Softlanding Linux System

Linux distribution

Linux distribution

Softlanding Linux System

Developer| Peter MacDonald
OS family| Linux (Unix-like)
Working state| Discontinued
Initial release| May 1992; 33 years ago (1992-05)
Latest release| 1.06[1][2] / 1994; 31 years ago (1994)
Repository|

* github.com/rdebath/SLS-1.02

Supported platforms| i386[3]
Kernel type| Monolithic (Linux)
Influenced| Slackware, Debian

Softlanding Linux System (SLS) was one of the first Linux distributions. The first release was by Peter MacDonald[4] in May 1992.[5][6] Their slogan at the time was "Gentle touchdowns for DOS bailouts."[7] SLS was the first release to offer a comprehensive Linux distribution containing more than the Linux kernel, GNU, and other basic utilities, including an implementation of the X Window System.[4][8]

## History

[edit]

SLS was the most popular Linux distribution at the time, but it was considered to be rather buggy by its users. It was soon superseded by Slackware (which started as a cleanup of SLS by Patrick Volkerding) and Yggdrasil Linux/GNU/X, among others.

Similarly, Ian Murdock's frustration with SLS led him to create the Debian project.[9]

## Series

[edit]

The system consists of the following series which were installed via floppy disk:

* a1-a4: The minimal base system
* b1-b7: Base system extras (man pages, Emacs, etc.)
* c1-c3: The compiler(s), gcc/g++/p2c/f2c
* d1-d2: Documentation
* s1: Source
* t1-t3: TeX document processing
* x1-x10: X Window System distribution, documentation and idraw

## Version History

[edit]

Known SLS releases  Version  | Release date

|

1.00  | 12 August 1992[10]
1.01  | 18 April 1993[11]
1.02  | 28 April 1993[12]
1.03  | 5 August 1993[13]
1.04  | 21 October 1993[14]
1.05  | 5 April 1994[15]
1.06  | Late 1994[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Epstein, Caleb (April 1995). "A review of InfoMagic's December 1994 Release". Linux Journal. Vol. April 1995, no. 12. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
2. ^ Yggsdrasil Linux Internet Archives WINTER 1996 (CD). Yggdrasil Computing, Incorporated. Winter 1996. ISBN 1-883601-15-0. OCLC 78663619 – via Internet Archive.
3. ^ "Softlanding Linux System". archiveos.org. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
4. ^ a b Berlich, Ruediger (April 2001). "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... The early history of Linux, Part 2, Re: distribution" (PDF). LinuxUser. Retrieved 12 May 2024. "This was followed shortly after by the Softlanding Linux System (SLS), founded by Peter McDonald, which was the first comprehensive distribution to contain elements such as X and TCP/IP,..."
5. ^ Noyes, Katherine (25 August 2016). "Linux's brilliant 25-year history, in pictures". PC World. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
6. ^ GNU/Linux Distribution Timeline, version 11.4 by A. Lundqvist, D. Rodic
7. ^ Hall, Jim (4 May 2017). "How I got started with Linux". opensource.com. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
8. ^ Proffitt, Brian (4 August 2016). "25 Years of Linux". Red Hat. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
9. ^ Murdock, Ian A. (16 August 1993). "NNTP Subject: New release under development; suggestions requested". Retrieved 17 August 2007.
10. ^ Peter MacDonald (12 August 1992). "SLS: Free Linux Distribution". Newsgroup: comp.os.linux. Usenet: 1992Aug12.232203.20860@athena.mit.edu. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
11. ^ MacDonald, Peter (18 April 1993). "SLS release: 1.01". Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 1993Apr18.153535.29139@klaava.Helsinki.FI. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
12. ^ MacDonald, Peter (28 April 1993). "SLS release: 1.02". Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 1rlcvcINN640@hydra.Helsinki.FI. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
13. ^ MacDonald, Peter (5 August 1993). "ANNOUNCE: SLS 1.03 is now available". Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 23r84f$4h4@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
14. ^ MacDonald, Peter (21 October 1993). "SLS 1.04 CDROM Announcement". Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 2a67cb$rhj@samba.oit.unc.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
15. ^ MacDonald, Peter (5 April 1994). "SLS 1.05: Softlandings Modular Linux Released". Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 1994Apr5.001632.28777@cs.cornell.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.

## External links

[edit]

* SLS at Princeton University
* SLS version 1.02 at GitHub
* SLS version 1.03 at ibiblio
* https://archiveos.org/sls/

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