Why I have to create a custom Linux distro? Is just matter of memory?

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I am trying to understand why tools like YOCTO, BUILDROOT, etc.. exists. What are the reason to create a custom Linux distribution? It's just matter of memory?

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I've used tools like Buildroot and Bitbake in the past for building a custom Linux distribution for use on an embedded system. These tools provide an automated way to manage a system that requires a specific kernel version with custom patches, particular tools (with custom patches), a minimal X server with drivers only for the embedded hardware, and so on. The sources have to obtained from their repositories, patched, and built. The build process often requires a specific filesystem layout, and the filesystem layout may vary between the build system and the eventual target. So we need tools for faking the filesystem. Some packages can only be properly built by a user with root permissions, so we have to fake that up. Distribution management tools have facilities (in principle) to automate and simplify all this stuff.

In practice, I gave up with these tools a long time ago, because I found it was easier to create my own than to understand all their technical complexities. But that's a different story.