Late reply, but I suppose you’re correct; I think the option to choose what to install, the lack of pre-created desktop stuff (“home/$username/Videos” for example) and the requirement that you handle software that isn’t in the base install all make a Slackware installation less bloated than most. Maybe not at install time, but over the life of the install you end up with less garbage IMHO.
I…I didn’t know you could request that…omg