It gets a bad rap from people who either A) don't read the docs, or B) don't know about sbopkg and slackbuilds.org (or other non-official repos).

Slackpkg, the package manager, uses some basic bash scripts to manage packages and importantly does NOT impose 'dependencies.' If you have the libraries for the software to run, you're good. If not, you'll see the compile time or runtime error, and can correct it. There are optional queuefiles that sbopkg can use that will get you the known lists of prerequisite software too, but nothing refuses to install because some package maintainer said so.

Use a .deb or .rpm system long enough and you'll perhaps see why this can matter in the most frustrating ways.

The one downside though is that Slackware is primarily designed with desktops in mind. You CAN install more minimal systems for running servers but this can turn into a bit more of a headache resolving some of the main system libraries depending on what you're running. I usually look to a BSD for such instances rather than put the work in.

It's worth noting Slackware is a benevolent dictatorship, rather than a community project, and it shows in its organization. Longest running distro in existence and our biggest gripe is that Volkerding isn't immortal.