LINUX FROM SCRATCH

Part One

Don’t miss next issue – subscribe on page 14!

One of the great things about Linux, and open source in general, is the ability to leverage the work of others in order to make something better. Or at least better for you. Today’s Linux distributions do exactly that, assembling individual upstream projects such as the Linux kernel, GNU utilities and applications into a cohesive operating system that’s easy to install and use.

Of course, you can always customise a Linux distro by adding packages, features and applications as desired. But the Linux From Scratch (www.linuxfromscratch.org) project (hereafter also written as LFS) takes a different tact. LFS enables you to build a Linux distribution from the ground up.

Sound fun? Well it is, but it’s also a fair amount of work. There are many modern conveniences that will be missing, because you’ll be building everything by yourself from source code and configuration files. The good news is that if you’re someone who’s willing to “read the manual," and you can follow instructions, you too can build a Linux system and gain an understanding of how distribution developers assemble these systems today. And you’ll learn a lot along the way.

There are a few things you’ll require in order to get started with LFS. The first is a compatible