audience.xml 2.7 KB

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  7. <sect1 id="pre-audience">
  8. <?dbhtml filename="audience.html"?>
  9. <title>Audience</title>
  10. <para>There are many reasons why you would want to read this book. One of the
  11. questions many people raise is, <quote>why go through all the hassle of manually
  12. building a Linux system from scratch when you can just download and install
  13. an existing one?</quote></para>
  14. <para>One important reason for this project's existence is to help you learn
  15. how a Linux system works from the inside out. Building an LFS system helps
  16. demonstrate what makes Linux tick, and how things work together and depend on
  17. each other. One of the best things that this learning experience can provide is
  18. the ability to customize a Linux system to suit your own unique needs.</para>
  19. <para>Another key benefit of LFS is that it allows you to have more control
  20. over the system without relying on someone else's Linux implementation. With
  21. LFS, you are in the driver's seat and dictate every aspect of the
  22. system.</para>
  23. <para>LFS allows you to create very compact Linux systems. When installing
  24. regular distributions, you are often forced to install a great many
  25. programs which are probably never used or understood. These programs waste
  26. resources. You may argue that with today's hard drive and CPUs, such
  27. resources are no longer a consideration. Sometimes, however, you are still
  28. constrained by size considerations if nothing else. Think about bootable
  29. CDs, USB sticks, and embedded systems. Those are areas where LFS can be
  30. beneficial.</para>
  31. <para>Another advantage of a custom built Linux system is security. By compiling
  32. the entire system from source code, you are empowered to audit everything
  33. and apply all the security patches desired. It is no longer necessary to
  34. wait for somebody else to compile binary packages that fix a security hole.
  35. Unless you examine the patch and implement it yourself, you have no
  36. guarantee that the new binary package was built correctly and adequately
  37. fixes the problem.</para>
  38. <para>The goal of Linux From Scratch is to build a complete and usable
  39. foundation-level system. If you do not wish to build your own Linux system
  40. from scratch, you may not entirely benefit from the information in this
  41. book.</para>
  42. <para>There are too many other good reasons to build your own LFS system to
  43. list them all here. In the end, education is by far the most powerful of
  44. reasons. As you continue in your LFS experience, you will discover the power
  45. that information and knowledge truly bring.</para>
  46. </sect1>