Dubious quotation time: 'Learning Ubuntu teaches you Ubuntu, but learning Slackware teaches you Linux'
It was my first Linux OS desktop and I lived with it for about a year. It's not impossible for a non-initiate to just dive in, if he is not afraid of the command line.
Slackware is great to learn on but, like Gentoo, I find myself turning knobs more often than I would like. I use Ubuntu and Debian to get work done. I rarely have an interest looking under the hood these days.
I was never 1337 enough to use Slackware. But seriously folks, what decade are these people in:
"Please consider supporting the Slackware project by picking up a copy of the Slackware 13.37 release from the Slackware Store. The discs are off to replication, but we're accepting pre-orders for the official 6 CD set and the DVD."
It's a wasteful way to support the project. 6CDs + jewel cases + packaging + shipping. It's just not the way software is distributed anymore. Why not have a recommended donation? Or encourage people to buy another item that actually needs to be shipped? My beef is that they are encouraging users to do something arcane, unnecessary and wasteful when there's a better way. Download and burn it yourself (or put it on an external harddrive).
What's your problem? There are both physical items (like shirts and stickers) and a way to donate directly. And Pat provides free links to direct downloads and BitTorrent.
Imagine we're talking about CDs vs. MP3s and pat makes music. I'm not advocating not paying Pat. I'm advocating paying pat for the MP3s and eliminating the waste of the CD.
That Pat is encouraging people to still buy the CDs means either Slackware users haven't moved on or Pat hasn't.
You can donate to the project directly if you wish by going to http://store.slackware.com/ and clicking on the donate button (top of left column).
Now, to address your point about encouraging buying the DVD or not, I think you should view that from the marketing point of view. He offers software. There are no licenses involved, and you can download the DVD from many high quality mirrors. Still, he needs money to continue the project. Apart from praising the product, how does he market it and get people to pay for it? I think it's much better and professional to offer a pressed DVD in a jewel case, in exchange for money, than asking for donations or something similar. Even if it's less green.
Disclaimer: after years using Slackware, I got a subscription to the DVD when I got my first full-time job. I also think it's nice to receive the DVD from time to time, and I've used the DVD as a rescue and installation disk occasionally. You don't know when it can be handy to have it.
It was my first Linux OS desktop and I lived with it for about a year. It's not impossible for a non-initiate to just dive in, if he is not afraid of the command line.