How does one start making their own distro

[nolag]

I enjoy using mint, I enjoy all its features. I don't have any suggestions for improving it. I am curious though if I started with Ubuntu and wanted to make mint what would I need to learn, where should I start? It seems like such a HUGE task. Would I need to worry about the hardware stuff or is that taken care of by the kernel? I think it could be interesting and educational to make one (even if it had few changes).

Let me know what you all think.

PS. do any other distros come with a backup thing for settings and installed programs?

[caf4926]

To start something like Mint or LMDE is a massive undertaking.
Several of the big distros have a means for you to make your own spin on their base, but that's not the same as starting out.

Of course Mint has Ubuntu at it's base and Ubuntu itself is still a rehash - As opposed to a pure distro like Red Hat/Fedora - Don't even consider it!

Re Backup:
Hogwash is what I say. Just keep a backup of your important files / data. Anything else for personal use is pointless.

[nolag]

To be hounest I like the backup of the program selection and settings. It makes it easy when 10 comes out for me to do a fresh install and seem like nothing else changed . Also I would be considering a spin off of Ubuntu (like mint), not a complete start like red hat.

[1002richards]

Hi nolag,
You might like to take a look at Remastersys:
http://www.remastersys.com/

Remastersys is a tool that can be used to do 2 things with an existing Debian, Ubuntu or derivative installation.

It can make a full system backup including personal data to a live cd or dvd that you can use anywhere and install.
It can make a distributable copy you can share with friends. This will not have any of your personal user data in it.

Perhaps something to start with?

[nolag]

That is cool! I was thinking more along the lines of making a distro the way mint is made from ubuntu. I would love to be able to do that type of thing . I know it would be hard but I am in no rush and think I could learn a lot from it.

[richyrich]

Linux from scratch . . . a free eBook available here :

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[nolag]

lol it's funny, I was just looking up LFS and CLFS. I will likely do one of them to learn a lot! Is that a better place to start than to try to make a mint-like OS from ubuntu (or a similar transfrom of mint to my os )?

If so I guess I will start there, I know there is one sucessfull (on distro watch = sucessfull) one built from LFS (and BLFS), so why not .

[michael.conner]

One thing you can do is start playing around with a vanilla or minimal Ubuntu install and start adding repositories such as Mint's own repositories: packages.linuxmint.com -- add the keyring package and then you've got a signed repository from which you can add whichever Mint packages you want and add/remove any other packages you want.

PeppermintOS started off as a fork of a Lubuntu 10.04 Alpha iso, but it's its own OS now, with Ubuntu and Mint packages and its own packages -- take a listen to the interview on MintCast: http://www.mintcast.org/2010/09/episode ... interview/

I found this really inspiring. It encouraged me to play around with different distros and see if I could tweak and modify them into something else. I've made Ubuntu, Lubuntu and Debian Sid/Squeeze respins using Linux Mint tools.

[nolag]

One thing you can do is start playing around with a vanilla or minimal Ubuntu install and start adding repositories such as Mint's own repositories: packages.linuxmint.com -- ...
PeppermintOS started off as a fork of a Lubuntu 10.04 Alpha iso, but it's its own OS now, with Ubuntu and Mint packages and its own packages -- take a listen to the interview on MintCast: http://www.mintcast.org/2010/09/episode ... interview/ ...

Wow I did not know any of that, thanks! (I shortened the quote so it was not too big) I may give this pepermint a try, I'll see what it comes with by default! I would like to know though what constitutes a distro from just a customization? For example when PepermintOS started you said it was basically Ubuntu with a few extra packages, but if I started with Ubuntu and added a few packages it would not be its own distro would it? Also do you know who they customize gnome (or other DEs?)?

Thanks a million, I will listen to the interview tonight when I get home .

[fletcher]

Kind of reviving an old thread.

Did you try out Peppermint? How did you like it? I have been using it almost exclusively since it came out in May. But I still got love for Mint, and I have it on my laptop and right now it is on my second partition on my desktop.

If you want to build your own distro, or put together your own style, another option is Arch Linux. Arch, from what I have read, is very basic, just the necessities, until you add your own style. I have been wanting to try it, but I was waiting for school to finish. Now I have four weeks until Spring semester, so I am going to give it a go on my second partition on my desktop.

Arch is a little less work than LFS, which I eventually want to try as well. But I am starting with Arch to get my feet wet and to help me in getting started on my business, which installs Linux for people ready to move on from the other OS.

[penguinuser]

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/remastersys.html

[DrHu]

Make one's own distribution
--you just start, pick a base, follow some guides and proceed from there.
http://www.tuxradar.com/content/how-bui ... nux-distro

[Kendall]

Having been down this road I might have a few things to say about the subject. My Mintcast interview is linked above, if you want any more details, just let me know.

[jesica]

nice links to follow on the subject