iconicmoronic

i think its fixed, but that is no matter.... can someone tell me what distribution i can build from ground up myself? i was thinking SELinux, but i'm not so sure, its saying its just a core security feature for the kernel.

anyway i need a distro with support for compilable packages and their dependencies and that i can enter in my internet information and have a connection. simple you know, fully customizable. i got OCD

iconicmoronic

(but not about capitolizing letters or punctuation(

shuuhen

What exactly do you mean by build from the ground up? SELinux is a "feature" for security enhancement, so that won't work as a distro (you can have it as part of one though!).

The most customizable distro is Linux From Scratch (aka LFS). Basically the name describes exactly what it is - the instructions to let you build a Linux distribution from scratch.

Not sure what you mean here. I'm guessing that you mean you want a distribution that can compile its packages from source and go ahead and install dependencies for you.

Gentoo Linux is a source-based distribution with a good package management system called Portage. You can customize packages easier than with any other distribution that I've seen.

Enter internet information and have a connection? No idea what you mean here.

iconicmoronic

by enter internet info and access internet i meant during installation would i be given an opporitunity to enter ip information and dns to connect to internet manually or even via DHCP because my ISP won't support Linux OS.

yes i realize SELinux is a security feature, what I mean is, if it were possible, i'd install the kernel and kernel features and add everything else manually, window manager, software packages. LFS sounds like what i'm looking for, and thanks for that information.

i don't want the OS to do everything! ubuntu, fedora core, all update themselves automatically and what I need is practice with the Linux OS to gain A+ Certification (if I could decide definitively on an area of practice in school).

gentoo I've heard of, but its quite the opposite of what I want, i want to have to know file locations and compile from source, to be able to gain familiarity with Linux tools, again either for A+ cert or to decide whether to abandon Linux and leave it to the europeans and gain a microsoft certification.

the point is to gain occupational knowledge so i can get a good paying job, and to enjoy myself while i'm at it. I have a little time to fool around and try to find something i'm good at though, computers seems ideal.

hope that clears it up.

hal8000

Or you may want to try, Puppy Linux, Slax or other customisable distributions.

iconicmoronic

nah this linuxfromscratch thing will be fun

sort of, but i may have to take a linux class to be able to do it, the one i passed isn't going to suffice i know, because i'm into the beginning of o'reilly's LPI Exam in a Nutshell and we didn't learn this information in the Linux OS class at WRHCC

if anyone knows of a comprehensive guide for jhalfs though that'd be useful

kinbard

AFAIK freebsd is all command line. Solaris will have you pulling your hair out at times too, but it is unix. But it sounds like you want to start from ground 0, so shuuhen suggestion lfs is the route you want to go.

iconicmoronic

thanks all of you for your replies, yet I have another question:

I downloaded all of the necessary packages for LFS according to the Host Requirements, as for the Linux Kernel, the file I got is :

patch-2.6.26.bz2

is this the linux kernel image most recent that I want to build lfs from the ground up? The kernel version they specify is 2.6

although, i substituted all of the other host requirements with the newest version available (which I would have rather gotten exactly what it asked for but this was quicker). am I good to go?

shuuhen

If you want the exact version they ask for you could go with the LFS LiveCD, which should have all required sources and a copy of the book.

patch-2.6.26.bz2 shouldn't be the kernel itself. ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ has the kernels. Look for a filename like linux-2.6.26.tar.bz2.

Just FYI, Gentoo isn't like Ubuntu or Fedora. Almost everything that's installed is installed because you asked for it or because something you want requires it (and you can see what dependencies will be installed).

Good to go? Maybe. If you have all of the required packages, access to the book and a Linux system or have the LiveCD, then you probably have what you need to try LFS. You may run into errors where a certain version of one program doesn't compile, etc. The Handbook should give enough info for most or all of the process. If you have problems you can use IRC, Google.com/linux and posting threads like this to try and get help.

iconicmoronic

i have one more question, and thanks for the kernel link shuuen; lfs is talking about using a host system like mandrake or something. do you think that ubuntu 8.04 is a suitable host?

other than this point of fact, the lfs book is very informative and straight forward, i ask because according to lfs book, the live cd may not work on my computer: pentium 4 2.80 ghz w/SATA 80gb hard drive.

otherwise, i've already downloaded the stable version of the live cd and i'm waiting for tomorrow anxiously until i can start the process.

thanks for all of your comments and advice, it is taken into consideration and when/if this question has been answered, this thread is closeable!!

shuuhen

Ubuntu definitely is a suitable host. One thing to keep in mind with Linux, is if it's possible on one distribution, it should be possible on another. Especially once you get used to the command line. The difference is how easy it is with one. Gentoo lets me customize my installation quicker and easier than it would be with a system like Fedora or Ubuntu. However some people want packages installed fast, so binary packages with support for everything compiled in works for them.

iconicmoronic

thanks