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Linux from Scratch

linuxfromscratch.org

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Re: Linux from Scratch

#11

Post by necovek »

This was probably the best thing I've done to learn the ins and outs of a running Linux system: I think it would be amazing to re-do it with a modern Linux stack (systemd + Wayland), but it can really remove all the "magic" from the full OS implementation for you.

However, I've done it in 1999 and ran that system until 2001 when it became too much of a trouble to recompile everything and battle dependencies manually — note that LFS was not as detailed then either, so many dependencies you had to track yourself, and some were very obscure!

Yes, the time investment was high, but I was a high school student starting college with too much interest in something like this and obviously enough time on my hands (after which I was so "smart" to switch to Slackware, a one-man show where I also ended up having manually compiled versions of "small packages" like XFree86 and GNOME, which I was contributing to: when "GARNOME" showed up, that was a revelation! etc)

So if you can afford it, do it: using Linux will never be the same again!

Re: Linux from Scratch

#13

Post by ilvez »

cogman10 wrote: post #4
steve1977 wrote: post #2

It's been years since I went through this, but whenever someone asks me what they should read to get a deeper understanding of what a Linux distribution is, I point them to this.

Yup, it's where I got a lot of my linux knowledge. I think that Gentoo or even Arch would provide pretty close to the same education level, though, with a lot less time to install.

Other point is long time maintainability as well.. Like unistalling stuff you don't need etc. Or LFS solves it?

Re: Linux from Scratch

#14

Post by necovek »

charliebwrites wrote: post #9

Every time I see this, I upvote it I’m sure it’s different than it was when I was a teenager but building Linux from scratch was the thing that got me into computers as a kid It shows that computers can be accessible _and modifiable_ at the lowest levels

Having done it as a teenager as well when it showed up in 1999 myself, that's probably the sweet point when we are smart (and persistent) enough to figure problems out, but also have enough time to see it through! :D

Re: Linux from Scratch

#15

Post by petcat »

I bought the dead tree version of this book back in ~2006 or so.

I used to work in a business park in Seattle and the company next door to us operated a PC recycling warehouse. There were piles of old 386/486-era PCs in various states of disrepair just piled up behind their building. I'd go out there once in awhile and pick-through their piles looking for Intel CPUs, sticks of RAM, and hard drives. Find a good chassis with intact motherboard.

I loved putting that stuff together and installing Linux on those machines. I cut my teeth on Linux and LFS building computers out of those Frankensteins.

Re: Linux from Scratch

#16

Post by necovek »

Chilinot wrote: post #7
cogman10 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, it's where I got a lot of my linux knowledge. I think that Gentoo or even Arch would provide pretty close to the same education level, though, with a lot less time to install.

Having installed Arch myself a couple of times, i think i would disagree. Not really much in that process that teaches you how linux actually works. It's more just about managing disk partitions and moving files around than anything else. LFS is just on a whole different level, and is on my bucket list to complete the entire process one day.

Agreed!

As an addendum, you have to do it for your actual working computer, otherwise, doing it on a VM or a machine you don't use, you won't be learning nearly as much as there is no pressure to make it truly work for you (this is where learning happens, when the thing you wanted to configure, and LFS docs or web docs are out of date on, so you have to dig deeper).

Re: Linux from Scratch

#17

Post by bigfishrunning »

webdevver wrote: post #8

Making bespoke linux distros should be quite a good fit for LLM agents, especially given the recent results with the LLM-authored web browser.

Why? If you really care that little about the properties of the Linux distribution, just run one of the many that already exist.

Linux From Scratch was never really about running the system anyway -- Most people go through it as a learning exercise and then run a maintained distribution anyway; I would think it's a tiny minority that maintains an LFS system for a long time.

Re: Linux from Scratch

#18

Post by coldpie »

necovek wrote: post #11

This was probably the best thing I've done to learn the ins and outs of a running Linux system: I think it would be amazing to re-do it with a modern Linux stack (systemd + Wayland), but it can really remove all the "magic" from the full OS implementation for you. However, I've done it in 1999 and ran that system until 2001 when it became too much of a trouble to recompile everything and battle dependencies manually…

Agreed, I also did it in high school, circa 2005, and it was a fantastic experience. Learning how to build dozens of different projects and see how they all fit together really set me up for my career doing systems programming. I never actually used the system I built (I'm not even sure I got to a graphical desktop) but it was still a fantastic use of a handful of evenings.

Re: Linux from Scratch

#19

Post by self_awareness »

Years ago, installing Gentoo from an early stage was also a good experiment.

Nowadays they've deprecated all stages but stage3. It's still fun, but bootstrapping Gentoo from stage1 was a Linux-from-scratch-like experience (not quite, but similar).

Re: Linux from Scratch

#20

Post by Alupis »

necovek wrote: post #11

This was probably the best thing I've done to learn the ins and outs of a running Linux system: I think it would be amazing to re-do it with a modern Linux stack (systemd + Wayland), but it can really remove all the "magic" from the full OS implementation for you. However, I've done it in 1999 and ran that system until 2001 when it became too much of a trouble to recompile everything and battle dependencies manually…

They do offer a systemd version[1], along with a variety of other versions, including Gaming Linux From Scratch (X11 and Wayland), and Automated Linux From Scratch (with a build system)[2]

[1] https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/view/stable-systemd/

[2] https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/index.html

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