[287ea55] | 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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[a8f36125] | 2 | <!DOCTYPE section [
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[287ea55] | 3 | <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
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| 4 | %general-entities;
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| 5 | ]>
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[a8f36125] | 6 | <section xmlns="http://docbook.org/docbook-ng"
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| 7 | xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
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| 8 | xml:id="pre-audience">
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[6a0e6f3] | 9 | <title>Audience</title>
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[287ea55] | 10 | <?dbhtml filename="audience.html"?>
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| 11 |
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[a8f36125] | 12 | <section>
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[6a0e6f3] | 13 | <title>Who would want to read this book</title>
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[287ea55] | 14 |
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| 15 | <para>There are many reasons why somebody would want to read this book. The
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| 16 | principal reason being to install a Linux system straight from the source
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| 17 | code. A question many people raise is <quote>Why go through all the hassle of
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| 18 | manually building a Linux system from scratch when you can just download and
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| 19 | install an existing one?</quote>. That is a good question and is the impetus for
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| 20 | this section of the book.</para>
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| 21 |
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| 22 | <para>One important reason for LFS's existence is to help people learn how a
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| 23 | Linux system works from the inside out. Building an LFS system helps demonstrate
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| 24 | to you what makes Linux tick, how things work together and depend on each
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| 25 | other. One of the best things that this learning experience provides is the
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| 26 | ability to customize Linux to your own tastes and needs.</para>
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| 27 |
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| 28 | <para>A key benefit of LFS is that you have more control of your system
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| 29 | without relying on someone else's Linux implementation. With LFS, you are
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| 30 | in the driver's seat and dictate every aspect of your system, such as the
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| 31 | directory layout and bootscript setup. You also dictate where, why and how
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| 32 | programs are installed.</para>
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| 33 |
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| 34 | <para>Another benefit of LFS is the ability to create a very compact Linux
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| 35 | system. When installing a regular distribution, you are usually forced to
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| 36 | install several programs which you are likely never to use. They're just
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| 37 | sitting there wasting precious disk space (or worse, CPU cycles). It isn't
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| 38 | difficult to build an LFS system of less than 100 MB. Does that still sound like a
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| 39 | lot? A few of us have been working on creating a very small embedded LFS
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| 40 | system. We successfully built a system that was just enough to run the Apache
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| 41 | web server with approximately 8MB of disk space used. Further stripping could
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| 42 | bring that down to 5 MB or less. Try that with a regular distribution.</para>
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| 43 |
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| 44 | <para>We could compare Linux distributions to a hamburger you buy at a
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| 45 | fast-food restaurant -- you have no idea what you are eating. LFS, on the
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| 46 | other hand, doesn't give you a hamburger, but the recipe to make a hamburger.
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| 47 | This allows you to review it, to omit unwanted ingredients, and to
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| 48 | add your own ingredients which enhance the flavor of your burger. When you
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| 49 | are satisfied with the recipe, you go on to preparing it. You make it just
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| 50 | the way you like it: broil it, bake it, deep-fry it, barbecue it, or eat it
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| 51 | tar-tar (raw).</para>
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| 52 |
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| 53 | <para>Another analogy that we can use is that of comparing LFS with a
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| 54 | finished house. LFS will give you the skeletal plan of a house, but it's up
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| 55 | to you to build it. You have the freedom to adjust your plans as you
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| 56 | go.</para>
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| 57 |
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| 58 | <para>One last advantage of a custom built Linux system is security.
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| 59 | By compiling the entire system from source code, you are empowered to audit
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| 60 | everything and apply all the security patches you feel are needed. You don't
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| 61 | have to wait for somebody else to compile binary packages that fix a security
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| 62 | hole. Unless you examine the patch and implement it yourself you have no
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| 63 | guarantee that the new binary package was built correctly and actually fixes the
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| 64 | problem (adequately).</para>
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| 65 |
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| 66 | <para>There are too many good reasons to build your own LFS system for them all
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| 67 | to be listed here. This section is only the tip of the iceberg. As you
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| 68 | continue in your LFS experience, you will find on your own the power that
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| 69 | information and knowledge truly bring.</para>
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[a8f36125] | 70 | </section>
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[287ea55] | 71 |
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[a8f36125] | 72 | <section>
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[6a0e6f3] | 73 | <title>Who would not want to read this book</title>
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[287ea55] | 74 |
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| 75 | <para>There are probably some who, for whatever reason, would feel that they do not
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| 76 | want to read this book. If you do not wish to build your own Linux system from
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| 77 | scratch, then you probably don't want to read this book. Our goal is to help
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| 78 | you build a complete and usable foundation-level system. If you only want to
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| 79 | know what happens while your computer boots, then we recommend the <quote>From
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| 80 | Power Up To Bash Prompt</quote> HOWTO. The HOWTO builds a bare system which is
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| 81 | similar to that of this book, but it focuses strictly on creating a system
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| 82 | capable of booting to a BASH prompt.</para>
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| 83 |
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| 84 | <para>While you decide which to read, consider your objective. If you wish
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| 85 | to build a Linux system while learning a bit along the way, then this book
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| 86 | is probably your best choice. If your objective is strictly educational and
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| 87 | you do not have any plans for your finished system, then the
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| 88 | <quote>From Power Up To Bash Prompt</quote> HOWTO is probably a better choice.</para>
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| 89 |
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| 90 | <para>The <quote>From Power Up To Bash Prompt</quote> HOWTO is located at
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[a8f36125] | 91 | <uri xlink:href="http://axiom.anu.edu.au/~okeefe/p2b/">http://axiom.anu.edu.au/~okeefe/p2b/</uri> or on The Linux
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[287ea55] | 92 | Documentation Project's website at
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[a8f36125] | 93 | <uri xlink:href="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/From-PowerUp-To-Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.html">http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/From-PowerUp-To-Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.html</uri>.</para>
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[287ea55] | 94 |
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[a8f36125] | 95 | </section>
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[287ea55] | 96 |
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[a8f36125] | 97 | </section>
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