mirror of https://github.com/tLDP/LDP
58 lines
3.0 KiB
XML
58 lines
3.0 KiB
XML
<sect1 id="pre-whoread">
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<title>Who would want to read this book</title>
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<?dbhtml filename="whoread.html" dir="preface"?>
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<para>There are many reasons why somebody would want to read this book. The
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principle reason being to install an LFS system. A question many people raise
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is "Why go through all the hassle of manually building a Linux system
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from scratch when you can just download and install an existing one?". That
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is a good question.</para>
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<para>One important reason for LFS' existence is to help people
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learn how a Linux system works from the inside out. Building an LFS system
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helps demonstrate what makes Linux tick, and how things work together and
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depend on each other. And perhaps most importantly, how to customize it to
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your own tastes and needs.</para>
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<para>A key benefit of LFS is that you have more control of your system
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without relying on someone else's Linux implementation. With LFS, you are
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in the driver's seat and dictate every aspect of your system, such as the
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directory layout and boot script setup. You also dictate where, why and how
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programs are installed.</para>
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<para>Another benefit of LFS is the ability to create a very compact Linux
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system. When installing a regular distribution, you end up with several
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programs which you are likely to never use. They're just sitting there wasting
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(precious) disk space. It isn't difficult to build an LFS system less than
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100 MB. Does that still sound like a lot? A few of us have been working on
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creating a very small embedded LFS system. We successfully built a system
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that was just enough to run the Apache web server with approximately 8MB
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of disk space used. Further stripping could bring that down to 5 MB or
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less. Try that with a regular distribution.</para>
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<para>We could compare distributed Linux to a hamburger you buy at a
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fast-food restaurant - you have no idea what you are eating. LFS, on the
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other hand, doesn't give you a hamburger, but the recipe to make a hamburger.
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This allows you to review it, to omit unwanted ingredients, and to
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add your own ingredients which enhance the flavor of your burger. When you
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are satisfied with the recipe, you go on to preparing it. You make it just
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the way you like it: broil it, bake it, deep-fry it, barbeque it, or eat it
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tar-tar (raw).</para>
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<para>Another analogy that we can use is that of comparing LFS with a
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finished house. LFS will give you the skeletal plan of a house, but it's up
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to you to build it. You have the freedom to adjust your plans as you
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go.</para>
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<para>Another advantage of a custom built Linux system is security.
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By compiling the entire system from source code, you are empowered to audit
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everything and apply all the security patches you feel are needed. You don't
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have to wait for somebody else to compile binary packages that fix a security
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hole. Unless you examine the patch and build it yourself you have no
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guarantee that the new package was built correctly and actually fixes the
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problem (adequately). You never truly know whether a security hole is fixed
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or not unless you do it yourself.</para>
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</sect1>
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