Linux From Scratch is a GNU/Linux distribution that you compile and piece together yourself. Gerard Beekmans and the LFS team have published LFS 4.1 as a book with a companion CD. We think that this is a fabulous way to document the heart of GNU/Linux. Own your own distribution. Don’t be buffeted about by corporate shenanigans. Go to cheapbytes to order online for eighteen bucks. For more information about LFS, click here. For more control and independence for the lazy (or those that aren’t cranks 🙂 ), try Gentoo. But… a book… something you can hold. Something that will survive the mother of all EMP blasts… that is something to cherish.