Moved the host requirements page to the preface section of the book.

git-svn-id: http://svn.linuxfromscratch.org/LFS/trunk/BOOK@6218 4aa44e1e-78dd-0310-a6d2-fbcd4c07a689

2 files changed, 44 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/prologue/hostreqs.xml b/prologue/hostreqs.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..16ac03da9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prologue/hostreqs.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
+<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
+  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
+  %general-entities;
+]>
+<sect1 id="pre-hostreqs">
+<title>Host System Requirements</title>
+<?dbhtml filename="hostreqs.html"?>
+
+<para>The host must be running at least a 2.6.2 kernel compiled with GCC-3.0 or
+higher. There are two main reasons for this requirement. First, the Native POSIX
+Threading Library (NPTL) test suite will segfault if the host's kernel has not
+been compiled with GCC-3.0 or a later version. Secondly, the 2.6.2 or later
+version of the kernel is required for the use of Udev. Udev creates devices
+dynamically by reading from the <systemitem
+class="filesystem">sysfs</systemitem> file system. However, support for this
+filesystem has only recently been implemented in most of the kernel drivers. We
+must be sure that all critical system devices get created properly.</para>
+
+<para>In order to determine whether the host kernel meets the
+requirements outlined above, run the following command:</para>
+
+<screen><userinput>cat /proc/version</userinput></screen>
+
+<para>This will produce output similar to:</para>
+
+<screen><computeroutput>Linux version 2.6.2 (user@host) (gcc version 3.4.0) #1
+    Tue Apr 20 21:22:18 GMT 2004</computeroutput></screen>
+
+<para>If the results of the above command do not state that the host kernel is
+either 2.6.2 (or later), or that it was not compiled using a GCC-3.0 (or later)
+compiler, one will need to be installed. There are two methods you can take to
+solve this. First, see if your Linux vendor provides a 2.6.2 (or later) kernel
+package. If so, you may wish to install it. If your vendor doesn't offer a 2.6.2
+(or later) kernel package, or you would prefer not to install it, then you can
+compile a 2.6 kernel yourself. Instructions for compiling the kernel and
+configuring the boot loader (assuming the host uses GRUB) are located in <xref
+linkend="chapter-bootable"/>. This second option can also been seen as a gauge
+of your current Linux skills. If this second requirement is too steep then the
+LFS book will not likely be much use to you at this time.</para>
+
+</sect1>
+
diff --git a/prologue/preface.xml b/prologue/preface.xml
index 79659f1d2..d2767c5d2 100644
--- a/prologue/preface.xml
+++ b/prologue/preface.xml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude" href="foreword.xml"/>
 <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude" href="audience.xml"/>
 <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude" href="prerequisites.xml"/>
+<xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude" href="hostreqs.xml"/>
 <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude" href="typography.xml"/>
 <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude" href="organization.xml"/>
 <xi:include xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude" href="errata.xml"/>