A customized distribution, e.g. of Linux software, is built using only packages that satisfy a customer's individual requirements. The packages are verified, at build time, to be interoperable at run-time. Also, the distribution is verified to ensure all package dependencies are included. In cases where no package already exists that meets a user requirements, a new package can be created for this purpose. The packages in the distribution customized for the user can be tracked, so that as updates to the packages are released, the customer can be notified about those updates (without being notified about packages not in the customer's customized distribution). Finally, once the distribution has been built for the user, it can then be offered as a general-purpose distribution for future customers.