[Asterisk-Users] What would be needed ..

[Asterisk]

I am thinking about creating an "asterisk-specific" Linux (I am soo tired of
installing fedora core (1.3GB))

What are the minimum software requirements to A) compile and B) run Asterisk
?

I was thinking along the lines of having a chroot somewhere on one of my
Linux machines where I could compile and build not only asterisk, but the
kernel and other related stuff. This "build" would be packaged as an image
capable of booting from a USB / CD Rom or even tftp server. 

I *am* a total newbie when talking about this stuff, so please, no flames -
It's just an idea. 

Julian