How to build your own Linux distro

http://www.tuxradar.com/content/how-build-your-own-linux-distro

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Since Manchester University's Owen Le Blanc released MCC Interim Linux (generally agreed to have been the first Linux distribution), way back in 1992, there have been hundreds of ways to get the world's favourite free software operating system on to a computer. The diversity of alternatives reflects the diversity in the development community, with distros split along technical, functional, linguistic and even ideological lines.

There have been large distros, tiny ones, bleeding edge and rock-solid stable distros. Easy for the newbie to install, or downright impenetrable to the uninitiated. Created exclusively with free software as a badge of pride, or so proprietary in attitude that not even the toolchain was fully GNU (hello Red Flag Server 4.1, built with the Intel compiler in 2004).

So with all the variety that's already out there, why would anyone want to create their own distro? Well, that's down to you. But we want to show you how to get started the easy way, as well as giving you some advice along the way to help make your distro stand out in the crowd. Read on!

Everyone's motivation is different, and for many that motivation isn't strong enough to make it past the first months of planning. But the ones that do survive – the distros that prove they have lasting power – usually have a unique selling point that captures the interest of other people.

You might look at the Ubuntu project and think you couldn't possibly compete, but you shouldn't forget that Ubuntu itself started life as a simple Debian fork with the goal of releasing stable versions more frequently than the Debian project. Mandriva started out as a Red Hat fork, and the early SUSE releases were simply German translations of Slackware!

What this amounts to is that it doesn't take much to warrant a new distro. If people tell you, "there are already enough distros out there; join one of those!" don't succumb to the pressure – it doesn't matter whether you're creating a distro for your home country (we think Cymru Linux is well overdue!) or just changing the colour scheme, because what matters is that if other people find it useful/attractive/cool, they'll use it, and you'll be helping the free software world.

And if for some reason your idea doesn't take off, then you've lost nothing and actually gained quite a few skills along the way! Not everyone has the cash reserves of Ubuntu's founder and space tourist Mark Shuttleworth, so do your best and see where it takes you.