Make a New Linux!

Linux From Scratch provides you with "step-by-step instructions for building your own custom Linux system." I found the idea amazingly interesting a couple of years ago when I bumped into it. Although I have not tried it myself, yet I believe there are those out there who would love to give it a try.

I just came across their web site a while ago and I noticed it had a sleeker cleaner look. This made it look much more appealing to me. After all this could reflect a more tidied and user friendly approach in their step-by step instructions. I remember last time a sow their site a couple of years back it looked so geek-like. Now it's neat.

You can think of LFS (Linux From Scratch) as a book which gives you instructions on how to compile different bits of source code, taken from the open source community of course, to finally arrive at a Linux operating system. This OS will be unique because you are the one who built it. You may decide to take it further and pass it around. Who knows, it might turn out to be a popular Linux distro. Perhaps you can name it after your own name too!

It came to my mind that perhaps one of the tests one could make to an job applicant is to provide him/her with the LFS web site and ask him/her to build a Linux distro. This will show how the applicant can read and understand English, solve problems and show perseverance. Perhaps it could be too long for a mini-project for job assessment. Maybe it would be a better idea to make applying LFS be a graduation project for Computer Engineering grads for instance. That would be interesting. They also would have the time to build a usable and useful distro. I hope some Computer Science or Computer Engineering students in Egypt pick up this idea and take it for their graduation projects. Would be a really good exercise in problem solving, and in learning new technologies and how things work. Perhaps the distro they come up with too could be of use and even wide distribution and adoption in our community later on.