"mkdir ../binutils-build" fails - Permission denied

[anomalyst@…]

cannot create directory `../binutils-build': Permission denied

Revise ​http://lfs.130th.net/lfs/view/test/chapter05/binutils-pass1.html from: ============================ mkdir ../binutils-build cd ../binutils-build ============================ to be: ============================

Change to where you downloaded the package

cd $LFS/sources

If you batch retrieved packages you might have to unpack the tarball as follows:

tar -jxvf binutils-2.14.tar.bz2

============================

[anomalyst@…]

corrected revision

[Matthew Burgess]

Who did you create the $LFS/sources directory as and what permissions does it have (use ls -ld $LFS/sources to find out)? If this doesn't hint at a solution to your problem then please bring it up on the lfs-support mailing list for further guidance.

[anomalyst@…]

Matthew, thank you for the reply.

what permissions does it have (use ls -ld $LFS/sources to find out

drwxrwxrwt 12 lfs root 4096 Feb 15 19:13 /mnt/lfs/sources

Nuthin wrong with the permissions. The page is presented with the mistaken assumption that the reader is in a subdirectory of "$LFS/sources". Unfortunately, the manual has not yet instructed the creation of any sub-directory in $LFS/sources or to cd into it. This results in the attempt to do a mkdir in $LFS directory where the lfs users does not have permissions (and rightly so, lfs has no need to create directories at that level). The chapter is probably templated from the other chapters where a prior page has left the reader in a packages' subdirectory and the ../ prefix to the mkdir and cd work as expected.

Given that $LFS is already defined I think it would make the entire document more user friendly to replace all occurrences of the ../ relative directory with a FQP of $LFS/sources or abbreviate it with a new environment such as "$LFSS".

However it gets resolved, the instructions on that page are not sufficient to correctly start LFS process. I have over 25 years of experience in various OS environments and found it kind of frustrating that the 1st step did not work and was forced to do 20 minutes of analysis of an unfamiliar process to determine what was SUPPOSED to happen. I have to imagine a newbie might take longer or not even find the solution at all. I do not think that such a lasting negative impression is the result the project intends.

[jeroen@…]

​http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/view/cvs/chapter05/introduction.html states that:

"Before issuing the build instructions for a package you are expected to have already unpacked it as user lfs (explained shortly), and to have performed a cd into the created directory. The build instructions assume that you are using the bash shell."

The instructions on each page are made with that assumption. Therefore, this bug should be marked INVALID, since it is actually a user error.

[Matthew Burgess]

I thought I marked it as invalid when I first responded...oh well, now it is!