8.1. Introduction
In this chapter, we start constructing the LFS system in earnest.
The installation of this software is straightforward. Although in many cases the installation instructions could be made shorter and more generic, we have opted to provide the full instructions for every package to minimize the possibilities for mistakes. The key to learning what makes a Linux system work is to know what each package is used for and why you (or the system) may need it.
We do not recommend using optimizations. They can make a program run
slightly faster, but they may also cause compilation difficulties and
problems when running the program. If a package refuses to compile
when using optimization, try to compile it without optimization and
see if that fixes the problem. Even if the package does compile when
using optimization, there is the risk it may have been compiled
incorrectly because of the complex interactions between the code and
build tools. Also note that the -march
and -mtune options using values not
specified in the book have not been tested. This may cause problems
with the toolchain packages (Binutils, GCC and Glibc). The small
potential gains achieved in using compiler optimizations are often
outweighed by the risks. First-time builders of LFS are encouraged to
build without custom optimizations. The subsequent system will still
run very fast and be stable at the same time.
That being said, MIPS (and other RISC architectures) may need compiler optimization more aggressive than default for appropriate performance. You can try some custom compiler optimizations during build, if you understand how to diagnostic the issues may be caused by them.
Before the installation instructions, each installation page provides information about the package, including a concise description of what it contains, approximately how long it will take to build, and how much disk space is required during this building process. Following the installation instructions, there is a list of programs and libraries (along with brief descriptions) that the package installs.
![[Note]](../images/note.png)
Note
The SBU values and required disk space includes test suite data for all applicable packages in Chapter 8. SBU values have been calculated using a single CPU core (-j1) for all operations.
8.1.1. About libraries
In general, the LFS editors discourage building and installing static libraries. The original purpose for most static libraries has been made obsolete in a modern Linux system. In addition, linking a static library into a program can be detrimental. If an update to the library is needed to remove a security problem, all programs that use the static library will need to be relinked to the new library. Since the use of static libraries is not always obvious, the relevant programs (and the procedures needed to do the linking) may not even be known.
In the procedures in this chapter, we remove or disable
installation of most static libraries. Usually this is done by
passing a --disable-static option to
configure. In other
cases, alternate means are needed. In a few cases, especially glibc
and gcc, the use of static libraries remains essential to the
general package building process.
For a more complete discussion of libraries, see the discussion Libraries: Static or shared? in the BLFS book.