1. Welcome to BLFS

The Beyond Linux From Scratch book is designed to carry on from where the LFS book leaves off. But unlike the LFS book, it isn’t designed to be followed straight through. Reading the Which sections of the book? part of this chapter should help guide you through the book.

Please read most of this part of the book carefully as it explains quite a few of the conventions used throughout the book.

1.1 Which Sections of the Book Do I Want?

Unlike the Linux From Scratch book, BLFS isn’t designed to be followed in a linear manner. LFS provides instructions on how to create a base system which can become anything from a web server to a multimedia desktop system. BLFS attempts to guide you in the process of going from the base system to your intended destination. Choice is very much involved.

Everyone who reads this book will want to read certain sections. The Introduction, which you are currently reading, contains generic information. Take special note of the information in Chapter 2, Important Information, as this contains comments about how to unpack software, issues related to the use of different locales, and various other considerations which apply throughout the book.

The part on Post LFS Configuration and Extra Software is where most people will want to turn next. This deals not only with configuration, but also with Security (Chapter 4, Security), File Systems (Chapter 5, File Systems and Disk Management – including GRUB for UEFI), Editors (Chapter 6, Editors), and Shells (Chapter 7, Shells). Indeed, you may wish to reference some parts of this chapter (especially the sections on Editors and File Systems) while building your LFS system.

Following these basic items, most people will want to at least browse through the General Libraries and Utilities part of the book. This contains information on many items which are prerequisites for other sections of the book, as well as some items (such as Chapter 13, Programming) which are useful in their own right. You don’t have to install all of the libraries and packages found in this part; each BLFS installation procedure tells you which other packages this one depends upon. You can choose the program you want to install, and see what it needs. (Don’t forget to check for nested dependencies!)

Likewise, most people will probably want to look at the Networking section. It deals with connecting to the Internet or your LAN (Chapter 14, Connecting to a Network) using a variety of methods such as DHCP and PPP, and with items such as Networking Libraries (Chapter 17, Networking Libraries), plus various basic networking programs and utilities.

Once you have dealt with these basics, you may wish to configure more advanced network services. These are dealt with in the Servers part of the book. Those wanting to build servers should find a good starting point there. Note that this section also contains information on several database packages.

The next twelve chapters deal with desktop systems. This portion of the book starts with a part talking about Graphical Components. This part also deals with some generic X-based libraries (Chapter 25, Graphical Environment Libraries). After that, KDE, GNOME, Xfce, and LXDE are given their own parts, followed by one on X Software.

The book then moves on to deal with Multimedia packages. Note that many people may want to use the ALSA-1.2.7 instructions from this chapter when first starting their BLFS journey; the instructions are placed here because it is the most logical place for them.

The final part of the main BLFS book deals with Printing, Scanning and Typesetting. This is useful for most people with desktop systems, but even those who are creating dedicated server systems may find it useful.

We hope you enjoy using BLFS. May you realize your dream of building the perfectly personalized Linux system!

1.2 Conventions Used in this Book

Typographical Conventions

To make things easy to follow, a number of conventions are used throughout the book. Here are some examples:

./configure --prefix=/usr

This form of text should be typed exactly as shown unless otherwise noted in the surrounding text. It is also used to identify references to specific commands.

install-info: unknown option
`--dir-file=/mnt/lfs/usr/info/dir'

This form of text (fixed width font) shows screen output, probably the result of issuing a command. It is also used to show filenames such as /boot/grub/grub.conf

Emphasis

This form of text is used for several purposes, but mainly to emphasize important points, or to give examples of what to type.

https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

This form of text is used for hypertext links external to the book, such as HowTos, download locations, websites, etc.

SeaMonkey-2.53.15

This form of text is used for links internal to the book, such as another section describing a different package.

cat > $LFS/etc/group << "EOF"
root:x:0:
bin:x:1:
......
EOF

This style is mainly used when creating configuration files. The first command (in bold) tells the system to create the file $LFS/etc/group from whatever is typed on the following lines, until the sequence EOF is encountered. Therefore, this whole section is usually typed exactly as shown. Remember, copy and paste is your friend!

<REPLACED TEXT>

This form of text is used to encapsulate text that should be modified, and is not to be typed as shown, or copied and pasted. The angle brackets are not part of the literal text; they are part of the substitution.

root

This form of text is used to show a specific system user or group reference in the instructions.

Conventions Used for Package Dependencies

When new packages are created, the software’s authors depend on prior work. In order to build a package in BLFS, these dependencies must be built before the desired package can be compiled. For each package, prerequisites are listed in one or more separate sections: Required, Recommended, and Optional.

Required Dependencies

These dependencies are the bare minimum needed to build the package. Packages in LFS, and the required dependencies of these required packages, are omitted from this list. Always remember to check for nested dependencies.

These are dependencies the BLFS editors have determined are important to give the package reasonable capabilities. Package installation instructions assume they are installed. If a recommended package is not installed, the instructions may require modification, to accommodate the missing package.

Optional Dependencies

These are dependencies the package may use. Integration of optional dependencies may be automatic by the package, or additional steps not presented by BLFS may be necessary. Optional dependencies are sometimes listed without explicit BLFS instructions. In this case you must determine how to perform the installation yourself.

Conventions Used for Kernel Configuration Options

Some packages require specific kernel configuration options. The general layout for these looks like this:

Master section --->
    Subsection --->
        [*]     Required parameter                     [CONFIG_REQU_PAR]
        <*>     Required parameter (not as module)     [CONFIG_REQU_PAR_NMOD]
        <*/M>   Required parameter (could be a module) [CONFIG_REQU_PAR_MOD]
        <*/M/ > Optional parameter                     [CONFIG_OPT_PAR]
        [ ] Incompatible parameter                     [CONFIG_INCOMP_PAR]
        < > Incompatible parameter (even as module)    [CONFIG_INCOMP_PAR_MOD]

[CONFIG_…] on the right gives the name of the option, so you can easily check whether it is set in your .config file. The meaning of the various entries is:

Master section

top level menu item

Subsection

submenu item

Required parameter

the option can either be built-in, or not selected: it must be selected

Required parameter (not as module)

the option can be built-in, a module, or not selected (tri-state): it must be selected as built-in

Required parameter (could be a module)

the option can be built-in, a module, or not selected: it must be selected, either as built-in or as a module

Optional parameter

rarely used: the option can be built-in, a module, or not selected: it may be set any way you wish

Incompatible parameter

the option can either be built-in or not selected: it must not be selected

Incompatible parameter (even as module)

the option can be built-in, a module, or not selected: it must not be selected

Note that, depending on other selections, the angle brackets (<>) in the configuration menu may appear as braces ({}) if the option cannot be unselected, or even as dashes (-*- or -M-), when the choice is imposed. The help text describing the option specifies the other selections on which this option relies, and how those other selections are set.

SBU values in BLFS

As in LFS, each package in BLFS has a build time listed in Standard Build Units (SBUs). These times are relative to the time it took to build binutils in LFS, and are intended to provide some insight into how long it will take to build a package. Most times listed are for a single processor or core to build the package. In some cases, large, long running builds tested on multi-core systems have SBU times listed with comments such as ‘(parallelism=4)’. These values indicate testing was done using multiple cores. Note that while this speeds up the build on systems with the appropriate hardware, the speedup is not linear and to some extent depends on the individual package and the specific hardware used.

For packages which use ninja (i.e., anything using meson) or rust, by default all cores are used; similar comments will be seen on such packages even when the build time is minimal.

Where even a parallel build takes more than 15 SBU, on certain machines the time may be considerably greater even when the build does not use swap. In particular, different micro-architectures will build some files at different relative speeds, and this can introduce delays when certain make targets wait for another file to be created. Where a large build uses a lot of C++ files, processors with Simultaneous Multi Threading will share the Floating Point Unit and can take 45% longer than when using four ‘prime’ cores (measured on an intel i7 using taskset and keeping the other cores idle).

Some packages do not support parallel builds; for these, the make command must specify -j1. Packages that are known to impose such limits are so marked in the text.

1.3 Book Version

This is BLFS-BOOK version 11.3 dated March 1st, 2023. This is the 11.3-systemd branch of the BLFS book, currently targeting the LFS 11.3-systemd book. For development versions, if this version is older than a month, it’s likely that your mirror hasn’t been synchronized recently and a newer version is probably available for download or viewing. Check one of the mirror sites at https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/mirrors.html for an updated version.

1.4 Mirror Sites

The BLFS project has a number of mirrors set up world-wide to make it easier and more convenient for you to access the website. Please visit the https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/mirrors.html website for the list of current mirrors.

1.5 Getting the Source Packages

Within the BLFS instructions, each package has two references for finding the source files for the package—an HTTP link and an FTP link (some packages may only list one of these links). Every effort has been made to ensure that these links are accurate. However, the World Wide Web is in continuous flux. Packages are sometimes moved or updated and the exact URL specified is not always available.

To overcome this problem, the BLFS Team, with the assistance of Oregon State University Open Source Lab, has made an HTTP/FTP site available through world wide mirrors. See https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/download.html#sources for a list. These sites have all the sources of the exact versions of the packages used in BLFS. If you can’t find the BLFS package you need at the listed addresses, get it from these sites.

We would like to ask a favor, however. Although this is a public resource for you to use, please do not abuse it. We have already had one unthinking individual download over 3 GB of data, including multiple copies of the same files that are placed at different locations (via symlinks) to make finding the right package easier. This person clearly did not know what files he needed and downloaded everything. The best place to download files is the site or sites set up by the source code developer. Please try there first.

1.6 Change Log

Current release: 11.3 – March 1st, 2023

Changelog Entries:

1.7 Mailing Lists

The linuxfromscratch.org server is hosting a number of mailing lists that are used for the development of the BLFS book. These lists include, among others, the main development and support lists.

For more information regarding which lists are available, how to subscribe to them, archive locations, etc., visit https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/mail.html.

1.8 BLFS Wiki

The BLFS Project has created a Wiki for users to comment on pages and instructions at https://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki. Comments are welcome from all users.

The following are the rules for posting:

Users must register and log in to edit a page.

Suggestions to change the book should be made by creating a new ticket, not by making comments in the Wiki.

Questions with your specific installation problems should be made by subscribing and mailing to the BLFS Support Mailing List at mailto:blfs-support AT linuxfromscratch D0T org.

Discussions of build instructions should be made by subscribing and mailing to the BLFS Development List at mailto:blfs-dev AT linuxfromscratch D0T org.

Inappropriate material will be removed.

1.9 Asking for Help and the FAQ

If you encounter a problem while using this book, and your problem is not listed in the FAQ (https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq), you will find that most of the people on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and on the mailing lists are willing to help you. An overview of the LFS mailing lists can be found in Mailing lists. To assist us in diagnosing and solving your problem, include as much relevant information as possible in your request for help.

Things to Check Prior to Asking

Before asking for help, you should review the following items:

Things to Mention

Apart from a brief explanation of the problem you’re having, the essential things to include in your request are:

(Note that saying that you’ve deviated from the book doesn’t mean that we won’t help you. It’ll just help us to see other possible causes of your problem.)

Expect guidance instead of specific instructions. If you are instructed to read something, please do so. It generally implies that the answer was way too obvious and that the question would not have been asked if a little research was done prior to asking. The volunteers in the mailing list prefer not to be used as an alternative to doing reasonable research on your end. In addition, the quality of your experience with BLFS is also greatly enhanced by this research, and the quality of volunteers is enhanced because they don’t feel that their time has been abused, so they are far more likely to participate.

An excellent article on asking for help on the Internet in general has been written by Eric S. Raymond. It is available online at http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html. Read and follow the hints in that document and you are much more likely to get a response to start with and also to get the help you actually need.

1.10 Credits

Many people have contributed both directly and indirectly to BLFS. This page lists all of those we can think of. We may well have left people out and if you feel this is the case, drop us a line. Many thanks to all of the LFS community for their assistance with this project.

Current Editors

Contributors and Past Editors

The list of contributors is far too large to provide detailed information about the contributions for each contributor. Over the years, the following individuals have provided significant inputs to the book:

General Acknowledgments

1.11 Contact Information

Please direct your emails to one of the BLFS mailing lists. See Mailing lists for more information on the available mailing lists.