Linux From Scratch by the LFS Project

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Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 115 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Linux from Scratch is great for building a deeper understanding of how the different parts in linux systems work together

   Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

2. Learning how to build dozens of different projects and see how they all fit together really set me up for my career

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

3. LFS helped me a lot. It taught me how to compile packages manually, and how GNU/Linux components fit together.

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

4. it was quite educational! It's a good way to learn the fundamentals of what comprises an actual Linux system

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

5. docs were a bit outdated so it was either trial and error or typod that required you to stay on your toes

   Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

6. Having done it as a teenager as well when it showed up in 1999 myself, that's probably the sweet point

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

7. This was probably the best thing I've done to learn the ins and outs of a running Linux system

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

8. very little explanation of what anything meant or why it was done one way instead of another

   Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

9. It taught me how to compile packages manually, and how GNU/Linux components fit together.

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

10. I often fail to compile it; most recently with GCC complaining and failing at options.cc.

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

11. This was a pivotal project for me as a young lad learning Linux and software engineering

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

12. LFS taught me more about sed, gcc CFLAGS and bootstrapping than the underlying OS sadly

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

13. LFS is an exercise in learning for the sake of it, and therefore, not a waste of time.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

14. LFS is worth doing if you are interested in learning how Linux distro is put together

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

15. the landing page UX doesn't make it immediately obvious where to even start reading

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

16. The value of LFS is not in having the system you build, it's in understanding it.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

17. building Linux from scratch was the thing that got me into computers as a kid

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

18. Not the worst navigation I've seen but the parent comment does have a point.

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

19. What eventually helped me to really get into things was Linux From Scratch.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Unix Recovery Legend”

20. LFS is known but it is really more a cookbook than explanatory principles.

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

21. It's amazing for learning your system and how all its libraries integrate.

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “Last rites for Gentoo's Chromium package”

22. I'm thankful for these people teaching me how to build a Linux system.

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch Ends SysVinit Support”

23. LFS didn't really expose you to that or really teach you much about Systemd internals

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch Ends SysVinit Support”

24. it still feels weak that it's so guided by a future GUI requirement for systemd

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch Ends SysVinit Support”

25. Fundamental things like how processes are scheduled are not explained by LFS.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

26. LFS glosses over a lot of pretty important parts like kernel configuration.

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

27. I kept an LFS system going for a few months (on a wretchedly awful by modern standards celeron “net top”) until eventually making a mess I couldn’t figure out how to untangle during a system upgrade.

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

28. if one wanted to do "Linux From Scratch" and get an idea of how an OS like Debian or Fedora works, you would want to build and install systemd from source

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch Ends SysVinit Support”

29. If he wanted to show people how to roll their own opinionated distro the way gentoo or lfs kinda did that’d be another too!

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root”

30. which can often be found in LFS/BLFS by the way, they often use sed instructions to fix individual things

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “GCC 16 has been released”

31. LFS is just on a whole different level, and is on my bucket list to complete the entire process one day.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

32. LFS is a cookbook, and you learn most by having an idea about how you want to tune your Linux system.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

33. Maybe the person from the first comment read first few pages only which basically give some context.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

34. immensely invaluable means of keeping informed with the way things are rolling in the Linux world

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

35. the reasoning behind every package, and the meaning of most compilation flags was explained

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

36. If you want ultimate control have a bot read and build the LFS documentation to your needs.

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Why I love NixOS”

37. I always recommend going through this for those that want a deeper understanding of linux

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

38. It is quite straightforward, the explanations can be copy/pasted for the most part.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch”

39. I use it a lot for package management/bootstrapping/cross compilation experiments

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Linux from Scratch Ends SysVinit Support”

40. You can also choose the most practical approach and attempt "Linux From Scratch"

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Ask HN: Learning Linux as a Complete Beginner”