Softlanding Linux System Explained

Softlanding Linux System (SLS) was one of the first Linux distributions. The first release was by Peter MacDonald in May 1992.^{[4] [5]} Their slogan at the time was "Gentle touchdowns for DOS bailouts."^[6] 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.^{[7] [8]}

History

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 It was soon superseded by Slackware (which started as a cleanup of SLS by Patrick Volkerding) and Yggdrasil Linux/GNU/X, among others.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

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

External links

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

Notes and References

1. News: Epstein . Caleb . April 1995 . A review of InfoMagic's December 1994 Release . 25 February 2025 . . April 1995 . 12.
2. Yggsdrasil Linux Internet Archives WINTER 1996 . Winter 1996 . CD . . 1-883601-15-0 . 78663619 . Internet Archive.
3. Web site: 20 July 2023 . Softlanding Linux System . 25 February 2025 . archiveos.org.
4. News: Noyes . Katherine . 25 August 2016 . Linux's brilliant 25-year history, in pictures . 25 February 2025 . PC World.
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20230209040035/http://futurist.se/gldt/wp-content/uploads/11.04/gldt1104.svg GNU/Linux Distribution Timeline, version 11.4
6. News: Hall . Jim . 4 May 2017 . How I got started with Linux . 25 February 2025 . opensource.com.
7. Berlich . Ruediger . April 2001 . ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... The early history of Linux, Part 2, Re: distribution . LinuxUser . 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,... . 12 May 2024.
8. Web site: Proffitt . Brian . 4 August 2016 . 25 Years of Linux . 25 February 2025 . Red Hat.
9. Web site: Ian A. . Murdock . NNTP Subject: New release under development; suggestions requested . 16 August 1993 . 2007-08-17.
10. SLS: Free Linux Distribution . Peter MacDonald . 1992-08-12 . comp.os.linux . [email protected] . https://web.archive.org/web/20211215084534/https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.linux/c/Q4fxCi2g0kc/m/Z6vfd2aLSQwJ . 2021-12-15 . 2021-12-15.
11. SLS release: 1.01 . MacDonald . Peter . comp.os.linux.announce . [email protected] . 25 February 2025 . linux.co.cr . Peter MacDonald (computer programmer) . 18 April 1993.
12. SLS release: 1.02 . MacDonald . Peter . comp.os.linux.announce . [email protected] . 25 February 2025 . linux.co.cr . Peter MacDonald (computer programmer) . 28 April 1993.
13. ANNOUNCE: SLS 1.03 is now available . MacDonald . Peter . comp.os.linux.announce . [email protected] . 25 February 2025 . linux.co.cr . Peter MacDonald (computer programmer) . 5 August 1993.
14. SLS 1.04 CDROM Announcement . MacDonald . Peter . comp.os.linux.announce . [email protected] . 25 February 2025 . linux.co.cr . Peter MacDonald (computer programmer) . 21 October 1993.
15. SLS 1.05: Softlandings Modular Linux Released . MacDonald . Peter . 5 Apr 1994 . comp.os.linux.announce . [email protected] . 25 February 2025 . linux.co.cr . Peter MacDonald (computer programmer) .