[5f610523] | 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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[6732c094] | 2 | <!DOCTYPE preface PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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| 3 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
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[5f610523] | 4 | <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
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| 5 | %general-entities;
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| 6 | ]>
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| 7 |
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[722aba88] | 8 | <!-- $LastChangedBy$
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| 9 | $Date$ -->
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| 10 |
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| 11 | <preface id="preface" xreflabel="Preface">
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[db78bbc] | 12 | <?dbhtml filename="preface.html" dir="preface"?>
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[daa06e4] | 13 |
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[db78bbc] | 14 | <title>Preface</title>
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[daa06e4] | 15 |
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[722aba88] | 16 | <para>Having helped out with Linux From Scratch for a short time, I
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| 17 | noticed that we were getting many queries as to how to do things beyond
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| 18 | the base LFS system. At the time, the only assistance specifically offered
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| 19 | relating to LFS were the LFS hints (<ulink url="&hints-root;"/>).
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| 20 | Most of the LFS hints are extremely good and well written
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| 21 | but I (and others) could still see a need for more comprehensive help to
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| 22 | go Beyond LFS - hence BLFS.</para>
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| 23 |
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| 24 | <para>BLFS aims to be more than the LFS-hints converted to XML although
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| 25 | much of our work is based around the hints and indeed some authors write
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| 26 | both hints and the relevant BLFS sections. We hope that we can provide
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| 27 | you with enough information to not only manage to build your system up to
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| 28 | what you want, whether it be a web server or a multimedia desktop system,
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| 29 | but also that you will learn a lot about system configuration as you go.</para>
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| 30 |
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| 31 | <para>Thanks as ever go to everyone in the LFS/BLFS
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| 32 | community; especially those who have contributed instructions, written text,
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| 33 | answered questions and generally shouted when things were wrong!</para>
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| 34 |
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| 35 | <para>Finally, we encourage you to become involved in the community; ask
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| 36 | questions on the mailing list or news gateway and join in the fun on #lfs at
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| 37 | irc.&lfs-domainname;. You can find more details about all of these in the
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| 38 | <xref linkend="introduction"/> section of the book.</para>
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| 39 |
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| 40 | <para>Enjoy using BLFS.</para>
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| 41 |
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| 42 | <blockquote>
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[db78bbc] | 43 | <literallayout>Mark Hymers
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[4e88613] | 44 | markh <at> &lfs-domainname;
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[db78bbc] | 45 | BLFS Editor (July 2001–March 2003)</literallayout>
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[722aba88] | 46 | </blockquote>
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| 47 |
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| 48 | <para>I still remember how I found the BLFS project
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| 49 | and started using the instructions that were completed at the time. I could
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| 50 | not believe how wonderful it was to get an application up and running very
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| 51 | quickly, with explanations as to why things were done a certain way.
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| 52 | Unfortunately, for me, it wasn't long before I was opening applications that
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| 53 | had nothing more than "To be done" on the page. I did what most would do,
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| 54 | I waited for someone else to do it. It wasn't too long before I am looking
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| 55 | through <application>Bugzilla</application> for something easy to do.
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| 56 | As with any learning experience, the definition of what was easy kept
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| 57 | changing.</para>
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| 58 |
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| 59 | <para>We still encourage you to become involved as BLFS is
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| 60 | never really finished. Contributing or just using, we hope you enjoy
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| 61 | your BLFS experience.</para>
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| 62 |
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| 63 | <blockquote>
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[db78bbc] | 64 | <literallayout>Larry Lawrence
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[4e88613] | 65 | larry <at> &lfs-domainname;
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[db78bbc] | 66 | BLFS Editor (March 2003–June 2004)</literallayout>
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[722aba88] | 67 | </blockquote>
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| 68 |
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| 69 | <para>The BLFS project is a natural progression of
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| 70 | LFS. Together, these projects provide a unique resource for
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| 71 | the Open Source Community. They take the mystery out of the process of
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| 72 | building a complete, functional software system from the source code contributed
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| 73 | by many talented individuals throughout the world. They truly allow users
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| 74 | to implement the slogan "Your distro, your rules."</para>
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| 75 |
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| 76 | <para>Our goal is to continue to provide the best resource available that shows
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| 77 | you how to integrate many significant Open Source applications. Since these
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| 78 | applications are constantly updated and new applications are developed, this
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| 79 | book will never be complete. Additionally, there is always room for
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| 80 | improvement in explaining the nuances of how to install the different packages.
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| 81 | To make these improvements, we need your feedback. I encourage you to
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| 82 | participate on the different mailing lists, news groups, and
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| 83 | IRC channels to help meet these goals.</para>
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| 84 |
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| 85 | <blockquote>
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[db78bbc] | 86 | <literallayout>Bruce Dubbs
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[4e88613] | 87 | bdubbs <at> &lfs-domainname;
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[722aba88] | 88 | BLFS Editor (June 2004–December 2006)</literallayout>
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| 89 | </blockquote>
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| 90 |
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| 91 | <para>My introduction to the [B]LFS project was actually by accident. I
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| 92 | was trying to build a <application>GNOME</application> environment using
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| 93 | some how-tos and other information I found on the web. A couple of times
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| 94 | I ran into some build issues and Googling pulled up some old BLFS mailing
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| 95 | list messages. Out for curiosity, I visited the Linux From Scratch web site
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| 96 | and shortly thereafter was hooked. I've not used any other Linux
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| 97 | distribution for personal use since.</para>
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| 98 |
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| 99 | <para>I can't promise anyone will feel the sense of satisfaction I felt
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| 100 | after building my first few systems using [B]LFS instructions, but I
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| 101 | sincerely hope that your BLFS experience is as rewarding for you as it has
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| 102 | been for me.</para>
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| 103 |
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| 104 | <para>The BLFS project has grown significantly the last couple of years.
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| 105 | There are more package instructions and related dependencies than ever
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| 106 | before. The project requires your input for continued success. If you
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| 107 | discover that you enjoy building BLFS, please consider helping out in any
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| 108 | way you can. BLFS requires hundreds of hours of maintenance to keep it
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| 109 | even semi-current. If you feel confident enough in your editing skills,
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| 110 | please consider joining the BLFS team. Simply contributing to the mailing
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| 111 | list discussions with sound advice and/or providing patches to the book's
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| 112 | XML will probably result in you receiving an invitation to join the
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| 113 | team.</para>
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[fd7e0ed6] | 114 |
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[722aba88] | 115 | <blockquote>
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| 116 | <literallayout>Randy McMurchy
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| 117 | randy <at> &lfs-domainname;
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[556a307a] | 118 | BLFS Editor (December 2006–January 2011)</literallayout>
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[722aba88] | 119 | </blockquote>
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| 120 |
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[e05cd03f] | 121 | <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="foreword.xml"/>
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| 122 | <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="whoread.xml"/>
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| 123 | <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="organization.xml"/>
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[c0cfef7b] | 124 | <!-- <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" href="errata.xml"/> -->
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[66a1f9c] | 125 |
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[5f610523] | 126 | </preface>
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