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Groups > alt.os.linux.slackware > #35636

Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop?

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jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> writes:

> Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> writes:
> 
>> Anyone have an opinion on whether this computer would or would not be
>> good for Slackware 15?  Any known problems with installing,
>> partitioning disk or anything?
>>
>> Acer Tower 18L Desktop
>>
>> Intel Core i5-14400 - 1TB SSD - 16GB RAM
>>
>> SKU # TC-1785-ES12

Thanks for the reply, jayjwa.

> I would not try to put Slackware 15 on that or any new machine from the
> last 5 years or so. 

Slackware 15 was released just over 4 years ago (Slackware 15.0
release notes. Wed Feb  2 18:39:59 CST 2022) so that doesn't seem
quite right.

But the "newest coolest hardware" problem is just why I posted the
question.

> Newer machines want some type of framebuffer on boot.

I don't' know enough to know how/why that's a problem. I've never had
to think about framebuffers. I'm old enough (see .sig) to remember
having to struggle with mode lines in .xinitrc but I've never had to
think about framebuffers.  Linux and X just did what it's supposed to.
At boot, won't a new system have a framebuffer available in hardware?

> We had a thread on LinuxQuestions about this topic a month or so
> back...

Okay, let's see what that was...I've been to LinuxQuestions
before. Now, using the Firefox distributed in Slack 15 32 bit, but
now I get,

    Your browser does not support the security verification required
    by www.linuxquestions.org. This can happen if your browser is
    either too old to support the latest security features...

which is exactly the kind of crap I'm trying to deal with.  Neither
Firefox nor Seamonkey have a recent 32 bit release.

> Go with Current, and use grub.
>
> https://slackware.uk/people/alien-current-iso/slackware64-current-iso/slackware64-current-install-dvd.iso
> 
> Ex:
> dd if=/var/tmp/slackware64-current-install-dvd.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=512 status=progress

Thanks for the pointer.  I had no idea where to find that. The mirror
sites seem to have it (and other distros) as separate files rather
than an ISO.

> From what I've read, you can shut off secure boot with those so you
> should be mostly OK.

New hardware with Windows installed will prevent me from forcing
legacy MBR setup?  That's what I did when I installed Slack 14.2 32bit
on my Acer 64bit laptop a decade ago.


> The other places to get bit are if the wifi chip will do AP mode (if
> you care), if the system has usable virtualization (got bit by that
> myself once) and the GPU. Since it's Intel you should be OK.

I don't know anything about any of those.  the Acer 18L doesn't have
wifi.

> The hardware out today is not what 15 expects.
> 
> Personally, I'd get a system76 or something made for Linux so you know
> everything works well and out-of-the-box.

I'm pretty keen on "buy local".  I don't think I want my support to be
in Denver.  They do say,

    System76's firmware partly disables the Intel Management
    Engine; the Intel Management Engine is proprietary
    firmware which runs an operating system in post-2008 Intel
    chipsets.

which is, AFAIK, the main potential pitfall in Window-installed
systems.  Not entirely sure that switching from their Ubuntu to
Slackware would be altogether straightforward though.

I'm a decade or more beyond taking any pleasure in what has now become
an onerous task of mastering a whole new domain of technology.  BTDT,
(literally) have the sweatshirt.  But I still want the versatility and
non-authoritarian posture of Slackware.




-- 
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada

When you're in your 80s, just being old is a half-time job. -- Stewart Brand

-- 
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada

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Thread

Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2026-06-21 17:28 -0300
  Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-06-22 09:58 -0400
    Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2026-06-25 02:58 -0300
      Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? kaukasoina3dore73js4@sci.fi (Petri Kaukasoina) - 2026-06-25 10:29 +0000
        Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2026-06-26 02:05 -0300
          Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? kaukasoina3dore73js4@sci.fi (Petri Kaukasoina) - 2026-06-26 05:57 +0000
            Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? kaukasoina3dore73js4@sci.fi (Petri Kaukasoina) - 2026-06-26 07:34 +0000
      Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-06-25 10:21 -0400
        Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2026-06-26 02:02 -0300
          Re: Opinion on Acer Tower 18L Desktop? jayjwa <jayjwa@atr2.ath.cx.invalid> - 2026-06-26 09:57 -0400

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