 Visitor Reviews |
Linux From Scratch
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Reader supplied reviews for Linux From Scratch
Average rating
9.6 from 5 review(s)
Version: 12.1-BLFS
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-08-29
Votes: 4
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It's extremely nice because I can sort and control all my packages, which was a significant pain point with Arch. With Arch, there was always this sense of "magic" behind the scenes that often led to frustration. LFS (Linux From Scratch) eliminates that by making everything transparent and built by me. I appreciate the hands-on approach and the clarity it brings. Additionally, I find LFS's system navigation to be more intuitive and straightforward compared to many other distributions, which can be cluttered and less user-friendly. The entire process of building and customizing everything from scratch has been incredibly rewarding and has greatly enhanced my understanding of Linux. Overall, I give LFS a 9.9 out of 10 in my review for its clarity, control, and customization capabilities.
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Version: 11.3-BLFS
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-07-10
Votes: 29
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I've been using LFS since version 10.0 (9/2020). It was and continues to be a great teaching tool for me.
First, you download all the souce code from the individual developers onto your host OS (one wget command). Then you partition, setup a file system, and start compiling. First you build the tool chain, then you build all the components of the system itself. The first time, it may take a day to understand and follow all instructions. After that, less than a day. There is even an automation tool to automatically build, which can make a bootable system in a few hours.
Then comes the real fun, "Beyond Linux From Scratch" (BLFS). This is all the extras you might need. Desktop environments like Gnome, XFCE, KDE. Web browsers, LibreOffice, Transmission, too many to name. As full-featured as most distros out there (except the package management system). And if your package is not available. The knowledge you have acquired in building the system will allow you to build almost any open source software. Be the ruler of your desktop! As with any system, just be sure to back up. I use Timeshift, which is not included, but is a simple build.
Pros:
- Learn a lot. Learn to install almost anything from souce code.
- Make the system you want, not someone else
- Choice of systemd or SysV
- Hundreds of packages to choose from
- Always being updated (quick security notifications, updates and patches)
- Automated system works on LFS and BLFS
- Great for learning to configure and build kernels.
- Rewarding feeling knowing you compiled everything.
Cons:
- Can be time consuming, but not that bad after you get to the desktop stage, IMO. Go get a coffee.
- No package management, although some people have devised management systems.
- When new, incompatible glibc updates come out (about once a year or less), most people will just start over.
- Some people don't care to learn
- Rarely, the development branch won't build because of incompatibilities among components.
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Version: 11.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-03-31
Votes: 13
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Very good for education but when it comes to package management, even though some techniques are shared, you'll probably end up forking Portage or Pacman. Having that in mind, you might want to check the Gentoo or Arch Linux route. Yes you can create your own repositories with your own package manager but A LOT OF WORK is already done with Arch by the fact that the pre-compiled binaries are also tested by many people. As for gentoo, there's plenty of ebuilds that exist already and have been proven to be solid. There's no limit to how far you can go but I think it's a better thing for the Linux world to strengthen what's already available out there. My suggestions to the people behind LFS would be to teach people how to make immutable OS such as Nixos or how to manage your distro so that when you update your system, it acts as swupd which only gets the changed portion of software leading for faster updates. I give LFS a good 9 out of 10
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Version: 11.0
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-02-18
Votes: 36
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An operating system in its purest form: a book/collection of text files.
Although obviously different, it reminds me of Starting FORTH/Thinking FORTH.
RTFM ("Read The Fundamental Manual"), and get building.
When you operate Slackware you learn about Slackware.
When you apply LFS, you learn about Linux.
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Version: 10.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2021-04-19
Votes: 8
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I built my custom distribution on top of lfs/blfs and thanks to the great support and permanent upgrade of new packages, I am able to keep my distro up to date with lfs/blfs as a very reliable upstream.
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Latest Reviews
Project: Linux From Scratch
Version: 12.1-BLFS
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-08-29
Votes: 4
|
It's extremely nice because I can sort and control all my packages, which was a significant pain point with Arch. With Arch, there was always this sense of "magic" behind the scenes that often led to frustration. LFS (Linux From Scratch) eliminates that by making everything transparent and built by me. I appreciate the hands-on approach and the clarity it brings. Additionally, I find LFS's system navigation to be more intuitive and straightforward compared to many other distributions, which can be cluttered and less user-friendly. The entire process of building and customizing everything from scratch has been incredibly rewarding and has greatly enhanced my understanding of Linux. Overall, I give LFS a 9.9 out of 10 in my review for its clarity, control, and customization capabilities.
|
Project: Linux From Scratch
Version: 11.3-BLFS
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-07-10
Votes: 29
|
I've been using LFS since version 10.0 (9/2020). It was and continues to be a great teaching tool for me.
First, you download all the souce code from the individual developers onto your host OS (one wget command). Then you partition, setup a file system, and start compiling. First you build the tool chain, then you build all the components of the system itself. The first time, it may take a day to understand and follow all instructions. After that, less than a day. There is even an automation tool to automatically build, which can make a bootable system in a few hours.
Then comes the real fun, "Beyond Linux From Scratch" (BLFS). This is all the extras you might need. Desktop environments like Gnome, XFCE, KDE. Web browsers, LibreOffice, Transmission, too many to name. As full-featured as most distros out there (except the package management system). And if your package is not available. The knowledge you have acquired in building the system will allow you to build almost any open source software. Be the ruler of your desktop! As with any system, just be sure to back up. I use Timeshift, which is not included, but is a simple build.
Pros:
- Learn a lot. Learn to install almost anything from souce code.
- Make the system you want, not someone else
- Choice of systemd or SysV
- Hundreds of packages to choose from
- Always being updated (quick security notifications, updates and patches)
- Automated system works on LFS and BLFS
- Great for learning to configure and build kernels.
- Rewarding feeling knowing you compiled everything.
Cons:
- Can be time consuming, but not that bad after you get to the desktop stage, IMO. Go get a coffee.
- No package management, although some people have devised management systems.
- When new, incompatible glibc updates come out (about once a year or less), most people will just start over.
- Some people don't care to learn
- Rarely, the development branch won't build because of incompatibilities among components.
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Project: Linux From Scratch
Version: 11.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-03-31
Votes: 13
|
Very good for education but when it comes to package management, even though some techniques are shared, you'll probably end up forking Portage or Pacman. Having that in mind, you might want to check the Gentoo or Arch Linux route. Yes you can create your own repositories with your own package manager but A LOT OF WORK is already done with Arch by the fact that the pre-compiled binaries are also tested by many people. As for gentoo, there's plenty of ebuilds that exist already and have been proven to be solid. There's no limit to how far you can go but I think it's a better thing for the Linux world to strengthen what's already available out there. My suggestions to the people behind LFS would be to teach people how to make immutable OS such as Nixos or how to manage your distro so that when you update your system, it acts as swupd which only gets the changed portion of software leading for faster updates. I give LFS a good 9 out of 10
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Project: Linux From Scratch
Version: 11.0
Rating: 10
Date: 2022-02-18
Votes: 36
|
An operating system in its purest form: a book/collection of text files.
Although obviously different, it reminds me of Starting FORTH/Thinking FORTH.
RTFM ("Read The Fundamental Manual"), and get building.
When you operate Slackware you learn about Slackware.
When you apply LFS, you learn about Linux.
|
Project: Linux From Scratch
Version: 10.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2021-04-19
Votes: 8
|
I built my custom distribution on top of lfs/blfs and thanks to the great support and permanent upgrade of new packages, I am able to keep my distro up to date with lfs/blfs as a very reliable upstream.
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