Creating a Distro

L.Jenkins

Just wondering, is there any good resources available on the net on Linux Distro Development or creation? I want to develop my own Distro, just to see what goes into such a project.

AnCatDubh

haven't gotten around to it as yet but i had tracked down this project as something interesting when I intend embarking on same.

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

I guess there is probably a wealth of resources out there so i've no idea how it stacks up against others.

L.Jenkins

Yeah I was checking out LFS. It would be a good starting point.

Stuxnet

Arch linux

Johnboy1951

A 'distro' implies something that could be released for general use and not just something for yourself to run on specific hardware.
It also (to me) implies a distro-maintained repository of packages and updates for the target users .... including all those little apps people love to use without even thinking about it

I would think you would first need to decide on what packaging system to use ...... rpm, deb, other ..... and then if you would intend to base your distro off of another project to save you huge amounts of time and effort, or if you would wish to build everything from scratch.

Creating a distro and maintaining it is not a one-man job IMO, but requires a group of people with similar goals to cooperate.

It is not something I would approach lightly ......

...... of course if you want to create your own personal version of Linux from the bottom up (mostly as a learning experience?), then LFS would seem to be the way to go.

I don't envy you the work involved

Stuxnet

^ Good points.

How much do you know about liunx, compilation, sym links, package management etc ? Where do you intend to pull your software from...? compile everything from source ?

It really depends on what you know already,

My advice, rather then throwing yourself into LFS, which as a well seasoned linux user, I wouldnt bother with. Would be to use a bare bones distribution a build on top of that. That is why I suggested arch linux.

Arch is an excellent way to learn how to build a highly customised desktop or what ever your having your self, after you install it, you have only the shell to interact with, up to you where you go from there... you would need to install a desktop environment, ...a file manager..etc...you choose every single piece of software you need.
You have its repositories and the AUR to build from, its an excellent, very rewarding learning curve. Try it out in virtualbox first to get a feel.

L.Jenkins

I have moderate experience. I can navigate my way around the Command Line easily enough and setup a Development Environment. Building on top of Arch Linux sounds like a good starting point. It will require a serious learning curve, one I'm willing to undertake.

I'll get back to ye all when I start into it, which should be some time this week. Need to finish off a Development Project :P

L.Jenkins

Don't know if I should keep this thread going, to keep people up to date on my progress and to ask questions. Currently I'm running Arch Linux on my Windows 7 Machine using Virtual box.

Have done an update, installed a few packages and taken my second snapshot. May need to expand the disk space for the OS or even port it to my Linux Mint Partition since it has 400gb free space.

L.Jenkins

Not much of an update, but I'm running Virtual Box on Linux on Mint instead. I'm wondering, how would I bundle the resulting OS so I can create an ISO, so I can install it on a test machine I have lying around or what tools would I need to do so?

human 19

I have no idea if its even possible to transfer a VB distro to a real one. Ive only ever used VB to run Windows back in the past.
I would assume that there was to much "pretend" crap to allow it to be used as a real distro

I did a quick search and saw this
http://superuser.com/questions/114445/is-it-possible-to-convert-virtual-machines-to-physical-environments

search for this...convet virtual box image to real distro

I just printed off all the info from the Arch Wiki regarding installing from scratch and followed the steps. I have been using Arch for about a year. The wikis are excellent but the forums tend to be a lot of RTFM, if you dont know your stuff

Stuxnet

I just use a script to bang off an arch install for me, don't have the time nor patience to build from scratch these days.

This is awesome if anyone is interested in getting a fully configured arch box in about half an hour, (you select what packages you want etc..) its a really good script, Ive contributed code to it myself !

Archlinux Ultimate Install Script


For new folks wanting to give arch a shot, but find it intimidating, ... get arch on a bootable usb, boot to the shell: (enable internet connection if not connected via ethernet)

pacman -Syu

pacman -S git

git clone git://github.com/helmuthdu/aui

cd aui

./ais

....
..

cd aui

./aui

new arch box.

Relies on internet connection obviously, If you depend on wireless, you can tether from your phone.

ip link ##will list your connected phone with usb tether enabled

followed by

dhcpcd xxxxphoneNicID

script gives option to install wireless & bluetooth, graphics drivers etc

L.Jenkins

Have put this project on the back burner for a while, but I haven't forgotten about it. I may get back into it on the weekend if I have free time.

aphex™

Have a look at SuSe Studio. Seems like they have a web browser interface for crating your own distro. Might be a nice place to start.

TBH a lot of decisions are taken at compile time by package maintainers. Whether to compile in new features of software, what version to provide to end users from the repo, etc. I presume Debian has hundreds of these package managers.

L.Jenkins

I'll give it a try. I don't want to detract from the fun of building one myself though.

L.Jenkins

So I built an OS based on Suse, 64 bit. Chuffed with myself I created an ISO and went to run it in Virtual Box. VM tool states I'm running a 32 bit box :eek: Need to rebuilt the OS or fix the VM

L.Jenkins

Fixed. Ran a 32-bit virtual box.