Hi everyone Im new to this forum but not to linux

[andyprogramming]

I have only used linux for about 4 month but My question is What Distro would be a good one to change the look and theme and be able to add new graphics to, like when it starts and login and change the menu to top or Bottom, Basicly I want to change everything to customize it for my own needs. Im using Linux Mint and I like it alot but im still new to it and im not sure if i can do all this to it, and I just have one more question is there a software for linux that is kind of like visual basic 6.0 from Microsoft,I was thinging about making my own distro, so thats another question what would be a good start to make my own Distro, thanks so much for reading my post and hope to here from anyone that can show me the right direction. Thanks

[oz]

What Distro would be a good one to change the look and theme and be able to add new graphics to, like when it starts and login and change the menu to top or Bottom

I want to change everything to customize it for my own needs
im not sure if i can do all this to it

is there a software for linux that is kind of like visual basic 6.0 from Microsoft

what would be a good start to make my own Distro

Hello and welcome!

Pretty much any distro should allow you to do that

Same as above

Not sure on that one, but you can check here

Linux From Scratch is a good option to learn about building your own. Otherwise, you can remaster some existing distro

Good luck with all your objectives...

[jonniemuk]

Fedora can do that. At least i tried it when i was using fedora 13, but if you want to personalize your distro use 'apt on cd' although apt is not shipped with red-hat backbones. You will therefore use Debian an its variants.

[elija]

GAMBAS is very like Visual Basic. It should be in pretty much any disto's repository, Lots of information on their sourceforge site

[masinick]

I really like antiX for putting together a system. It is really easy to run, as is, to start with, and there are currently three variations you can select: a "full version", which is a full featured, but light implementation, a "base version", which includes the core system and a graphical interface, but allow you to create and customize your own selection of applications, and a "core version", which includes only the core system and a set of utilities to allow you to completely create whatever you want.

I find this a lot faster and easier than resorting to things like Arch Linux, Gentoo Linux, or Linux From Scratch, all of which can also help you reach the same place, but with more time and effort. Yes, the more you have to do, the more you will ultimately learn, but it might be a bit much to start with one of them with four months of experience. They may be worth tackling with a year or two of experience with other systems first. Also, not many of us have countless hours available to tweak around with our systems. The antiX approach is quite stable and useful, perhaps not as "friendly" as a true beginner system, but not as involved as a hard core system like Linux From Scratch, so I feel that it's a great compromise, both in terms of time and effort, and also in terms of a very pleasant, effective, efficient system. You can make it small and light, or you can install as many "heavy", full-featured applications as you want, so the flexibility is there.

[merelyjim]

Um... I think you'll find that we're all biased to the distro we use the most (Crunchbang for myself).

Most distro's usually have a screenshot thread where people show off how much customization they've done. Take a look around, and see.

[masinick]

Um... I think you'll find that we're all biased to the distro we use the most (Crunchbang for myself).

Most distro's usually have a screenshot thread where people show off how much customization they've done. Take a look around, and see.

That's for sure; good point, merelyjim! I am personally partial to Debian Sid and to projects closely aligned with Debian Testing and Debian Sid, such as antiX and siduction. But you're right; most distros have their own screenshot thread, and many forums also have them as well. Poking around to see what looks good is one thing to do to evaluate appearance, and reading the forums of distributions of interest is another way to gauge what the communities are like; for some people, a really good community is helpful in learning about the distribution, and many forums provide considerable help and friendship; some of these end up being the best distributions, particularly for those needing encouragement and guidance as they learn.