related support sites pop up all over.  With the invent of installable portal type software it really took off. This is fine by us but we hate to see the splintering of the community especially with third party packages.  We have made the site very easy to post packages to and it only takes a few min.  What we have seen in most cases is that some of these sites are disgruntled packagers that couldn't get a package passed on this site. We even go around and look at what is offered and a few we can honestly say still wouldn't pass the tests here. Some sites like tenboards and techlinux do offer very good quality packages and have great folks running them.

No we are not affiliated with Slackware nor are we endorsed by it.  We have just recently become an authorized reseller of Slackware products which are available in the LP store for purchase.

Linuxpackages is currently on a Dell that we used the donations to pay for trust me it is about the cheapest one you can get from Dell.  We purchased it on Ebay on top of that.  It currently has 120G SCSI drive and is a P4 2.4G system with 512m ram. We couldn't afford any raid maybe next time we upgrade.  It is running Slackware 10.1.   Right now it  has about 20Gigs of packages stored on it and is the master for all the other mirrors.  We have about 10 mirror servers located throughout the world to help with downloading of packages.  This site gets about 6 million visits a month, every month sets a new record for us these days.  Each mirror serves up about 43 gigs of packages a month.  We have a small wish list of things we want to expand. First of course another server with a Raid setup so we can off load the db work on. And of of course a Raid setup for the main server with more storage capacity so we can offer hosting for any size package. This has become even more important since in March we had a HD failure and lost a bunch of data.

Well mainly me, but it is also suplimented with funds donated through paypal and LP store purchases (not much there).  So it is important that if you can you donate to help us keep going.  We have had to add some banners to help offset the costs. I did not want to to this but this site is really growing and eating some major bandwidth these days.

Yes you can, we have an rss feed located at http://www.linuxpackages.net/backend/linuxpackages.rdf  Please send us an email and let us know that you are using the backend we would like to know how many are out there.

Yes you can.  Click this link and it will add the latest packages to your Sidebar, http://www.linuxpackages.net/addns.html

Packages you see on the site are contributed by other people. We are just a central location for people to post their packages. We do host packages if they are under a certain size. Each package that comes in as you will see goes through a few checks. A grade is assigned to the package once it is accepted. Not all packages will have a grade. Older packages that were here before that system will not have one. Also level 3 contributors will also not have one.

Well to start we have basically 4 levels of contributor. A level one person is just someone that may have only submited a few packages and is just starting to get their feet wet. A level 2 is someone that is considered a contributor and can use the package manger on the site to update their packages. Packages they submit must still go throught the approval process and will still be graded. A level 3 contributor is someone that has demonstrated over time to create excellent packages. This is a person that no longer needs to have their packages checked. Packages they add go straight to posting and visable as soon as they submit them. They are not graded so no grade will show up for these people. Lastly a level 4 person is someone that may submit packages but also does the approval for them. This person can also remove any package on the system. They are also responsible for grading packages and putting grade comments on the package.

They come from all over the world.  Anyone that wants to contribute a package can do so by logging in and posting the package information.  Some of them are hosted by us and some are hosted by the creators.  We have packages for version 7 all the way to the latest release of Slackware.

Why don't you host packages built on -current or built on systems like dropline gnome?

Well first -current is not the latest release of Slackware, and due to the changing libraries and applications it would be too hard to keep packages built on it or for it. The wider ranger of users do not use -current and we really want to support the stable release and not a development release, that Patricks job not ours.  As for dropline gnome or other type systems we can't accept packages for the same reason.  These systems have libraries that may not be the same as a stock Slackware system.  They also tend to include additional applications that will modify the behavior of a stock system that may create issues. 

We check each package for proper permissions, install locations.  We can't test each package to make sure it works.  We also have no way to test each package for possible issues.  You should always use caution with any file you download on the net.  The same issues that effect Debian, Redhat etc... can effect these packages.  We have a pretty good system in place that allows us to track who what where and when a package was submitted.  As another safety catch we do not allow suid bins in packages.  If you think about it even downloading source and compiling comes with some aspect of danger it doesn't just have to be a bin.

Yes you can there is a bunch of documents on the site that will help you and walk you through building packages. 

The site has so many ways to get the packages you want. Of course if you look at the top of each page you see a pkg search box. You can always type in the full name or even a partial name of a package. You can also change the version you are looking for. A good hint is if you are having issues change the version to any. This will show all the packages that might match.

When looking at a packages details you will see right after the description box the other versions that may be available. This is sorted by Slackware version and program version. Simply clicking the link in this box will take you to another details page of that package.

Also when looking at a package the far right box is the information box. You can use the links in this box to see all the vital information about a package but mainly you can do a search by category. So if you just want to see X11 you can click that link and only X11 package will show up in a full listing.

On the top of each page are main links home about forums links packages. By clicking on the packages link you will be taken to the main packages section. This section allows you to do advanced searches by letter or by any part of a package. The advanced search is handy for searching a packages details for a key word. For instance if I use the advanced search box and type apache in the search for box and change the Search By to Description, I will get all packages that the word apache in the details. I can also use the Browse links to show a group of packages based on what the link says.

First you do not have to be logged in to use most of the site. However you will not be able to post comments about packages without being logged in.

If you are logged in you have the ablitiy to post comments and some minor other features of the site.

One of the great featurs of the site is when you look at the details of a package you have the ability to see everything and anything about a package. The main box on the details page is the Package Info box. Here you can see some very good information about a package. The size, how many times it has been downloaded, license etc. You can also view the acceptance report should the package have one. You can also Verify the packages MD5sum. This is always a VERY smart thing to do before you attempt to use a package. This is even more so on packages that we don't host ourselves. If a person changes a package and they are hosting it themselves the initial MD5sum will no longer match and could indicate an issue with the package. The md5sums are stored seprate from the packages for added security. Also with the info box you can rate the package the controls the rating you see on the package listings. The package creators take a bunch of time to create the packages so it is a good thing if you take a few seconds to rate the package (Creators stop rating your own packages). This box also allows you to report a broken link. The Report Broken section is really not to report a broken package that may have dep issues. It is always best to just leave a comment. All comments are emailed to the creator so they can use it to fix their packages. Lastly the Info box has a way for you to see the Contents of the package. This lists the basic data of the package, size, permissions and ownerships of each file and the slack-desc file. This only works on packages we have local on the archive but is an excellent tool to see what you are getting.

My name is Jim Simmons, I live in San Antonio, Texas right now.  I worked for the US Gov for 20 years and retired a few years ago from there.  I then started working for Northrop Grumman as a Sr Network Engineer on a government contract.  Right now I am unemployed due to the the contract end and looking for employment.  I am also a single parent with a 10 year old son who is fast becoming a computer geek :).