On Fri, 2021-03-26 at 14:00 -0400, Don Cross via blfs-support wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 1:36 PM Rainer Fiebig via blfs-support <blfs-
> [email protected]> wrote:
> > Hi all!
> >
> > First, thanks to you and the team of LFS for your work and effort! I
> > think that in terms of digital self-empowerment LFS/BLFS is the most
> > important and most valuable Linux-distribution of all.
> >
> > There is hardly anything to criticize. From my own experience however, I
> > think that two aspects could be improved in BLFS:
> >
> >
> > 1. Like for LFS, there should be a file with the md5sums
> >
> > Verification of the packages is important. But having to check each of
> > several hundreds of checksums individually is really a tedious exercise
> > without much educational value.
> >
> > The idea is of course to download the packages one needs and then check
> > the md5sums with
> > md5sum -c md5sum_file
> > against those in the file.
> >
> >
> > 2. In hindsight, I would have appreciated a clear path to a
> > desktop-environment
> >
> > I know what the "Introduction" in the book says: "Unlike the Linux From
> > Scratch book, BLFS isn't designed to be followed in a linear manner."
> >
> > But in BLFS it is IMO very easy to get lost and frustrated in choices
> > and especially *dependency-hell* ("Dammit! Not another one!!!"). IMO
> > this aspect is rather a test for one's resolve than an encouraging
> > learning experience.
> >
> > So what I suggest, is a clearly identifiable common thread within the
> > book or a list with the install-sequence (!) of those essential packages
> > one needs to have as a basis for a desktop environment.
> >
> > I think this would make it much easier for the newcomer to build a
> > complete system and get a motivating sense of achievement - in half the
> > time. And the gain in knowledge wouldn't be any less, IMO.
> >
> > Hope this was the right list to post this to.
> >
> > Thoughts?
> >
> > Rainer Fiebig
> >
>
>
> It sounds like it might be a fun project for somebody to create a utility to
> parse the BLFS book's XML source code:
>
> svn co svn://svn.linuxfromscratch.org/BLFS/trunk/BOOK/
>
> Given a package name, the hypothetical utility program could parse the XML,
> figure out the dependency tree, download everything, and validate the MD5
> checksums. Then it could render the links to the online book instructions so
> you
> can read and follow them in the correct order.
This thing exists. Not perfect because the xml does not have enough information
in it, but dependencies seem to work. You can try it with (from your home
directory):
$ mkdir try_dep
$ cd try_dep
$ svn co svn://svn.linuxfromscratch.org/ALFS/jhalfs/trunk jhalfs
[...]
Checked out revision 4212.
$ cd jhalfs
$ make
# Fill up the form:
BOOK Settings --->
Use BOOK (Beyond Linux From Scratch (see help)) --->
Init system (BLFS SysV) ---> # (use systemd if you have built LFS systemd)
Release (SVN) ---> # can be changed to use a tag
(/blfs_root) Root of the tools directory (see help) (NEW) # change name as you
like (respective to $HOME directory)
(blfs-xml) BLFS sources directory (internal parameter) (NEW) # shouldn't be
changed
(lfs-xml) LFS sources directory (internal parameter) (NEW) # shouldn't be
changed
LFS Release (LFS SVN) ---> # can be changed to use a tag
(/wherever/you/have/write/access/database) Installed packages database directory
(NEW)
# save and exit. Watch the various downloads. You may have to install a few
# packages, should the tool ask for them.
$ cd ~/blfs_root
$ make
[X] X + Window and Display Managers (NEW)
X + Window and Display Managers --->
[X] xinit 1.4.1 (NEW)
# (just an example; adjust as you like). Save and exit. Answer "yes",
# and watch the tool doing dependencies.
# There should be a subdirectory "scripts" with all the scripts, and
# ./book-html/index.html to look at the instructions.
($ for things you type at bash prompt, # for comments, and otherwise forms you
should fill up)
HTH
Pierre
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