Hey,
I already have Slackware 11 installed. And due to download restrictions on my net connection , I am unable to download the large 32MB gcc package. My question is - do I need it? Cos I already have Slackware 11 with GCC . Can I make the LFS package from the Slackware package?

You need the source code for it. Can you download about 16.5 mb? This is about the largest piece of gcc source. They also offer it in pieces: core, g++, testsuite.

you most likely don't need GCC 4. (you might not want it) I have noticed that on my own system, GCC 4 can cause some bad builds on KDE or QT stuff.

You're confusing him having GCC 4 with him having GCC source. I would suggest at least 3.4, but version is really arbitrary if you want to track down slightly different instructions and bugs. As long as he has the source, he can build it. Hard to do it without that.

I have /slackDVD/source/d/gcc/gcc-3.4.6.tar.bz2 on SlackDVD. Will it do? or is version important?


Also on an unrelated part, what is better in LFS over Gentoo?

Yes, that will probably do. The only setback might be the instructions may not work as well. Maybe find an older version of the book to follow.

The difference between LFS and Gentoo (or any precompiled Linux) is that it's not as customized for your machine. This can be good or bad. It's good that you learn how Linux works. It's good for your hardware IF you do it right. It's bad if you don't want to wait for your distro to work or spend hours trying to get things right.

If you take kernel 2.6.18, it says in the documentation that the requirement is
gcc>=3.2

But Gentoo isn't the precompiled linux ...its all compile yourself. That is why I asked ... or I could have asked LFS vs. FC ..

I haven't played with Gentoo, but it looks like most of that is automated.

From wikipedia... "All tools and utilities are built from source code. For convenience, however, several large software packages are also available as precompiled binaries for various architectures via the Portage system."

I guess the real difference between LFS and that type of system is LFS tells you every step of the way how and why it's doing things. I see LFS being better as a learning tool if you're into Computer Science. Gentoo is better if you're just interested in an optimized Linux for your hardware. Less chance of mistakes.

ohh ok. Thanks a lot!