Ubuntu Customization Guide

[David Farning]

Mike Feravolo wrote:
> Hello:
>
> I was wondering if there is a document that covers the various
> components of an Ubuntu Distribution. Although the file structure and
> naming conventions for the directories are well known, has anyone
> compiled a listing of the available synaptic packages and the packages
> that make up the distribution.
>
> I have looked at the Ubuntu Customization Kit (UCK) and noticed that it
> will allow me to assemble a distribution disk with anything that I want
> from the "debian universe" as long as I know what they are with out
> anything written down. I realize a lot of effort is required to compile
> a "Ubuntu Customization Guide", so before we task someone to do it, it
> would be nice to know if someone already has.
>
> We would be glad to share this information with everyone once we get it
> together. As well as contacting the UCK team to see if they can help us
> out. 
>
> Please help us out
>
> Mike Feravolo
>   
Mike,
The recently formed Derivatives Team at
www.launchpad.net/~derivativeteam is the place to find and locate
community information, guidelines, and best practices on customizing
Ubuntu.  There is currently some information in the knowledge base.
There is also various howtos spread around the Ubuntu site.

Customizing Ubuntu is more of a challenge then it would seem at first
glance because of the need to keep the customized distributions
maintainable.

I am also working on a Derivative Distribution tool Kit to help with the
process.  I am a little wary of UCK and recreator, not because they are
bad  programs , but because they have been designed and written outside
the Ubuntu community.  DDK is basically a refactoring of recreator so
much of the code is reused.  As DDK features are added, I would like to
verify with the Ubuntu developers that the changes DDK is making don't
break anything.

With this in mind, there are a number of places to start documenting
howto customize Ubuntu.  The best place to start would be to compile
information on what changes current customizers make, how they make the
changes, and what the changes break.

A customization guide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
David