[gabriel]

My first LFS was around 2001, which I think would be LFS v3.0. I can't begin to express how amazing the project was to my learning and development as a programmer.

When I started I was completely new to Linux and the command line. Everything I do today is rooted in the foundation that I learned by doing a close read of the book. The book requires no coding, just command-line, but soon after my first and second reads of the book I began to automate the build process that took me down the path of understanding how distros are put together.

I've only read the book end-to-end once or twice (I think that's all that is needed), but I've done hundreds of builds. Make no mistake: The book is difficult to get through. It requires trial and error as well as a close read of the book to understand why the build is done in the way that it is, which should be explained thoroughly, but if it isn't I'm sure the editors want to hear about the difficulty you are having. There are also bound to be problems bootstrapping from your <insert_favorite_distro>. That's always been a challenge and it's part of the build methodology that LFS uses to create a stable foundation to build a proper system (which relates to the efforts today regarding bit identical reproducible builds).

[kbenson]

I went through the same process, at around the exact same time. I haven't done much with LFS since 2001/2002, but it was invaluable as a resource to learn how a system is put together, what provides what, and as an exposure to bootstrapping through chroot.

Building an LFS system is the sysadmin equivalent of a programmer writing their own DB, ORM, web framework or the like. The vast majority of the time, you don't want to use the result in production, but the process is an invaluable learning experience.

[digi_owl]

These days you have ALFS.

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/alfs/

And the most recent Gobolinux release made use of a modified version of ALFS to bootstrap the kernel and console environment.

Apparently the real troubles came when trying to get a DE going...

[0xmohit]

I did it first in year 2000. It wasn't a smooth ride, but with some effort I prepared a bunch of scripts to set up stuff.

Since you have complete control over what is installed, the system used to boot up within seconds. The downside was maintenance.