hi

i am a newbie, i can use command lien alright. can compile, configure most of the hardware the i have, manually.

i just came across this forum and am wondering what LFS is? does someone create his/her own distro like this or is it the way all distros are prepared in the first place.

and guidence(links, books etc) would be appreciated.

thanks
Farhan Ali

Start reading the LFS website at http://www.linuxfromscratch.org

The LFS project comes in the form of a book. Read the book's preface and introduction chapter to get a better idea what it is all about: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/view/4.1

Basically just teaches you how to build a distro, it's great. Has bootscripts for you to download too, so you don't have to bother with all that.

definately an excellent (althought time consuming) way to build a linux box. If you've ever found yourself on a distro (redhat, suse, debian, slackware) system and thought... why is that software installed? I don't use it? Or if you've gone searching through your system wondering what was starting a process or why something was behaving the way it was then LFS is perfect for you.

In piecing the system together you control what software is on your machine and how its configured. Although you'll struggle for about the first week of use (every time I went to install software I'd have to install 2 or 3 libraries) its definately worth it. For example I love the GTK and Gnome libraries but I never use the Gnome window manager. So I've installed the libraries and left out the window manager... perfectly tailored to my tastes.

If you follow the LFS book, you will piece together and compile a basic Linux system. I found it worthwhile to do as I learned about compiling, learned how to better use the command line and what to do when something seems not to be working. You also learn what is provided to you by the distribution you buy.
I read through the book, downloaded the source code, and built the basic system over a month or two. Had no idea what I was doing most of the time.
But it worked.

Now I'm all Stoked
Good By Mandrake
Hellow Marshmellows CRISPY KERNEL
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