I'm creating a new distro for my college class. I'm basing that distro on Ubuntu (I'm currently using Intrepid, but will use Jaunty when it's available). I figured out how to extract the file system from the ISO, mount it, and chroot into it. Then, it's easy enough to use apt-get to remove/install packages I want to use. I also figured out how to move some sample files into the skel directory that I can use as part of my class. Finally, I was able to re-constitute the entire file system, add the various live distro scripts (casper) and create an ISO.

The only piece that is missing are launchers in the top panel. I remove Evolution from the distro, but there is still a launcher for that program in the top panel. The launcher doesn't do anything since the program is gone, but I want to remove the launcher in order to clean up the desktop. Also, I would like to add a launcher for a BASH terminal. I can easily do these things when a system is up and running, but how do I manage the various desktop launchers while I'm using a BASH shell in a chroot environment? Is it as simple as adding a launcher file to a directory somewhere? Is there some sort of database that Gnome maintains for launchers?

Thanks for any help you can offer in this matter.

--George