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Linux From Scratch RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Linux From Scratch

Linux From Scratch


Last Update: 2024-12-02 09:17 UTC


Linux From Scratch (LFS) is a project that provides you with the steps necessary to build your own custom Linux system. There are a lot of reasons why somebody would want to install an LFS system. The question most people raise is "why go through all the hassle of manually installing a Linux system from scratch when you can just download an existing distribution like Debian or Redhat". That is a valid question which I hope to answer for you. The most important reason for LFS's existence is teaching people how a Linux system works internally. Building an LFS system teaches you about all that makes Linux tick, how things work together, and depend on each other. And most importantly, how to customize it to your own taste and needs.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 148 (55), 6 months: 158 (50), 3 months: 150 (53), 4 weeks: 161 (41), 1 week: 173 (37)

Average visitor rating: 9.6/10 from 5 review(s).


Linux From Scratch Summary
Distribution Linux From Scratch
Home Page http://www.linuxfromscratch.org
Mailing Lists http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/support.html
User Forums --
Alternative User Forums
Documentation http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/view/stable/
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/download.htmlDistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/
Related Websites WikipediaLFS France
Reviews 6.x: Tuxmachines (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
5.x: LWN
Where To Donate, Buy, or Try

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2024-09-01: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 12.2
 • 2024-03-02: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 12.1
 • 2023-09-01: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 12.0
 • 2023-03-01: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 11.3
 • 2022-09-01: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 11.2
 • 2022-03-01: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 11.1
 • 2021-09-02: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 11.0
 • 2021-03-02: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 10.1
 • 2020-09-02: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 10.0
 • 2020-03-02: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 9.1
 • 2019-09-01: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 9.0
 • 2019-03-02: Distribution Release: Linux From Scratch 8.4
 • More LFS releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2018-06-05 Debian package tools on LFS
 • 2016-03-30 LFS systemd 7.9 released
 • More LFS headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
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  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature unstable 12.2 12.2-BLFS 12.1 12.0 11.3 11.2 11.1 11.0 10.1 10.0 9.1 9.0 8.4 8.3 8.2 8.1 7.10 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.3 7.2 7.1 7.0 6.8 6.7 6.6 6.5 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.0 5.1 5.0 4.1 4.0 3.3 3.2 3.1 3.0 2.4 2.2 1.3 Feature
Release Date 2024-12-01 2024-09-01 2024-09-01 2024-03-01 2023-09-01 2023-03-01 2022-09-01 2022-03-01 2021-09-02 2021-03-01 2020-09-02 2020-03-02 2019-09-01 2019-03-01 2018-09-02 2018-03-03 2017-09-01 2016-09-07 2016-03-08 2015-10-01 2015-03-06 2014-09-23 2014-03-02 2013-09-08 2013-03-02 2012-09-02 2012-03-02 2011-10-29 2011-03-05 2010-09-19 2010-03-01 2009-08-16 2008-11-23 2007-08-28 2006-08-03 2004-12-08 2004-05-16 2003-11-05 2003-04-28 2002-10-05 2002-04-07 2002-03-07 2001-12-03 2001-09-21 2000-08-28 2000-04-03 2000-02-11 Release Date
End Of Life                                                                                               End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB)                                                                                               Image Size (MB)
Free Download Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Free Download
Installation Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Installation
Default Desktop -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Default Desktop
Package Management SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC SRC Package Management
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Release Model
Office Suite -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Office Suite
Processor Architecture i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386 i386, PPC i386 i386 Processor Architecture
Init Software systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV systemd, SysV Init Software
Journaled File Systems -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ReiserFS ReiserFS ReiserFS -- -- -- -- Journaled File Systems
Multilingual -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- fr fr -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Multilingual
Asian Language Support -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Asian Language Support
Full Package List   12.2 12.2-blfs 12.1 12.0 11.3 11.2 11.1 11.0 10.1 10.0 9.1 9.0 8.4 8.3 8.2 8.1 7.10 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.6   7.4 7.3 7.2 7.1 7.0 6.8 6.7 6.6 6.5 6.4 6.3             3.3 3.2 3.1 3.0 2.4 2.2 1.3 Full Package List

Full Package List:   Linux From Scratch 8.2
  Number of packages: 77 (download as TXT)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  •  Acl-2.2.52
  •  Attr-2.4.47
  •  Autoconf-2.69
  •  Automake-1.15.1
  •  Bash-4.4.18
  •  Bc-1.07.1
  •  Binutils-2.30
  •  Bison-3.0.4
  •  Bzip2-1.0.6
  •  Check-0.12.0
  •  Coreutils-8.29
  •  D-Bus-1.12.4
  •  DejaGNU-1.6.1
  •  Diffutils-3.6
  •  E2fsprogs-1.43.9
  •  Eudev-3.2.5
  •  Expat-2.2.5
  •  Expect-5.45.4
  •  File-5.32
  •  Findutils-4.6.0
  •  Flex-2.6.4
  •  Gawk-4.2.0
  •  GCC-7.3.0
  •  GDBM-1.14.1
  •  Gettext-0.19.8.1
  •  Glibc-2.27
  •  GMP-6.1.2
  •  Gperf-3.1
  •  Grep-3.1
  •  Groff-1.22.3
  •  GRUB-2.02
  •  Gzip-1.9
  •  Iana-Etc-2.30
  •  Inetutils-1.9.4
  •  Intltool-0.51.0
  •  IPRoute2-4.15.0
  •  Kbd-2.0.4
  •  Kmod-25
  •  Less-530
  •  Libcap-2.25
  •  Libelf 0.170
  •  Libffi-3.2.1
  •  Libpipeline-1.5.0
  •  Libstdc++-7.3.0
  •  Libtool-2.4.6
  •  Linux-4.15.3
  •  M4-1.4.18
  •  Make-4.2.1
  •  Man-DB-2.8.1
  •  Man-pages-4.15
  •  Meson-0.44.0
  •  MPC-1.1.0
  •  MPFR-4.0.1
  •  Ncurses-6.1
  •  Ninja-1.8.2
  •  OpenSSL-1.1.0g
  •  Patch-2.7.6
  •  Perl-5.26.1
  •  Pkg-config-0.29.2
  •  Procps-ng-3.3.12
  •  Psmisc-23.1
  •  Python-3.6.4
  •  Readline-7.0
  •  Sed-4.4
  •  Shadow-4.5
  •  Stripping
  •  Sysklogd-1.5.1
  •  Systemd-237
  •  Sysvinit-2.88dsf
  •  Tar-1.30
  •  Tcl-core-8.6.8
  •  Texinfo-6.5
  •  Util-linux-2.31.1
  •  Vim-8.0.586
  •  XML::Parser-2.44
  •  Xz-5.2.3
  •  Zlib-1.2.11


Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Linux From Scratch

Average rating
9.6
from 5 review(s)
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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 12.1-BLFS
Rating: 9
Date: 2024-08-29
Votes: 3


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.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 11.3-BLFS
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-07-10
Votes: 28


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.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
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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