If you install slackware, there's something to consider. slackware recommends using the slackpkg package to do updates and upgrades. This package is fine so long as you do understand it has no means of excluding packages to be upgraded. That normally wouldn't be a problem except that slackware does not make upgraded speakup patched kernels available for download and slackware neither makes reference to kernel types in kernel names so a user can pick for instance the speakup.s kernel as opposed to the bear.i kernel to download. Those kernels get put on CD's and sent out but don't get made available in the slackware mirrors for upgrade so you will replace your speakup-enabled kernel with a stock kernel without speakup patches applied when you do a kernel upgrade using slackpkg. The way around this problem if you don't mind building a new speakup-enabled slackware kernel after download (I never was able to figure out how to get that process done successfully), is to not use slackpkg to do updates and upgrades but to download and use slapt-get which does allow for exclusions and has kernel upgrades excluded by default. This means you can modify slapt-getrc when you're ready to upgrade your kernel and deal with those consequences as best you're able to once done. Another problem with slackware is that the stable and current words not only do not appear in the kernel names, they don't even appear in /etc/slackware-version or on the electronic disk label written on slackware CD's or in any of the printed material that comes packaged with each disk set but these are problems for those of us who have slackware subscriptions. This means that if you subscribe to slackware, pick one and only one type of distribution you want to get either stable or current and that way you'll know what you just installed when the disks get to you. I may have got two copies of stable and really with the lack of identification on the disk media and printed materials I have no way to prove otherwise. Other than that, yes slackware does support speakup well.
