Hey I've been playing around with linux for the past couple months trying to get a good grasp of this OS and I think I've gotten down most of the basics, so I figured I'd try and expand on that little bit of knowledge by diving right into the deep end and try out LFS.

The reason I'm writing here is to find out a bit of INFO on LFS from some of it's veterans, from those who tried and failed and those who succeeded.

So here comes the flood of questions:

1.Who here has successfully created their own box?
2.What level of knowledge did you possess prior to creating your own box?
3.What was the best thing you learned from it?
4.What were the most difficult parts for you?
5.Was it in your mind worth the time and effort?
6.What advice would you give me or any other linux newb before starting?

Thanks in advance for your input.

I have. On multiple systems I have successfully followed the various books B/C/HLFS, with at least two current systems running some form of LFS and one currently out of commission. The books need not be followed “to the letter” (at least after your first successful build). You usually find newer versions of some packages as well as other patches on the net not included in the official book. The LFS hints can also be helpful.
The first time…close to nothing (about linux in general), but I had some minor programming experience in C/C++, though it was never explicitly use.
I barely knew anything of the shell or standard commands (or even what a shell was). Naturally, LFS was not my sole source of knowledge. I concurrently read many relevant howto’s and guides on what is now tldp.org. Btw, at the time LFS was in transition from being more like a guide to more like a book. I read through it a few times before the planned build, when a new stable version surfaced (IIRC, it used gcc-2.95.3), and I built with that. Later on, as LFS matured, I rebuilt my system from scratch a few times, and eventually set up a user-based package management system to keep up to date.
What I would consider now to be most important lesson is how a toolchain works, especially a cross-compile toolchain (although this lesson definately was only barely conceived on the first run). A priori, the most important thing seemed to be the reality that a “distro” is not some magical thing from which you get your software, but that it collects and packages software from disparate programmers’ projects around the world (i.e., akin to the lesson that milk does not come from the grocery store). I also learned what is and isn’t necessary for an init system and how to write your own init system (although this was more of an adventure into shell programming)
I do not recall any difficulties in my first build (this may be my memory or it may be that I was lucky enough to get it right on the first try). The major difficulties came in learning how to deviate from the book. I.e., learning how to diagnose a broken build, trace back compiler messages to offending code, read project mailing lists, find fixes/patches, etc.. Also, I learned the distinction between the lack of compiler errors and brokenness of a package (which usually messes something else up unexpectedly).
Yes.
Read through the entire book at least once before starting. Don’t use LFS as your only documentation. Try to learn the basics of the shell and maybe some shell programming. On your first build, follow the latest stable book to the letter. If you get stuck, ask for help. Etc., etc., etc.

Wow, thanks for that very informative post Osor. You make it sound much easier than it is I'm sure.

Now to pick your brain a bit more.

You mentioned that you had a bit of prior knowledge of C/C++ programming, you didn't find that knowledge to be very relevant to building your system?

As far as lessons to learn before beginning, you suggest studying up on the shell and shell programming. Those 2 things are in your mind the most basic tools needed to undertake the task of building your own box?

Do you have any suggested reading material? perhaps something that was most benificial to you while doing your build?
I know you suggested tldp.org guides, and the mailing list, but short of that and the LFS book was there anything that significantly helped you?

thanks again for your previous post.