>> Do you, personally, see an actual problem with the "open BLFS index, >> search for name of package like Firefox, click and go down >> dependencies" approach? I know that's exactly what I did when *I* was >> a newbie, and it worked fine. > > I don't build a ladder to get to one fruit, I build a platform that > supports whatever I need to do, harvest, pruning, etc. Personal > approach, eh?
I'm talking about what a newbie might want. I think starting with one specific package and going down its dependencies is a good starting point for someone new - once you've done this a few times, then you have a good idea of all the basic dependencies you would need and start building those first. >> In general, Ken has already covered most of what I'd say in reply, but >> I'd also note that much of the stuff you list is just dependencies. >> You don't install openssl or libpng because you want those packages, >> as they're almost useless on their own. They're things you install >> only because they're needed in order to install something you *do* >> care about (e.g openssh, or a desktop) > > Certainly. I do have goals to get to. But a newbie would, I think, > benefit from being told that (s)he needs to build certain dependencies, > with PERHAPS some guidance to what a good set would be, before getting > to the goal of a functional desktop. In the LFS book the approach is > forward-looking, i.e. "We need libc before we can proceed", while as > everybody is saying, in the BLFS book it's all backward-looking and only > finds dependencies that lead to one specific package. I think I spend > rather more time than most here developing a broader base of "support" > packages, a "layered" approach. > And the dependencies they need are different depending on what actual apps they use. And it's different in LFS because the whole point there is a very generic base system - it's specifically meant to be done in a linear fashion going from beginning to end, whereas you are expected to pick-and-choose what you want from BLFS. Besides, once you've installed a single major app - like Firefox - just in the process of installing what it needs you will generally have a number of dependencies that many other packages also need. I just don't see the problem, and again, I see this more as something one might do when they're still learning, and later move on to having a complete list of basic dependencies on later LFS builds. -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/blfs-support FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/faq.html Unsubscribe: See the above information page
