1 | <sect1 id="pre-whoread">
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2 | <title>Who would want to read this book</title>
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3 | <?dbhtml filename="whoread.html" dir="preface"?>
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4 |
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5 | <para>There are many reasons why somebody would want to read this book. The
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6 | principle reason being to install an LFS system. A question many people raise
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7 | is "Why go through all the hassle of manually building a Linux system
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8 | from scratch when you can just download and install an existing one?". That
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9 | is a good question.</para>
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10 |
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11 | <para>One important reason for LFS's existence is helping people
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12 | learn how a Linux system works from the inside out. Building an LFS system
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13 | helps demonstrate what makes Linux tick, and how things work together and
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14 | depend on each other. And perhaps most importantly, how to customize it to
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15 | your own tastes and needs.</para>
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16 |
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17 | <para>A key benefit of LFS is that you have more control of your system
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18 | without relying on someone else's Linux implementation. With LFS, you are
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19 | in the driver's seat and dictate every aspect of your system, such as the
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20 | directory layout and boot script setup. You also dictate where, why and how
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21 | programs are installed.</para>
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22 |
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23 | <para>Another benefit of LFS is the ability to create a very compact Linux
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24 | system. When installing a regular distribution, you end up with a lot of
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25 | programs you likely will never use. They're just sitting there wasting
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26 | (precious) disk space. It isn't difficult to build LFS systems of under
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27 | 100 MB. Does that still sound like a lot? A few of us have been working on
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28 | creating a very small embedded LFS system. We successfully built a system
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29 | that was just enough to run the Apache web server with approximately 8MB
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30 | of disk space used. Further stripping could bring that down to 5 MB or
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31 | less. Try that with a regular distribution.</para>
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32 |
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33 | <para>We could compare distributed Linux to a hamburger you buy at a
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34 | fast-food restaurant. You have no idea what you are easting. LFS on the
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35 | other hand, doesn't give you a hamburger, but the recipe to make a hamburger.
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36 | This allows you to review it, omit unwanted ingredients, and allows you to
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37 | add your own ingredients that enhance the flavor of your burger. When you
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38 | are satisfied with the recipe, you go on to preparing it. You make it just
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39 | the way you like it: broil it, bake it, deep-fry it, barbeque it, or eat it
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40 | tar-tar (raw).</para>
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41 |
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42 | <para>Another analogy that we can use is that of comparing LFS with a
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43 | finished house. LFS will give you the skeletal plan of a house, but it's up
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44 | to you to build it, giving you the freedom to adjust your plans as you go.</para>
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45 |
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46 | <para>Another advantage of a custom built Linux system is security.
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47 | By compiling the entire system from source code, you are empowered to audit
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48 | everything and apply all the security patches you feel are needed. You don't
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49 | have to wait for somebody else to compile binary packages that fix a security
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50 | hole. Examine the new patch and build it yourself. You have no guarantee
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51 | that the new package was built correctly and actually fixes the problem
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52 | (adequately). You never truly know whether a security hole is fixed or
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53 | not unless you do it yourself.</para>
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54 |
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55 | </sect1>
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56 |
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