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How to Build Your Own Linux Distribution
Shelly writes "Go to the source to learn Linux basics and build the right Linux for you. Linux From Scratch (LFS) and its descendants represent a new way to teach users how the Linux operating systems work. LFS is based on the assumption that compiling a complete operating system piece by piece not only teaches how the operating system works but also allows an independent operator to build systems for speed, footprint, or security."
found a great primer: http://www.ccoss.org/tutorials/lfs/Linux_from_Scra tch_A_Tour.htm
People have been doing LFS for years. It's nothing really too new or significant.
It's not even a really good way to learn about how "Linux the OS" works. It's just another way of spending an inordinate amount of time tinkering with your computer (not that there's anything wrong with that).
If you want the benefits of LFS without the pain, just stick with Gentoo or Sorcerer Linux and let someone else worry about the sources. You still get the custom compilation benefits but don't have to waste time trying to track down stupid dependency problems (at least not as much as you would with LFS, but more than with a mainstream distro).
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
Since it wasn't linked in the main thingamjig, you might want to check this out: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ Notice, when you look at that, LFS is now at version 6.0. Solid proof that this isn't actually "new" at all. =) I can remember building LFS 3.0 actually on an old pentium 150... just made some scripts for it and left the PC on overnight.
Learn how to make fire from a Coke can and a chocolate bar or simply from ice or water if you must..
Building your own Linux distribution is like building your own airplane.
People build their own airplanes not because they want Airplane X or Feature Y, they do it because they want to build an airplane. They want to take control of the construction process and be intimately familiar with the final product. They want to learn how the various airplane systems function. They will not necessarily learn the detailed workings of an internal combustion engine, but they will learn how it interacts with other systems.
The same is true with LFS. If you want a generic Linux distribution, then install Fedora, Gentoo, Debian, or whatever suits you. However, if you want to build your own Linux distribution, if want to take control and be intimately familiar with the final product, then LFS is the way to go. You will learn how the various components function. You will not necessarily learn the detailed workings of the Linux kernel, but you will learn how it interacts with other system components.
When we look to Windows admins, do they need to install it from scratch to understand the internals and how to repair things? No!
And that's exactly the same here. We don't need to know how to compile things to know how they interact and how to repair what's broken. Yes, you can learn to assemble an OS but WHO CARES? All the enterprises or people you'll met will ALL used canned distributions of Linux. They all have their own problems installing but also have their way to solve it.
If you want to learn the system internal do it with a distro you like. Install packages one by one and see how they work, what they do, etc. but don't give you the trouble to compile all from scratch.
If you are still searching problems to solve to learn something after that, check out your distro's bug tracker. I'm sure they'll appreciate you helping them solve the thousand problem there are!
"How to Build Your Own Linux Distribution"
Klaus Knopper's Knoppix has encouraged many people build their own distro. Most of these have instructions for remastering the disk and creating a personal Linux disro on a bootable CD.
I'm fond of:
GeeXbox - multimedia player, plays my DVDs on a old machine.
SLAX - based on Slackware, detailed instructions for remastering. Has quite a community around it.
Austrumi - Loads into memory and then ejects the CD. Browser, word processor, Email, multimedia, games, more. It's only a 48 M download, I love it.
Puppy - Good reviews but doesn't work on my hardware.
DamnSmallLinux - Fits on a miniCD. A community is growing around this one also.
1000 SlashDot sigs
Somebody here said that LFS is better when you have a script to run its installation steps overnight in unattended mode. SourceMage is this kind of script, only more. If you're keen on LFS, want to learn Linux, but don't have patience to go through mundate things (like typing ./configure approximately 1,000,000 times, including false starts), please check out SourceMage. We won't disappoint.