Getting Started

We'll be building a system capable of running xwindows, dialing into the internet, connecting to the internet through your home or business network, or anything else you can imagine. Not interested in the client side of things? Ok, how about an Apache web server? It's going to start off very basic and work it's way up from there. In fact, it's going to be so basic to start, all you will be able to do is boot it up and then shut it down the first time! You won't even be able to browse directories just yet. My plan is to update this site with new and interesting projects on a continuous basis.

You will need an existing Linux operating system on your computer along with root access in order to do this project. You don't necessarily need anything to fancy, but the more current, the better. I used RedHat 6.1 to create BYO Linux. An old version that comes with a book may be ok to. We will need to create file systems and build source code and the only way to do that is to use an existing Linux distribution.

Some of the source code we'll be building together will initially be compiled on the existing system and will be transferred over to the new system. Your existing system will need to be able to compile source code. The source code we will be building will be built 'statically' as opposed to 'dynamically' at first. This means that library files will not need to be present right away on the new system. Once we have a working system, the packages will be rebuilt on that system dynamically. If you have ever made your own kernel before, you can assume what you need to create these packages is probably already installed.

If you run into errors compiling packages, it's most likely because the package is new and your compiler is old or your compiler is new and your package hasn't been updated yet for the new compiler. We'll talk more about what to do if you run into problems in 'Compiling stuff'. I'll include the version numbers I'm using as well as the location to download these packages in 'Required packages'.

Now, understand, what we will be doing here is a little difficult and time consuming. This project is not made to be completed in one night nor should you take any of the steps out of order. But the rewards will be well worth it. There will be a lot of downloading going on from various Linux sites to obtain the latest source code. I have received numerous requests to offer the packages on a CDROM. I'm looking into to that as an alternative. Another alternative is for me to host this website on my own server. I've recently ordered DSL so we'll see how it goes. After you have installed the package, do not delete it, we'll need to come back to them in a later chapter to remake them dynamically.

It is assumed that you have at least a little Linux/Unix knowledge. It would be impossible to teach this to someone who has no background in *nux at all. You should be familiar with the basic Linux commands. I will try to be as detailed as possible.

We'll be switching back and forth between the two distributions quite a bit for the first few chapters. Just so there is no confusion, I'm going to call your existing Linux distribution linux1 and your new system that we are creating linux2.

Finally, this is all a neat experiment. Don't hold me responsible for wiping out the contents of your hard drive or something crazy like that if you mess up. You assume all the risk for this project. Now if you see something that's wrong or maybe you know a better way of doing something, please don't hesitate to email me with your thoughts. Also, please drop me a line if you finish the project. I would like to have an idea how many people are using BYO Linux.