What I need to Start ?
 

Hello,

I want to create my own linux distro which will contain at least following :

I have downloaded LFS 6.1 eBook from their site and Currently I am using Mandrake 10.1 Official Release and want to use this as my base system because it is working fine with my hardware. My system configuration is :


Can any one suggest me how to start ?


Thanks,
Kirtimaan.

http://slax.linux-live.org/ have tools to create your own live-linux cd just like knoppix. the
scripts they use to make the live-cd may be of help

Just start by doing everything in the Linux From Scratch book.
When you have done this you will have the most basic linux system that exists.
After that read the Beyond Linux From Scratch book.
It explains how to install and configure various aspects of a linux system ranging from basic security to graphical browsers.
I just finished my LFS-system and am now busy with BLFS-book.

Some basic advice:
* Do a lot of sanity check when the book says so
* Download a copy of the book version you are going, that way you won't have a problem when the stable version changes
* Download all archives from the LFS-website at once to make sure you have exactly the same version in the book

I wish you good luck and hope you enjoy creating your once distro as much as I have and am doing.

The book should just about give you enough knowledge to make your own distroThe book says not to do that because you'll slow down their servers. They only make them available on their site because other sites might not be carrying them anymore.

So only get the ones you can't find anywhere else.
Just make sure to get the exact versions and check the md5sums.

Being that I'm doing this right now, my suggestion is to use the LiveCD. If you read the book online, it states that you won't even need a working internet connection; just the LiveCD and an empty partition in which you plan on installing your LFS. I downloaded the .pdf 6.1 book and made sure I had the 6.1 LiveCD for my host system.

I wish you luck in whichever advice you choose to adhere to! I'm not sure if I messed up my LFS and will have to start over or if the mistakes I made while following the book are recoverable. Just be prepared to spend a lot of time working on it. I'm currently going on over a week installing this, but then again, my system specs aren't as good as yours.

Hello all,

Thanks for supporting and encouraging me. Brennan, I must use the LiveCD, because when I read some chaps of book, I found that I need to download approx 120 MB minimum in order to start. And here I don't have so good network connection. . So I am going to Order LFS LiveCD 6.1.


I know that it will take more and more time, also serval messups will be there. But I am eager to build my own distro and planning to give 3 hrs per day.


Thanks again,
Kirtimaan.

Hello,

I just got the LFS Live CD 6.1.2 , purchased from a linux vendor. When I boot my system from disk, It starts the LFS and gave me a console. I found the /root/README and found that ino and XFCE gui is available in CD.

where the all packages are ? means in which directory, LFS packages are located so that I don't need them to download.

Thanks,
Kirtimaan.

Hello,

I located all packages source in sources directory. and Now I am on chapter 5.7. One question I have is when to remove a package source ?

I copied source folder to my LFS partition and now I am unpacking that and compiling one-by-one as per book and a hint (install-lfs-fromcd).

In book, it is given not to remove binutils-build directory, not to remove gcc-build directory in 1st pass. but what about other packages ? Can I remove source directories of other packages, once i <i> make ; make install </i> them ?


Thanks,
Kirtimaan.

you can all remove the other build directory's you only have to leave them if the book tells you to.
Just follow the book word by word and you will have a shiny full working distro.

Good luck!

Thanks mr_demilord.

One more question , Is it required to install all packages listed in Chapter 5 ? Or can I choose what to install and what to not ?

Also It seems that in Chapter 6 again same package is compiled and installed which was done in chapter 5. What is difference in both ? is this due to chroot ?

Thanks
Kirtimaan.

It is highly recommed to install all the packages from LFS,
Otherwise the build will fail.
Chapter 5 is the toolchain , a set of tools to build the LFS system. these tools will be used to build the packages in Chapter 6.

In chapter 6 all is done in a chroot, so the host keeps clean and it uses it's own tools.
This is the base LFS system.

========================================================================
If you plan to quit with it you have to chroot again.


I use some scripts to chroot from this

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/hint...rom-livecd.txt
It works flawless, I also use it for BLFS except xorg .

Just a tip to make it easier :)

If you start to build remember your host system needs some packages to build the toolchain.
The tools that are needed is noted at the top of each source you are going to install it is noted as Installation depends on:

Hello mr_demilord,

Thanks for being back to me. Infact I am following that hint because I am doing my LFS in shifts and keep shutting down my system. I also found it easier to create scripts rather than keep typing bunch on commands again and again to console each time I boot my system from LFS live cd.

Currently I am at topic 6.11 and Probably will complete my lfs by coming two - three days.

Kirtimaan.

One question: Do you only use script for setting things up or also for installing packages?

If you use it only for setting things up when booting no harm will be done.

I however had a problem using script for building programs.
If you configure gcc for c and c++ (Chapter 5: Pass 2 Gcc) "./configure --languages=c,c++"
and put it in the script exactly as it is on internet, c++ support won't be build.
I had this problem and noticed it several packages later and had to do a lot off things over.

So if you use scripts, be careful.

Hoes

GCC is indeed a pain in the ass to compile, it will only work if you copy past.
xorg is also known to fail in a chroot environment and there are also other packages that will fail like cups.
however the most will build succesfully.

BTW to clean some confusion, I only talked about entering the chroot environment for chapter 6.
I didnt talk about installation scripts

Can I have RPMs
 

Hello,

Yesterday I got my LFS system Bootable and fully working. I have also registered this to LFS site
and get counted. Now I am moving towards BLFS to expand CLI to GUI.


At this moment, I found that I have to download individual packages from different locations ( isn't there any ISO image like LFS ?), I am thinking that is it possible to use RPMs rather then packages ?


I know that LFS means to get rid of useless applications installed by other distros, but for example downloading all KDE app are sized approx 300 MB , while I have fedora , mandrake, RHL 9 disks and I think they are included in those distro in RPM format.

So can I get from there for BLFS ? If so then I must have to compile and install RPM command first. Can any one guide me for this ?


Thanks,
Kirtimaan.

With BLFS there is no minimum or maximum package installation.
BLFS doesn't host these packages because it all depends on peoples needs and everyone uses diferent configurations. BLFS does not use a package manager, all is installed from the source, otherwise it does not makes any sence that it is called "from the scratch" It's explained in the manual...
It is possible to install a package manager but I don't see the pro's of this.
If you wan't to uninstall a source package you can do <./configure && make uninstall>
then it gets uninstalled.
Just pick the packages you wan't/need and the including dependencies...

Good luck! :D

Hello mr_demilord,


Yes! That is what I want to ask. I have a dialup connection which can give me maximum 3 kb /sec speed here. With this speed, It is not practical to download all required application source specially when I have all RPMs of them. For LFS, I found some sites offereing CD containing all package sources in $3.95 and I ordered to one and get that to make my LFS system. But for BLFS I didn't find any such.

LFS rule what I learnt is "Your Distro, Your Rules" means you decide what to in and what to not. I think with RPMs I can do same. So that I asked about installing RPM package manager. Once I get a broadband connection, I will download all package sources what I require and then compile them to make another BLFS system. But for now, I want to do this with RPMs.


Thanks,
Kirtimaan.

Now I understand.
You can get the source tarball of rpm here, ftp://ftp.rpm.org/pub/rpm/dist/rpm-4.0.x/

Yup!
 

Hello,

Thanks! Yes that is what i want. also can you guide me what package (RPM) to select for X Window, KDE and XMMS/Mplayer. Also I tried to make mplayer on LFS system but that gave me an error in compilation. Most problably I need to keep Linux Kernel Source to my LFS system. I removed the directory in which I compiled the kernel. Is it the root of problem for Mplayer or it is other issue ?

Thanks,
Kirtimaan

What error did it gave you?


It is only required if you install a driver or want to recompile a kernel. It is not required.
You can easily build the kernel sources again. unpack the kernel in the /usr/src/ and copy the file </boot/config-[build-number]> to </usr/src/linux-2.6.[number]/.config>

Depends on the error... See my question..