i've been using mand..
i'd like to try little bit tougher one..

can LFS use any software? openoffice/postgres/xemacs/galeon/xmms....
all kinda good stuff =)

thanks

Hi there!

I'd say you should try Slackware first, just to become used to what linux is 'really' like. After you've been using it for a while, and know you way around, you can try LFS.

By the way, you can can do anything with LFS that you can do with any other distro, as long as you've got the right libs installed etc. etc.

Good Luck!!
RefriedBean

I vote, install Slack then create your LFS when your ready from within Slack...

I say LFS. I think by going with slack it's like taking a foreign language class. There is nothing like going to the country and learning a language that way. That is LFS. IMO

But, if you aren't ready for headaches, Long nights, and a few other symptoms from LFS syndrome, then Slack might be a little bit more of what you want.

LFS is what you make it. Hence the "from scratch" part. If you are baking cookies and want chocolate chips, what do you have to add? Chocolate chips. If you are building LFS and want openoffice, what do you add? All the dependencies + OpenOffice. If you want mplayer, what do you add? And so on. You will have to have patience while getting your system setup right, there will be ALOT of dependency issues at first, but once you get through most of them, you will have a solid machine that you have nursed and breast fed. And eventually you will teach it about the birds and the bees and soon after it will make mini LFS systems of it's own.

LFS
it seems that it's gonna take at least a month

what happens when time comes when i have to throw away my system?
what about the time that i spent with my comp..

Throw away? You can always donate it to the MasterC foundation. There is currently only 1 member working hard for the foundations cause. To have as many household things replaced by a computer running linux.

Yeah, if you aren't looking to spend some quality time nurtering your PC, then slack would be a much easier monster to tackle.

Why throw away "reformat, reinstall".
Keep Mandrake as your primary distro.

Then as time, money, harddrive space permitt, work with LFS and as many other distro as you can, and throw in
a little OpenBSD, FreeBSD to boot.

Hey, You can do it the way I did it:
Use Slack to be productive - be careful, you can mess up your system very easily. But, also do an LFS install. Just do it for the sake of learning something. The knowledge you gain doing this is going to be very valuable if you use Slack.
I just don't use LFS because it takes a long time to set up until you can actually do something productive (like surfing the web using mozilla etc.).
However, the best thing to do would be trying them both and see which one you like better and go for this one.

The bad thing about LFS is the length of time it will take to have a useable system. The last time I tried, it took me a week to get it to boot. By that time I was having space problems on Slack, so I gave up and reclaimed the extra space. However, if you have enough HD for 2 distros, you can use your other distro until you can get a good enough LFS. One more warning: LFS can be addictive! Despite several failed attempts, I'm giving it yet another try.

I say LFS and I am a newbie to linux, it took me a day to get it workin and then another day to get it runnin how i like it e.g x windows systems e.t.c

Wow, now I am impressed I took me way longer the first time The second time, i didn't require a day anymore

its cool to get it runnin, i like to sort the errors and the dependinces out

I suggest Slack. LFS, especially with X, KDE and GNOME takes a long time to build.

yes lfs does take along time and if u r the impatiant type then go for slack