I learned about 75-80 percent of what I know about Linux by installing Gentoo.
IIRC, LFS requires a working distro to build it.
Gentoo is a build from scratch using source code that you can build on a bare PC if you wish. All you need to do is to be able to read and follow the
install instructions.
To speed up the install and download times, I suggest getting some
Gentoo CDs, a live CD and the Gentoo essentials.
You will learn a lot of Linux.
Suggested build for stage 1 build with modem internet connection:
chroot /mnt/gentoo /bin/bash
env-update
source /etc/profile
cd /usr/portage
scripts/bootstrap.sh
emerge rsync
emerge system
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Eastern /etc/localtime
emerge -u ppp wvdial gentoo-sources gentoo sysklogd dcron reiserfsprogs mc links fluxbox
rc-update add sysklogd default
crontab /etc/crontab
rc-update add dcron default
rc-update add gpm default
cd /usr/src/linux
make menuconfig
Build your kernel, boot and you should have midnight commander to ease the use of the command line and the fluxbox window manager if you want a quick X environment.
You have links for a command line web browser too. Links is getting better and better.
You can even install Gentoo from any live CD such as the
KNOPPIX Linux Live CD and do it in a gui if it makes you more comfortable.
