lilo:     The Linux Loader: boots Linux from your hard drive. (v. 0.12)
devs:     Device files that represent the system's hardware, found in /dev.
shadow:   The "shadow" password system.                  
passwd:   Password utilities, and account maintenance programs.
passwd: 
passwd:   These utilities do not support shadow passwords, but seem more stable
passwd:   and secure than the versions that do. Mostly because of problems with
passwd:   the shadow versions of some of the networking utilities, and because
passwd:   most users have no need for shadow passwords anyway, Slackware has 
passwd:   decided to follow MCC's lead and go with a non-shadow password 
passwd:   system by default. 
passwd:
passwd:   You may still switch over to shadow passwords if you really want to.
passwd:   The package "addshadw.tgz" adds shadow passwords to a system that
passwd:   does not already have them. Look for it at most Slackware sites.
passwd:   Be aware, however, that the current shadow password system for Linux
passwd:   may add more security holes than it fixes.
base:     Basic system files that go in /bin /usr/bin and /usr/lib.
etc:      System administration utilities that belong in /etc   
scsikern: Linux kernel version .99 patch level 13, with SCSI support. 
scsikern:
scsikern: This is a Linux kernel with full support for SCSI devices such as
scsikern: hard drives, tape drives, and CD-ROM drives. If you have not already
scsikern: installed the "idekern" kernel with IDE support only, then you must
scsikern: install this package or your system will not boot. If you need this
scsikern: kernel but have already installed "idekern", just go ahead and install
scsikern: this package to replace the IDE kernel with a SCSI one.
idekern:  Linux kernel version .99 patch level 13, without SCSI support. 
idekern:
idekern:  A Linux kernel for computers that do not need SCSI support.
idekern:  You MUST install either package "idekern" or package "scsikern"
idekern:  if you need SCSI support. If you fail to install either one of
idekern:  them, your system will not work.
idekern:  If you're not sure which package (idekern/scsikern) to install,
idekern:  you should probably use scsikern, since it supports the most
idekern:  hardware. If you don't have SCSI, the advantage of using the 
idekern:  idekern kernel is mainly that your machine will boot faster.