I ran across this a few months ago, but didn't have need for it until today. http://teddziuba.com/2011/01/multiple-concurrent-linux-distros.html Basically, it is a way that takes about 2 minutes to build a completely pristine debian or ubuntu root file tree on an existing debian or ubuntu machine. The chroot doesn't need to match the host environment. For example, i just built a maverick tree on a lucid system. It appears to be forward and backward compatible going way back, so i expect this might be a good way to build new distros without needing to use a real machine or even vm. I'm going to experiment with direct installation into heckle now, but once this is worked out, we should be able to roll out new distros even faster and simpler than we can now. -nld