Slackware ke kabo ea Linux e entsoeng ke Patrick Volkerding ka 1993. Qalong e thehiloe ho Softlanding Linux System, Slackware e bile motheo oa li-distributions tse ling tse ngata tsa Linux, haholo-holo liphetolelo tsa pele tsa kabo ea SUSE Linux, 'me ke kabo ea khale ka ho fetisisa e ntseng e hlokomeloa. Slackware e ikemiselitse ho tsitsisa le ho nolofatsa moralo le ho ba kabo ea "Unix-joaloka" Linux. E etsa liphetoho tse fokolang kamoo ho ka khonehang ho liphutheloana tsa software tse tsoang holimo mme e leka ho se lebella linyeoe tsa tšebeliso kapa ho thibela liqeto tsa basebelisi. Ho fapana le liphaello tse ngata tsa sejoale-joale tsa Linux, Slackware ha e fane ka ts'ebetso ea ho kenya litšoantšo ebile ha e na qeto e ikemetseng ea liphutheloana tsa software. E sebelisa lifaele tsa mongolo o hlakileng le sete e nyane feela ea likhetla bakeng sa tlhophiso le tsamaiso. Ntle le phetoho e 'ngoe e qala ho ba tikolohong ea sebopeho sa line-taelo. Ka lebaka la likarolo tsa eona tse ngata tse hlokolosi le tse bonolo, Slackware hangata e nkuoa e le e loketseng basebelisi ba Linux ba tsoetseng pele le ba botekgeniki.