MyDistro is a minimal Linux distribution created as a learning project.

It includes:

• Linux kernel
• BusyBox (statically linked)
• Minimal root filesystem
• Custom init script with a welcome message and ASCII art

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Try MyDistro ISO

You can boot the ISO directly in QEMU or VirtualBox to try MyDistro without building it yourself.

Download the ISO directly:
MyDistro.iso

wget https://github.com/H0ussamCl4p/MyDistro/raw/main/iso/MyDistro.iso -O MyDistro.iso

QEMU

qemu-system-x86_64 -cdrom iso/MyDistro.iso -m 512M

VirtualBox / VMware

Create a new virtual machine.

Set the type to Linux and version to Other Linux (64-bit).

Attach iso/MyDistro.iso as the CD/DVD drive.

Boot the VM.

Note: This ISO contains a minimal Linux system with BusyBox and a custom ASCII welcome screen. Job control and utilities are limited.

Features

• Bootable in QEMU or VirtualBox
• Minimal root filesystem with essential directories:

/bin /sbin /usr/bin /usr/sbin /etc /proc /sys /dev

• /init script mounts /proc and /sys and launches a shell
• Custom welcome message with ASCII art
• Optional BusyBox utilities

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Requirements

• Linux host (WSL or native)
• QEMU
• GNU Make
• gcc
• BusyBox source
• Linux kernel source

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Directory Structure

MyDistro/ ├── build/ # Compiled kernel, initramfs, ISO ├── busybox/ # BusyBox source ├── linux/ # Linux kernel source ├── rootfs/ # Root filesystem ├── iso/ # ISO build directory ├── build.sh # Build script └── README.md

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How to Build

Run the build script:

chmod +x build.sh
./build.sh

This will:

Compile the kernel and BusyBox

Build the root filesystem

Package the initramfs

Create a bootable ISO in build/MyDistro.iso

How to Boot

QEMU (ISO)

qemu-system-x86_64 -cdrom build/MyDistro.iso -m 512M

QEMU (direct kernel + initramfs)

qemu-system-x86_64 -kernel build/bzImage -initrd build/initramfs.cpio.gz -nographic -append "console=ttyS0"

Notes :

• Minimal shell; job control is limited.

• Only essential device nodes exist (/dev/console, /dev/null, /dev/zero, /dev/tty0, /dev/ttyS0, /dev/urandom).

• You can add more BusyBox utilities by editing .config in the busybox/ folder.