Introduction

Below is a list of packages you need to download for building a basic Linux system. The listed version numbers correspond to versions of the software that are known to work, and this book is based upon them. Unless you are an experienced LFS builder, we highly recommend not to try out newer versions, as the build commands for one version may not work with a newer version. Also, there is often a good reason for not using the latest version due to known problems that haven't been worked around yet.

All the URLs, when possible, refer to the project's page at Freshmeat.net. The Freshmeat pages will give you easy access to the official download sites as well as project websites, mailinglists, FAQs, Changelogs and more.

We can't guarantee that these download locations are always available to you. In case a download location has changed since this book was published, please try to google for the package. Should you remain unsuccessful with this you should consult the book's errata page at http://linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/print or try the alternative means of download listed at http://linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/packages.html

You'll need to store all the downloaded packages and patches somewhere that is conveniently available throughout the entire build. You'll also need a working directory in which to unpack the sources and build them. A scheme that works well is to use $LFS/tools/src/packages for all the downloaded files and $LFS/tools/src for the working directory. In this way, everything will be on the LFS partition and always available.