On Sat, 7 Jul 2001, Clarence Verge wrote:
> It sounded interesting enough for me to take a look.
> But 1.3 MEGABYTES for a text editor ??
> I thought that was insane so I aborted the download.
Clarence,
Knowing how you feel about bloated anything...
including Linux distributions, I thought you might be
interested in building your own Linux distro which has
been able to fit into as little as 8MB.
Here's where you can get the e-book on how to do it
(and necessary packages):
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/intro/
<excerpt>
Who would want to read this book
This book is intended for Linux users who want to setup their own custom
built Linux system. Reasons for wanting to build such a system are
diverse. Perhaps you want to get into more detail as to what happens
behind the scenes. Perhaps you are fed up with distributions which are
often bloated or perhaps you don't want to rely on pre-compiled binaries
due to security concerns. There are many other reasons why someone may
want a custom built system. If any of these reasons apply to you, this
book is meant for you.
The fruits of building your own system are plentiful, but the labor may be
hard. There is a long way ahead, but in the end you will be able to call
yourself the proud owner of your own Linux system, completely tailored
after your needs. You will dictate the layout of bootscripts, the file
system hierarchy, which programs are installed in which directory, which
versions of software to use, and more. Perhaps the most important reason
is that you will know exactly what is installed where, why, and how.
- - - - -
Who would not want to read this book
People who don't want to build an entire Linux system from scratch
probably don't want to read this book. If you, however, want to learn more
about what happens behind the scenes, in particular what happens between
turning on the computer and seeing the command prompt, you may want to
read the "From Power Up To Bash Prompt" (P2B) HOWTO. This HOWTO builds a
bare system, in way similar to the one this book uses, but it focuses more
on just installing a bootable system instead of a complete system.
To decide whether to read this book or the P2B HOWTO, ask yourself this
question: "Is my main objective to get a working Linux system that I'm
going to build myself and, along the way, learn what every component of a
system is for, or is just the learning part my main objective?" If you
want to build and learn, read this book. If you just want to learn the
basics, then the P2B HOWTO is probably better material to read.
The "From Power Up To Bash Prompt" HOWTO is located at
http://www.netspace.net.au/~gok/power2bash/
</excerpt>
- Steve
