Lately, I've been playing around with linux from scratch http://www.linuxfromscratch.org , Linux From Scratch is a great project that aims towards teaching you how to compile your own Linux distribution entirely from source !
It's a totally great thing to do, after finishing the first LFS dist., you will be able to follow up your dist. using BLFS "Beyond Linux From Scratch", to make your system more usable and fun to deal with !.
I've been compiling lots of stuff now , but I accidentally deleted everything I've compiled, including the kernel !.
I decided to write this post to make sure everyone understands that there are no patches for human stupidity !:-), So here are some guidelines to follow without losing your data:
-The process of LFS is long and you will get stuck very often and will have to bounce around directories and everything will become messy !
-It is a great practice to use the LFS Live CD , it has everything and all the sources that you will need to compile your entire system and make it functionable !, the LFS liveCD ensures that you have a complete tested environment that suits your LFS project !
-Playing around while you're a root is a very bad idea ! , you'll probably end up deleting something important, or moving some file/folder somewhere you forget !
-It's recommended to use another user account to do all your work, and su whenever you need to do something with higher privileges, like compiling a source , delete a file/folder , etc ...
-From my experience, building an LFS OS is not so time consuming if you did it right, IMO you should use an extra box to do the process, although you can do the exact same thing on your workstation , but think about how you want to check your email, do other work while you're compiling the Linux kernel ! , you can also try to use Virtual machines, I'm currently testing LFS using a virtual box using VMware Server, Virtulaization is great, but in this case, I guess it won't be of much use, I think it will just eat up your power and render your computer slow and useless "maybe in some cases"
In conclusion , I think everyone must experience LFS, it will help understand Linux and how everything works inside the OS!, you might even try to hack around !.
You might be accused of reinventing the wheel if you told anyone about the LFS project and that you're participating or using the project !, I just wanted to make it clear that LFS is not aimed towards releasing zillions of Linux distributions !, LFS just teaches you how to use Linux right, build your own dist. and know the bottom up, not top down !, is that reinventing the wheel ?
Linux is a great operating system, so why not build your own dist. with all the packages you need, tailored just for your personal use ?! would be fantastic !
Have fun folks, Use linux and encourage the use of Free software !
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2 comments:
hi...I am glad that you tried LFS project in vmware workstation....I wanted to know whether you have succeeded in it or not????Even I tried in vmware and I completed in 2 weeks.
regards,
shobhit sharda (I have posted about this in my blog shobhitsharda.wordpress.com)
Hi Shobhit !,
Thanks for your interest in my project :)
this was a really fun project to do , and actually I dont even remember how it ended , this was about 2 years ago ! hehe
but well, as I recall I think I decided to use an extra box I had, and decided that it was better than virtualisation "for my case"
Well, It took quiet longer than 2 weeks for me :) I'm a little bit lazy and never finish a project :D hehe
well you reminded me of that now, and I might think about redoing it some time, maybe with your help ?
I have stopped using this blog and i'm working on my new blog now, same posts/comments are there too :
http://www.mostafaberg.com
thanks for your intrests, let's stay in touch :)
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