From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

I run, as root, a backup script with this invocation:

/go_back [cheech|chong]

For example, this morning I ran:

/go_back chong

(I have two backup hard drives. Each has a single partition with a
volume label of "cheech" or "chong". I rotate them monthly, keeping the
other one "offsite".)
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

initd ...
--
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Sylvain Robitaille syl@therockgarden.ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Thu, 25 Jun 2026 21:19:47 GMT, Sylvain Robitaille wrote:

initd ...

syl@therockgarden.ca wrote:

initd ...

Do you run a script called initd? Manually, or is it automated?

Perhaps you mean that the machines you administer are configured to run
initd when they boot? I hadn't considered the system administration
point of view. If I don't run the backups manually, they don't get done.

I have other tools too that I run daily. For example, after running
go_back I start X using:

/mnt/joe_root/begin startx

This configures an environment which is inherited by X.

-Joe
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Thu, 25 Jun 2026 21:19:47 GMT, Sylvain Robitaille wrote:

initd ...

Hrmmmm ... I *should* have said "init", not "initd" ... brain fart?


On 2026-06-25, Joseph Rosevear replied:

Do you run a script called initd? Manually, or is it automated?

It's automated. It is, in fact, the first process run on "normal"
Linux, and traditionally, Unix systems. This is notwithstanding the systemd-based systems which have replaced init with, effectively,
a different kind of init, and the silly Ubuntu thing that predated
systemd ... (scratches head) ... oh yeah, "upstart".

Perhaps you mean that the machines you administer are configured
to run initd when they boot?

They indeed are ... That (well, "init") is what the Linux kernel
looks to run once it boots.

I hadn't considered the system administration point of view. If I
don't run the backups manually, they don't get done.

Amusingly, I would word that same sentiment as "if I don't schedule
the backups to run automatically, they don't get done."

I have other tools too that I run daily. For example, after running
go_back I start X using:

/mnt/joe_root/begin startx

My workstation and laptops do boot into run-level 4, where X starts up.
I'm pretty sure that I don't have any special environment setup prior
to X starting, but I'd have to review local documentation to say that
with complete certainty.

Now. to answer the question that I *think* you were really asking,
I'm afraid that it's not really any more informative than my "init"
answer, though it's just as truthful: whatever the system in question
was running just prior to my shutting it down. The systems have their purposes: mail server, web server, etc. When they're booted, they
go right back to serving those purposes. The workstation and laptops
go back to running X and waiting for me to ... do whatever I'm going
to do next.

In my case, these systems are up 24x7, reboot only for patch cycles,
and the majority of them (save for a couple of virtuals running
"other" Linux) are running Slackware, so there isn't really a "when
I boot into Slackware".

It occurred to me, only after reading the content of your original
post, that you were probably aiming the question at folks who aren't
running Slackware Linux 24x7 ... I chose to be a smart-ass and answer
anyway ...
--
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Sylvain Robitaille syl@therockgarden.ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware


After the typical system services, local
mail server (postfix), news server (leafnode), my
personal Wireguard VPNs, and other rc.local stuff,
I usually run startx, booting to dwm, then follow
that with st instances running GNU screen, then an
Emacs server instance. I usually also start music
through some bash functions that wrap mpv. Check
my plain-text task list and journal in Emacs, pick
something I want to do, and start chugging along.
Nowadays, I mostly use my personal text editor, an
ed-like written from scratch, more than Emacs, and
I use my fork of suckless surf for web browsing,
but I do less and less of that in recent days. I
still use Emacs, for GNUS mail and news, and for
the one-off crazy macro here and there. I connect
to a VPS that runs irssi for IRC access. SSH is
definitely something I use a lot, to administer
dozens of other Slackware machines.

This accounts for most of my Slackware usage :-)
(and computer usage in general).


Best Regards,
Lumin Etherlight
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Fri, 26 Jun 2026 21:38:32 GMT, Sylvain Robitaille wrote:

...

My workstation and laptops do boot into run-level 4, where X starts up.
I'm pretty sure that I don't have any special environment setup prior to
X starting, but I'd have to review local documentation to say that with complete certainty.

I use run-level 3. Configuring the environment before starting X is
handy. For example my MWM configuration includes a specification that
causes "Setup" to appear in the root menu (available by right-clicking
the desktop).

Clicking "Setup" in the root menu invokes function wm_setup which, thanks
to prior execution of /mnt/joe_root/begin, is available in the current environment.

Now. to answer the question that I *think* you were really asking,
I'm afraid that it's not really any more informative than my "init"
answer, though it's just as truthful: whatever the system in question
was running just prior to my shutting it down. The systems have their purposes: mail server, web server, etc. When they're booted, they go
right back to serving those purposes. The workstation and laptops go
back to running X and waiting for me to ... do whatever I'm going to do
next.

In my case, these systems are up 24x7, reboot only for patch cycles, and
the majority of them (save for a couple of virtuals running "other"
Linux) are running Slackware, so there isn't really a "when I boot into Slackware".

It occurred to me, only after reading the content of your original post,
that you were probably aiming the question at folks who aren't running Slackware Linux 24x7 ... I chose to be a smart-ass and answer anyway
...

That's OK, I deserved it. Not everyone boots daily like I do. I can understand that. With a fleet of machines to manage, you need global solutions.

Yet other paradigms might have use cases. For example, my wife and I currently run a tweaked-clone version of Slackware from a flash drive on
our respective machines.
See https://rosevearsoftware.com/products/sam/libraries/Zombie

-Joe
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Sat, 27 Jun 2026 21:41:56 +0300, Lumin Etherlight wrote:

After the typical system services, local
mail server (postfix), news server (leafnode), my personal Wireguard
VPNs, and other rc.local stuff,
I usually run startx, booting to dwm, then follow that with st
instances running GNU screen, then an Emacs server instance. I
usually also start music through some bash functions that wrap mpv.
Check my plain-text task list and journal in Emacs, pick something I
want to do, and start chugging along.
Nowadays, I mostly use my personal text editor, an ed-like written
from scratch, more than Emacs, and I use my fork of suckless surf
for web browsing,
but I do less and less of that in recent days. I still use Emacs,
for GNUS mail and news, and for the one-off crazy macro here and
there. I connect to a VPS that runs irssi for IRC access. SSH is
definitely something I use a lot, to administer dozens of other
Slackware machines.

This accounts for most of my Slackware usage :-)
(and computer usage in general).

Best Regards,
Lumin Etherlight

Hey, Lumin!

Thanks for your input. It was interesting to read about how you use Slackware. For example, I had never heard of suckless software, st or
GNU screen. Interesting. And I was thinking about IRC. I actually used
it a few times. Any good Slackware information there? My editor of
choice is joe (Joe's Own Editor), which by coincidence is also my name.
But I like it. Fast and easy.

And I had to look up "VPS". I didn't know there was such a thing.

Thanks again!

-Joe
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