Changeset 46a2e9c for prologue/audience.xml
- Timestamp:
- 01/06/2006 02:59:05 AM (19 years ago)
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- 1714f1a
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prologue/audience.xml (modified) (1 diff)
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prologue/audience.xml
r1714f1a r46a2e9c 1 1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> 2 <!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [ 2 <!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN" 3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [ 3 4 <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent"> 4 5 %general-entities; 5 6 ]> 7 6 8 <sect1 id="pre-audience"> 7 <title>Audience</title> 8 <?dbhtml filename="audience.html"?> 9 <?dbhtml filename="audience.html"?> 9 10 10 <para>There are many reasons why somebody would want to read this 11 book. The principal reason is to install a Linux system 12 from the source code. A question many people raise is, <quote>why go 13 through all the hassle of manually building a Linux system from 14 scratch when you can just download and install an existing 15 one?</quote> That is a good question and is the impetus for this 16 section of the book.</para> 11 <title>Audience</title> 17 12 18 <para>One important reason for LFS's existence is to help people learn 19 how a Linux system works from the inside out. Building an LFS system 20 helps demonstrate what makes Linux tick, and how things work together 21 and depend on each other. One of the best things that this learning 22 experience provides is the ability to customize Linux to your own 23 tastes and needs.</para>13 <para>There are many reasons why somebody would want to read this book. 14 The principal reason is to install a Linux system from the source code. 15 A question many people raise is, <quote>why go through all the hassle of 16 manually building a Linux system from scratch when you can just download 17 and install an existing one?</quote> That is a good question and is the 18 impetus for this section of the book.</para> 24 19 25 <para>A key benefit of LFS is that it allows users to have more 26 control over the system without relying on someone else's Linux 27 implementation. With LFS, <emphasis>you</emphasis> are in the 28 driver's seat and dictate every aspect of the system, such as the 29 directory layout and bootscript setup. You also dictate where, why, 30 and how programs are installed.</para>20 <para>One important reason for LFS's existence is to help people learn 21 how a Linux system works from the inside out. Building an LFS system 22 helps demonstrate what makes Linux tick, and how things work together 23 and depend on each other. One of the best things that this learning 24 experience provides is the ability to customize Linux to your own tastes 25 and needs.</para> 31 26 32 <para>Another benefit of LFS is the ability to create a very compact 33 Linux system. When installing a regular distribution, one is often 34 forced to include several programs which are probably never used. 35 These programs waste disk space, or worse, CPU cycles. It is 36 not difficult to build an LFS system of less than 100 megabytes (MB), 37 which is substantially smaller than the majority of existing installations. Does 38 this still sound like a lot of space? A few of us have been working on 39 creating a very small embedded LFS system. We successfully built a 40 system that was specialized to run the Apache web server with 41 approximately 8MB of disk space used. Further stripping could bring 42 this down to 5 MB or less. Try that with a regular distribution! 43 This is only one of the many benefits of designing your own Linux 44 implementation.</para> 27 <para>A key benefit of LFS is that it allows users to have more control 28 over the system without relying on someone else's Linux implementation. 29 With LFS, <emphasis>you</emphasis> are in the driver's seat and dictate 30 every aspect of the system, such as the directory layout and bootscript 31 setup. You also dictate where, why, and how programs are installed.</para> 45 32 46 <para>We could compare Linux distributions to a hamburger purchased at 47 a fast-food restaurant—you have no idea what might be in what 48 you are eating. LFS, on the other hand, does not give you a hamburger. 49 Rather, LFS provides the recipe to make the exact hamburger desired. 50 This allows users to review the recipe, omit unwanted ingredients, and 51 add your own ingredients to enhance the flavor of the burger. 52 When you are satisfied with the recipe, move on to preparing it. It 53 can be made to exact specifications—broil it, bake it, deep-fry 54 it, or barbecue it.</para> 33 <para>Another benefit of LFS is the ability to create a very compact Linux 34 system. When installing a regular distribution, one is often forced to 35 include several programs which are probably never used. These programs 36 waste disk space, or worse, CPU cycles. It is not difficult to build an 37 LFS system of less than 100 megabytes (MB), which is substantially smaller 38 than the majority of existing installations. Does this still sound like a 39 lot of space? A few of us have been working on creating a very small 40 embedded LFS system. We successfully built a system that was specialized 41 to run the Apache web server with approximately 8MB of disk space used. 42 Further stripping could bring this down to 5 MB or less. Try that with a 43 regular distribution! This is only one of the many benefits of designing 44 your own Linux implementation.</para> 55 45 56 <para>Another analogy that we can use is that of comparing LFS with a 57 finished house. LFS provides the skeletal plan of a house, but it is up 58 to you to build it. LFS maintains the freedom to adjust plans 59 throughout the process, customizing it to the user's needs and 60 preferences.</para> 46 <para>We could compare Linux distributions to a hamburger purchased at a 47 fast-food restaurant—you have no idea what might be in what you are 48 eating. LFS, on the other hand, does not give you a hamburger. Rather, 49 LFS provides the recipe to make the exact hamburger desired. This allows 50 users to review the recipe, omit unwanted ingredients, and add your own 51 ingredients to enhance the flavor of the burger. When you are satisfied 52 with the recipe, move on to preparing it. It can be made to exact 53 specifications—broil it, bake it, deep-fry it, or barbecue it.</para> 61 54 62 <para>An additional advantage of a custom built Linux system is 63 security. By compiling the entire system from source code, you are 64 empowered to audit everything and apply all the security patches 65 desired. It is no longer necessary to wait for somebody else to 66 compile binary packages that fix a security hole. Unless you 67 examine the patch and implement it yourself, you have no guarantee 68 that the new binary package was built correctly and adequately fixes 69 the problem.</para> 55 <para>Another analogy that we can use is that of comparing LFS with a 56 finished house. LFS provides the skeletal plan of a house, but it is up 57 to you to build it. LFS maintains the freedom to adjust plans throughout 58 the process, customizing it to the user's needs and preferences.</para> 70 59 71 <para>The goal of Linux From Scratch is to build a complete and usable 72 foundation-level system. Readers who do not wish to build their own 73 Linux system from scratch may not benefit from the information in this 74 book. If you only want to know what happens while the computer boots, 75 we recommend the <quote>From Power Up To Bash Prompt</quote> HOWTO 76 located at <ulink url="http://axiom.anu.edu.au/~okeefe/p2b/"/> or on 77 The Linux Documentation Project's (TLDP) website at <ulink 78 url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/From-PowerUp-To-Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.html"/>. 79 The HOWTO builds a system which is similar to that of this book, 80 but it focuses strictly on creating a system capable of booting to a 81 BASH prompt. Consider your objective. If you wish to build a Linux 82 system while learning along the way, then this book is your best 83 choice.</para> 60 <para>An additional advantage of a custom built Linux system is security. 61 By compiling the entire system from source code, you are empowered to audit 62 everything and apply all the security patches desired. It is no longer 63 necessary to wait for somebody else to compile binary packages that fix a 64 security hole. Unless you examine the patch and implement it yourself, you 65 have no guarantee that the new binary package was built correctly and 66 adequately fixes the problem.</para> 84 67 85 <para>There are too many good reasons to build your own LFS system to 86 list them all here. This section is only the tip of the iceberg. As 87 you continue in your LFS experience, you will find the power that 88 information and knowledge truly bring.</para> 68 <para>The goal of Linux From Scratch is to build a complete and usable 69 foundation-level system. Readers who do not wish to build their own Linux 70 system from scratch may not benefit from the information in this book. If 71 you only want to know what happens while the computer boots, we recommend 72 the <quote>From Power Up To Bash Prompt</quote> HOWTO located at 73 <ulink url="http://axiom.anu.edu.au/~okeefe/p2b/"/> or on The Linux 74 Documentation Project's (TLDP) website at <ulink 75 url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/From-PowerUp-To-Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.html"/>. 76 The HOWTO builds a system which is similar to that of this book, but it 77 focuses strictly on creating a system capable of booting to a BASH prompt. 78 Consider your objective. If you wish to build a Linux system while learning 79 along the way, then this book is your best choice.</para> 80 81 <para>There are too many good reasons to build your own LFS system to 82 list them all here. This section is only the tip of the iceberg. As 83 you continue in your LFS experience, you will find the power that 84 information and knowledge truly bring.</para> 89 85 90 86 </sect1> 91
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