[Slackbuilds-users] using SlackBuilds listserv/newsgroup and sbopkg?

[David Melik]

After big changes to Gmane last year or two, I rejoined this listserv, 
but unsubscribed, just reading in the newsgroup and archives.  I also 
preferred to post in the newsgroup, but is that now impossible 
(read-only?)  I'd like to have cross-posted to the next part to 
news://gmane.linux.slackware.sbopkg and maybe some general Slackware 
news-/discussion-group (well, I still use the Usenet one, not usually as 
much as Linux Questions web-forum.)

Some years ago I told an older friend (who got me into IBM-compatible 
PCs, now incorrectly a.k.a. 'PCs,' as also Apples/etc., laptops, pads, 
phones are grouped under the term) how I hate how installation 
(Slackware installer, sbopkg, etc.) with GNU Dialog looks like 1980s 
versions of DOS on 80x25 screen but with the text box fit within to 
'look nice' (actually look like Windows windows, perhaps, which should 
be criticized) but is just super-small.  It was fine for me 21 years 
ago, not now.  He commented, he knows how he could easily alter 
installers so they fit or even automatically resize to largest VESA text 
modes and newer screens, but said he's 'too busy slacking' (yet deals 
with this in the installer and sbopkg, agrees with me) then switched to 
avoiding computers except at work, and using some newer garbage systemd 
distro.  After he told me, I spent hours looking in the sbopkg code 
(maybe even Slackware installer,) reading about Dialog, maybe even tried 
a couple things (didn't work,) but it was just too difficult for me to 
be able to resize.  Would anyone else be able to try that and submit 
patches?

Surely at least some other text mode is considered standard now, or even 
if not necessarily resizable, wouldn't passing a size 
argument/flag/switch option be better?  Also really, the current case of 
maybe 8/9 the screen just being blue background is almost useless.  I 
like the large background option in Slackware's installer (as long as I 
'install all,' since one must, to get help on freenode IRC ##slackware, 
but there are other installation situations) but not in sbopkg.  Even 
Slackware's installer, I think, resizes text boxes for huge descriptions 
of packages.

Many/most software descriptions just go past the end of the small line 
in sbopkg, yet every few weeks/months, I love just going through entire 
software categories in sbopkg to double-check what else I want to 
install.  Usually I find several or 10+ things (if you don't even count 
dependencies,) but sometimes it's impossible to read or becomes to 
stressful (reading hundreds of lines fast in a small area) to get to the 
end, so I know I also miss many things I'd have installed or had been 
spending months looking for.  So, the state of being able to install 
nowadays, it's just almost unusable.