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<sect1 id="ch01-how">
<title>How things are going to be done</title>
<?dbhtml filename="how.html" dir="chapter01"?>
<para>You are going to build your LFS system by using a previously installed
Linux distribution such as Debian, Mandrake, Red Hat, etc. The existing Linux
system (host) will be used as a starting point, because you will need programs
like a compiler, linker, text editor, and other development tools to build the
new system. Ordinarily, the required tools are available by default if you
selected <quote>development</quote> as one of your installation options when
you installed your Linux distribution.</para>
<para>After you have downloaded the packages that make up an LFS system, you
will create a new Linux native partition and filesystem. This new Linux
partition and filesystem is where your new LFS system will be compiled and
installed onto.</para>
<para>Chapter 5 will then discuss the installation of a number of packages that
will form the basic development suite (or tool-set) which is used to build the
actual system in Chapter 6. Some of these packages are needed to resolve
circular dependencies. For example, to compile a compiler you need a
compiler.</para>
<para>The first thing to be done in Chapter 5 is build a first pass of the
toolchain, which is made up of Binutils and GCC. The programs from these
packages will be linked statically in order for them to be used independently
of the host system. The second thing to do is build Glibc, the C library. Glibc
will be compiled by the toolchain programs we just built in the first
pass.</para>
<para>The third thing to do is build a second pass of the toolchain. This time
the toolchain will be dynamically linked against the newly built Glibc. The
remaining Chapter 5 packages are all built using this second pass toolchain and
dynamically linked against the new host-independent Glibc. When this is done,
the LFS installation process will no longer depend on the host distribution,
with the exception of the running kernel. This is known as <quote>self
contained</quote> and <quote>self hosted</quote>. There is a discussion of the
differences between statically and dynamically linked programs at the beginning
of Chapter 5.</para>
<para>You may be asking yourself <quote>that seems like a lot of work, just to
get away from my host distribution</quote>. Let us take a few minutes to
discuss this question. The work involved in building the packages in Chapter 5
is to ensure that as little information as possible from your host makes it into
your brand new LFS system. When you build the first two packages in Chapter 5,
Binutils and GCC, they will be compiled statically. This means that the
version of the C library on your host distribution will be embedded inside all
the binary programs you just compiled. This has the potential to cause
problems for you down the road. The host's Glibc is usually an unknown
quantity and might even contain bugs or anything else we don't know about
until it is too late. A well known issue is that statically linked binaries
compiled on a Glibc-2.2.x based system that contain calls to the <emphasis>
getpwuid()</emphasis> function crash when run on a Glibc-2.3.x based system.
Seeing as we are about to build a Glibc-2.3.x based system, we need to shield
ourselves from problems of this nature. The procedure employed in Chapter 5
achieves this goal. With all these things in mind, you can see that the extra
effort to compile Binutils and GCC twice is well worth it.</para>
<para>In Chapter 6 your real LFS system will be built. The chroot (change root)
program is used to enter a virtual environment and start a new shell whose root
directory will be set to the LFS partition. This is very similar to rebooting
and instructing the kernel to mount the LFS partition as the root partition.
The reason that you don't actually reboot, but instead chroot, is that creating
a bootable system requires additional work which isn't necessary just yet.
Another advantage is that chrooting allows you to continue using the host while
LFS is being built. While waiting for package compilation to complete, you can
simply switch to a different VC (Virtual Console) or X desktop and continue
using the computer as you normally would.</para>
<para>When all the software from Chapter 6 is installed, the temporary tools
built in Chapter 5 will be removed. Chapters 7, 8 and 9 will finalize the
installation. The bootscripts are setup in Chapter 7, the kernel and boot
loader are setup in Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 has some pointers to help you after
you finish with the book. Then, finally, you reboot your computer into your
new LFS system.</para>
<para>This is the process in a nutshell. Detailed information on the steps you
will take are discussed in the chapters and package descriptions as you
progress through them. If something isn't completely clear now, don't worry,
everything will fall into place soon.</para>
<para>Please read Chapter 2 carefully as it explains a few important things you
should be aware of before you begin to work through Chapters 5 and
beyond.</para>
</sect1>
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