Build Your Own Linux Distro! with OpenSUSE as base...

[The Simpleton 2]

Did you ever want to create your own Linux distribution, with your own select choice of applications and such? You now have the power to do so, with SUSE Studio.

 

As you may have guessed, the base will be OpenSUSE - here are the options you have for selecting the base:

Base: OpenSUSE 11.1

 

1.JeOS (Just-enough OS) - This is just a basic OS, for minimal appliances.

2. Server - This is a text-only base

3.Minimal X - This is an X server with IceWM

4.GNOME Desktop - This has OpenSUSE + GNOME

5.KDE4 Desktop - This has OpenSUSE + KDE4

6.KDE3 Desktop - This has OpenSUSE + KDE3

 

Base: SUSE Linux Enterprise 10

1. Server

2.GNOME

3.KDE3

 

Base: SUSE Linux Enterprise 11

1.JeOS

2.GNOME

3.KDE4

4. Server

First you need to get into the site and for that you can either register, or use your existing Open ID, Yahoo, Gmail accounts. But there's a hitch - you need to be invited to the site first before you can use it. And the invitation has to come from the site itself and not the users, which is why I can't invite you guys But if you answer a single question and support the answer,i.e., "Why do you want to use this site" or something like that, then you can get the invitation much faster - I got it 10 minutes after signing in with my Yahoo ID. After you have finished signing in, follow these steps to build your distro....

 

1. First choose a template from the options mentioned above

 

 

2.Give the distro some name.

 

 

3.Click the "software" tab. In this page you get to choose which software packages you want your distro to contain. It has a wide range of options and I'm sure you'll spend a lot of time to look through all the available packages. Choose wisely according to your needs.

 

 

4. Next click on the "configuration" tab. Here you can configure various options like keyboard layout, default language, etc. Also you can configure user groups and accounts.

 

 

5. * This step is optional * Click on the "Overlay Files" tab. Here you can add your own files to the distro. If you are a developer or have something special to put in your distro then you can upload it here or give a link to the files.

 

 

6. Click on the "Build" tab. It is here that your distro is finally prepared to be used. All packages, files, etc are built into Live CD/DVD/USB/Virtual Machine format. You need to specify the format and then click on "Build". Based on the size of your distro it will take some time to prepare the image and after it is ready it will give you the option to "testdrive" the OS, i.e., test it out in a browser or just download it.

 

 

That's it! You're done! ALl you need to do is a bit of tweaking in the software section and you can prepare your own personalized distro that you can use on your own or distribute to others. Go ahead and have some fun then!!!