I have been very recently introduced to UNIX/LINUX and I am overwhelmed by the sheer power.I am a CS Graduate student and for my final year project I want to make an artificially intelligent Linux Distro.While I can achieve the AI Part, I am confused about the customizing and OS. My initial thought was to use SUSE Studio to create a custom version to suit my needs, however I have a few queries.Say I install the SUSE in a virtual machine and customize it to it'sbrim and add middleware software to it. Then can I make it a distrofrom the installed version?If it is not possible with SUSE what would be your suggested oS?I would like to customize everything that is graphically visible toan user (boot screen, UI etc) and I would like to add my own softwarethat starts up with the OS or as a background service.I will not customize the kernel although there is a probability thatI might need to tweak it.
Distro Customisation And Middleware Software Inclusion
linux;opensuse;distros;susestudio
The Fedora/Centos Kickstart system, which may work in SuSe too,  allows you to install additional packages, run scripts etc instead of the default CD scripts.You can create UI based installs with zenity to ask for user parameters. This would ensure your customised settings/packages are what an end user gets.As for the actual customization - almost any component of this can be customized as the source code is available. This is a matter of time spent on it - and time spend reading up the various parts.