anyone with experience with linux from scratch

[jhu]

can i upgrade by just following the installation instructions? i have a feeling that it'll work, but i just want some confirmation

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: jhu
can i upgrade by just following the installation instructions? i have a feeling that it'll work, but i just want some confirmation

Upgrade from what? A previous version of LFS or a commercial distro? Or do you just mean "install"?

 

[jhu]

i meant upgrading from a previous version of lfs. but it really doesn't seem like it would really matter since everything is statically compiled during the first phase

 

[jhu]

uh, i meant statically linked

 

[DimZiE]

depends.. if u are using a previous release of the same distro your going to use then the answer is yes.... i've had a lot of success upgrading distros ( e.g. RedHat 7.0 to 8.0, Mandrake 6,1 to 8,2 and so on ) but if u are planning to switch distro (different distro than the previous one u have installed) i think it is better to compile the whole distro yourself (the new one) or install from scratch and reinitialize your data partition in the etc/fstab....


good luck and may the force be with you

 

[cleverhandle]

Well, it should be possible, but it's going to be messy. Even if you create the static bootstrap directory first, you'll need to find a way to boot to that - in the typical host/target setup, chrooting gives you the benefit of using the host's startup files and init sequence without replacing them. And some files may linger from the older installation, which might cause problems in some cases. Ask this on the BLFS-support mailing list - someone there will have done it, I imagine.

If you're just short on space and can't create a whole new partition, I would do this using a loopback device. Install to the loopback device, tarball the result, and burn it to a disk. Then you can boot up from a rescue floppy/CD/mini-distro, wipe the old system, and untar the new LFS image onto it.

 

[thornc]

If you're just short on space and can't create a whole new partition, I would do this using a loopback device. Install to the loopback device, tarball the result, and burn it to a disk. Then you can boot up from a rescue floppy/CD/mini-distro, wipe the old system, and untar the new LFS image onto it.

Good strategy... problem is if he has only one root partition instead of separating his stuff... /home,/var ...

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: thornc
Good strategy... problem is if he has only one root partition instead of separating his stuff... /home,/var ...

I don't see what the problem is. Could you elaborate?

 

[thornc]

Originally posted by: cleverhandle

Originally posted by: thornc
Good strategy... problem is if he has only one root partition instead of separating his stuff... /home,/var ...

I don't see what the problem is. Could you elaborate?

If he follows your instructions to the letter... and his / [root] paritition isn't separeted from his /home he could loose his
personnal files! ...Wipe the old system... is a pretty dangerous thing to say! :Q

 

[cleverhandle]

Oh, I understand now. I'm assuming, possibly incorrectly, that someone creating an LFS for the second time can read between the lines for stuff like that.

 

[thornc]

I'm assuming, possibly incorrectly, (...)

One thing that I learnt over the years is: Never assume nothing about the knowledge of a user! Man, if I had dolar bills for the times that I assumed that a user understood something I didn't made crystal clear... I would be almost rich

Like that charactor in the movie "Philadelphia", 'explain me that, like if I was a six year old'... that's about the only way most users understand stuff!!