Concerning all this livecd talking, I should maybe point out that one
can just download the knoppix-based(*) nmag live-cd from
http://nmag.soton.ac.uk and, after booting, use the (somewhat ad-hoc)
"knopper" and "unknopper" commands to dump the contents of the CD onto
some harddisk partition from which the de-compressed(!) Knoppix system
can then be booted directly. By using aptitude, one can then adjust the
package selection and easily repack the whole lot using the (well, yes,
somewhat ad-hoc) "knopper" command from my "knopper" Debian package,
wihch also is installed on the CD.

(*) We had a lot of trouble booting Ubuntu on some hardware, hence our
decision in favour of Knoppix.

-- 
best regards,
Thomas Fischbacher
tf@functionality.de