Hello
Slackware AArch64/ARM64 has been released into the wild, initially supporting the RockPro64, Pinebook Pro and Raspberry Pi 4 (and RPi3 as I've been reliably informed!). Further support can be enabled by the community by reading the Direct integration documentation that I will finish in the next few weeks. Some areas of hardware support - particularly on the RPi4 - aren't as mature as I'd like, but this is contingent upon upstream support, and I expect the wrinkles will be ironed out at some point. However, everything's been working well here so I'm pleased to be able to finally put it out there.

Thanks to the supporters for being able to make this happen.

Questions, feedback - head over to the Slackware ARM forum

Enjoy! Stuart <mozes@slackware>

Slackware ARM 15.0 is the 3rd official port of Slackware to the ARM architecture, which I began in July 2016. The baseline architecture target is ARMv7-a, boosting performance by offloading floating point operations into the hardware. For this reason you should read the upgrade notes to ensure that your Hardware Model is compatible with this new architecture.

Slackware ARM 32bit has received the benefit of a huge amount of work over the last year on the AArch64/ARM64 port: I've rewritten the Kernel module loader, added a debug shell into it to help onboard new Hardware Models, there's a new tool to manage the OS InitRD to manage and maintain customisations seamlessly across Kernel package upgrades; improvements within the Installer, lots of bug fixes and improvements throughout the entire OS.

This project is made possible entirely through your support. Last year saw a vast amount of my 10-15 year old infrastructure hardware - an admixture of donated and recycled disks, servers, network equipment etc. die in quick succession; and with your support I was able to replace the components and add a couple of UPSs to get the project up and running again. So if you like what we're doing here, visit the sponsorship page. As always, the continued development of the ARM port of Slackware is dependent upon Patrick Volkerding's Slackware, so please donate to that first as that's his income source. You'll find the details for that at the URL above.

Thanks also to the core Slackware crew and the Slackware community for all of the improvements, suggestions, bug fixes which make their way into the ARM port!

The release also wraps up Season 2 of the Slackware ARM podcast.

Enjoy! Stuart <mozes@slackware>

In the latest episode we continue hacking on the Slackware Installer support for the Raspberry Pi4, and talk about the rationale behind why we've migrated to filesystem labeling by default.

Enjoy! Stuart.

In the latest SlackChat podcast we finish off the support for the Raspberry Pi4.

Hello!

Release candidate 2 of Slackware 15.0 for ARM 32bit is available for users of -current. Please report any issues to the Slackware ARM forum

MoZes@slackware (Stuart Winter)

Hello!

I aim to complete the installation documentation for Slackware on the Pinebook Pro and RockPro64 Hardware Models in the coming weeks. If you'd like to help test prior to public release, drop mozes@slackware - dot -com an email. I'll have a look at the Raspberry Pi4 support in the coming months. Basic support is mostly complete, but needs tweaks before it can be Directly Integrated into Slackware.

MoZes@slackware (Stuart Winter)

Hello! An update on Slackware AArch64. The OS was functionally complete in May 2021 after five months of hard development, at which point it is in lockstep with the 32bit ARM port and has been undergoing stability testing. I just finished the photo shoot for the Pinebook Pro hardware assembly documentation, and have a few more hours to spend to complete it, then begin the RockPro64 support. I'm now at the point where the documentation is the only remaining actions standing in the way of a public release in -current form with support for the RockPro64 and Pinebook Pro Hardware Models. I'll assess the Raspberry Pi 4 support once the documentation is complete, and make a decision about when and what to release.

MoZes@slackware (Stuart Winter)

Hello! The SlackChat podcast season 2 episode 19 is up, and this time it's a Slackathon- finishing the Pinebook Pro installer support. Brent shows us the progress with the Raspberry Pi 4 integration.

Enjoy!

MoZes@slackware (Stuart Winter)

Hello! Slackware ARM 15.0 beta is released! There are some major changes under the hood, so make sure you read the release announcement.

Enjoy!

MoZes@slackware (Stuart Winter)

Hello! After a long three-month slog, the SlackwareAArch64 OS build is complete and is in sync and being developed in lockstep with Slackware ARM(32). There is still work to do around hardware support and more integration work around the build system, and some installer improvements I want to make before it's released in -current form. Watch this space for updates!

Thanks PINE64 again for their support on the hardware side - I am looking forward to receiving my Pinebook Pro!

We're talking about the progress and some of the technical details in the Slackware ARM youtube channel - so check that out. More episodes are coming!

Funding through donations towards the effort are also appreciated! As always, please donate to Patrick first (details are in my Patreon) and the ARM port 2nd.

MoZes@slackware (Stuart Winter)

Season 2 of the SlackChat podcast is on the new Slackware ARM youtube channel!

This season we'll be able to show you behind the scenes of how the port is developed and maintained, and we'll cover the development of SlackwareAArch64 too!

Remember to Like & Subscribe! :-)

MoZes@slackware (Stuart Winter)

Why do you trust software developed and distributed by people you don't know? Phil and I are sharing our insights and experiences into this topic, in the latest episode of the SlackChat podcast

Happy new year (although I'm not sure if there's a date by when you need to stop doing that!).

Some news on the Slackware ARM port. I have had a number of donations to the project since it began and once again I thank all of those who have made them.

As with all Open Source projects, there's a great deal of commitment from the developers to continue to maintain and support the project you're using. In the case of Slackware we have Patrick Volkerding and the rest of the team (including myself) donating their time free of charge.

As always, without Patrick Volkerding, Slackware ARM would cease to exist; so please in the first instance please show your support and commitment.

I've also set up a Patreon account for the users of the ARM port to provide a commitment and demonstration of support and a recognition of the value.

I'll be continuing to maintain and develop the port and distribute it free of charge because I enjoy the creative challenges. However, it has to now contend with other projects. Therefore I've set up a Patreon account for the users of the ARM port to provide a commitment and demonstration of support, which helps me prioritise.

Thanks
Stuart Winter (MoZes)

Linux 5.4.2 packages are now available in the main tree for all supported systems. That was the easiest and smoothest major upgrade in about fifteen years! Hats off to the Linux developer community.

The Slackware ARM world rebuild for -current is complete. Updates resume!

The Slackware ARM world rebuild is happening in -current presently, so there won't be any updates for a while. First build began on..................: Mon Apr 23 15:39:32 BST 2018 Time spent building since first build : 5248 minutes / 87 hours / 3 days Most recent package began building on : Fri Apr 27 07:08:24 BST 2018 Failed count....: 11 (1%) [ recently: l/qtscriptgenerator , l/libtheora , l/libmsn , l/gegl , d/perl ] Success count...: 692 (90%) [ recently: a/bzip2 , a/btrfs-progs , a/bin , a/bash , a/attr ] Build pass......: 1 of 3 Current activity:- Building package a/acpid [ 704 of 765 ]