> Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2021 at 6:48 PM > From: "Bruce Dubbs via blfs-support" <blfs-support@lists.linuxfromscratch.org> > To: blfs-support@lists.linuxfromscratch.org > Cc: "Bruce Dubbs" <bruce.du...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [blfs-support] Is it worth jumping in for me? / Can LFS be even > more simple? > > On 1/6/21 10:24 PM, Paul via blfs-support wrote: > > I am interested in the idea of LFS to better understand Unix/Linux. I > > have been using Linux (Ubuntu/Debian/Arch) as my desktop for several > > years and it bothers me that I still don't understand A LOT about how it > > works. I like the idea of being able to simplify to the point where I > > understand the whole thing. However, looking through some of the LFS > > book (I haven't actually done it) I am concerned that the final system > > may still not be simplified to the point where I will have time to > > understand it all. > > > > Question 1: If I thoughtfully work through LFS, will I understand what > > every file on my system is for and what every process in userspace is > > doing? > > Probably not.At least not without a lot of work. For instance there are > three packages: gcc, glibc, and binutils that install a total of about > 5000 files. Understanding every one is not practical. > > That said, a base LFS system is much more lightweight than any > commercial distro. > > > Question 2: Is it possible to run a system using only the kernel, grub > > (or other bootloader), maybe a compiler/libc if I need it, and a single > > executible loaded by the kernel that I would write in C? Kind of like a > > "hello world" exercise that would turn my computer into a single > > text-based game, a super super super simple shell, or literally printing > > "hello world" on the monitor? > > You can't get down to quite that few packages. but certainly you could > do that from a base LFS system. For what you want would require bash > and gcc and vim, but those require a lot of support packages, not the > least of which include glibc, and the kernel. Building those packages > requires a lot of support packages like sed, gawk, grep, binutils, > bison, make, tar, etc. > > Building LFS will help you understand how all these tools and libraries > interact, but understanding in detail everything is probably beyond any > individual. > > -- Bruce > > -- > http://lists.linuxfromscratch.org/listinfo/blfs-support > FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/faq.html > Unsubscribe: See the above information page >
Hello, When I first started with linux back in 1997 I had a 4 page leaflet of how to install it, along with a cd of the then current Debian. Within that leaflet was basic linux commands as well as how to set things up. From there I progressed through teaching myself basic linux, and in 2002 I worked for a friend's webhosting company as a systems administrator. I was taught a bit by the technical owner and was soon setting up new servers and troubleshooting various installation scripts that installed open source packages on the commercial webhosting platform known as cpanel. I would advise you to be really comfortable with the command line before installing LFS. Once you have achieved proficiency with the basics, ie extracting the tar archives and being able to create/delete directories, be able to use the mouse in which ever terminal that you use, ie gnome-shell (terminal in gnome) xterm or some other in another, change directories and list the contents. It would also be helpful for you to be able to copy and paste between the tty's, so you would need to install gpm as soon as possible. You would need to take a look at the dependencies and install them as soon after moving to chroot on the final build of lfs as possible. If you are strapped for time, there is an alternative. You could use jhalf to build the lfs system, and then you have a fully working base system, and then you could boot into lfs and then install gpm and dependencies, and then build the libraries first, as they are needed first off. That way you can still learn more about linux, but you are able to do it in stages whilst building a desktop system. Regards, Christopher. -- http://lists.linuxfromscratch.org/listinfo/blfs-support FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/faq.html Unsubscribe: See the above information page
