The BLFS Development Team has recently announced the launch of BLFS 6.3 (Beyond Linux From Scratch) along with many new package additions, as well as updates and various adjustments. Among the highlights of this version are Gnome 2.18.3, KDE 3.5.9, Firefox 2.x and Pidgin.

As we all know, BLFS 6.3 is the complement of the LFS 6.3 book, although the latter was released almost a year ago. Due to Editor inactivity, this version has been postponed for a rather long time, in so delaying its desired appearance shortly after an LFS launch. The good news is that this version features an abundance of bug fixes, refinements, new and updated packages.

The book contains instructions on how to build and efficiently configure roughly 500 packages, a far greater number than all the individual packages stored in the X Window instructions.

Here are some of the new packages this version brings:

· Pidgin (formerly named Gaim);
· Amarok;
· Qt version 4.x;
· Dash;
· Wireshark (formerly named Ethereal);
· Gutenprint (formerly name Gimp-Print);
· ksh;
· D-Bus bindings;
· rxvt-unicode;
· GnuTLS (and many of its dependencies);
· GnuPG version 2.x.

Some of the most important updates are:

· Gnome 2.18.3 (with several new GNOME packages);
· KDE-3.5.9;
· Firefox-2.x;
· Thunderbird-2.x;
· the majority of mainline server packages.

For a more detailed overview, please refer to the official Change Log.

About Beyond Linux From Scratch:

Beyond Linux From Scratch (BLFS) is a project that aims to provide users with a vast arsenal of instructions, which enables them to install and easily configure many packages over an LFS based system. Thus, it facilitates the development of an LFS system appropriate to each user's needs.

BLFS 6.3 can be downloaded from Softpedia.