[27a00d98] | 1 | <sect1 id="pre-audience">
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| 2 | <title>Audience</title>
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| 3 | <?dbhtml filename="audience.html" dir="preface"?>
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| 4 |
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| 5 | <sect2>
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| 6 | <title>Who would want to read this book</title>
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| 7 |
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| 8 | <para>There are many reasons why somebody would want to read this book. The
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[2260572] | 9 | principal reason being to install a Linux system straight from the source
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[27a00d98] | 10 | code. A question many people raise is "Why go through all the hassle of
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| 11 | manually building a Linux system from scratch when you can just download and
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| 12 | install an existing one?". That is a good question and is the impetus for this
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| 13 | section of the book.</para>
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| 14 |
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[c3d4d49] | 15 | <para>One important reason for LFS's existence is to help people learn how a
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[cfc98ea] | 16 | Linux system works from the inside out. Building an LFS system helps demonstrate
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[27a00d98] | 17 | to you what makes Linux tick, how things work together and depend on each
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[b0ac1b2] | 18 | other. One of the best things that this learning experience provides is the
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[27a00d98] | 19 | ability to customize Linux to your own tastes and needs.</para>
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| 20 |
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| 21 | <para>A key benefit of LFS is that you have more control of your system
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| 22 | without relying on someone else's Linux implementation. With LFS, you are
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| 23 | in the driver's seat and dictate every aspect of your system, such as the
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| 24 | directory layout and bootscript setup. You also dictate where, why and how
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| 25 | programs are installed.</para>
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| 26 |
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| 27 | <para>Another benefit of LFS is the ability to create a very compact Linux
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| 28 | system. When installing a regular distribution, you are usually forced to
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| 29 | install several programs which you are likely never to use. They're just
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| 30 | sitting there wasting precious disk space (or worse, CPU cycles). It isn't
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[cfc98ea] | 31 | difficult to build an LFS system less than 100 MB. Does that still sound like a
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[27a00d98] | 32 | lot? A few of us have been working on creating a very small embedded LFS
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| 33 | system. We successfully built a system that was just enough to run the Apache
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| 34 | web server with approximately 8MB of disk space used. Further stripping could
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| 35 | bring that down to 5 MB or less. Try that with a regular distribution.</para>
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| 36 |
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| 37 | <para>We could compare distributed Linux to a hamburger you buy at a
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| 38 | fast-food restaurant -- you have no idea what you are eating. LFS, on the
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| 39 | other hand, doesn't give you a hamburger, but the recipe to make a hamburger.
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| 40 | This allows you to review it, to omit unwanted ingredients, and to
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| 41 | add your own ingredients which enhance the flavor of your burger. When you
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| 42 | are satisfied with the recipe, you go on to preparing it. You make it just
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| 43 | the way you like it: broil it, bake it, deep-fry it, barbecue it, or eat it
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| 44 | tar-tar (raw).</para>
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| 45 |
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| 46 | <para>Another analogy that we can use is that of comparing LFS with a
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| 47 | finished house. LFS will give you the skeletal plan of a house, but it's up
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| 48 | to you to build it. You have the freedom to adjust your plans as you
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| 49 | go.</para>
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| 50 |
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| 51 | <para>One last advantage of a custom built Linux system is security.
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| 52 | By compiling the entire system from source code, you are empowered to audit
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| 53 | everything and apply all the security patches you feel are needed. You don't
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| 54 | have to wait for somebody else to compile binary packages that fix a security
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| 55 | hole. Unless you examine the patch and implement it yourself you have no
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| 56 | guarantee that the new binary package was built correctly and actually fixes the
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| 57 | problem (adequately).</para>
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| 58 |
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| 59 | <para>There are too many good reasons to build your own LFS system for them all
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| 60 | to be listed here. This section is only the tip of the iceberg. As you
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| 61 | continue in your LFS experience, you will find on your own the power that
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| 62 | information and knowledge truly bring.</para>
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| 63 |
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| 64 | </sect2>
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| 65 |
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| 66 | <sect2>
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| 67 | <title>Who would not want to read this book</title>
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| 68 |
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| 69 | <para>There are probably some, for whatever reason, would feel that they do not
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| 70 | want to read this book. If you do not wish to build your own Linux system from
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| 71 | scratch, then you probably don't want to read this book. Our goal is to help
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| 72 | you build a complete and usable foundation-level system. If you only want to
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| 73 | know what happens while your computer boots, then we recommend the <quote>From
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| 74 | Power Up To Bash Prompt</quote> HOWTO. The HOWTO builds a bare system which is
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| 75 | similar to that of this book, but it focuses strictly on creating a system
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| 76 | capable of booting to a BASH prompt.</para>
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| 77 |
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| 78 | <para>While you decide which to read, consider your objective. If you wish
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| 79 | to build a Linux system while learning a bit along the way, then this book
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| 80 | is probably your best choice. If your objective is strictly educational and
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| 81 | you do not have any plans for your finished system, then the
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| 82 | <quote>From Power Up To Bash Prompt</quote> HOWTO is probably a better choice.</para>
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| 83 |
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| 84 | <para>The <quote>From Power Up To Bash Prompt</quote> HOWTO is located at
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| 85 | <ulink url="http://axiom.anu.edu.au/~okeefe/p2b/"/> or on The Linux
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[4eadbe19] | 86 | Documentation Project's website at
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| 87 | <ulink url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/From-PowerUp-To-Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.html"/>.</para>
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[27a00d98] | 88 |
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| 89 | </sect2>
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| 90 |
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| 91 | </sect1>
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