diff --git a/bin/build.sh b/bin/build.sh
index 8a711dd..08350da 100755
--- a/bin/build.sh
+++ b/bin/build.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 #DEBUG
 #set -x
 
+echo "Starting at $(date)..."
+
 ## Import settings
 if [ -f "build.conf" ];
 then
@@ -109,6 +111,7 @@ EOF
 
 ## FUNCTIONS ##
 
+source lib/00-depcheck.func.sh
 source lib/02-im_batman.func.sh
 source lib/03-holla_atcha_boi.func.sh
 source lib/04-release_me.func.sh
@@ -194,4 +197,4 @@ fi
 
 # yay! we're done!
 rm -f ${LOCKFILE}
-echo "Finished successfully!"
+echo "Finished successfully at $(date)!"
diff --git a/bin/clean.sh b/bin/clean.sh
index 2acfd83..d0b6f8c 100755
--- a/bin/clean.sh
+++ b/bin/clean.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+echo "Started at $(date)..."
+
 ## Import settings
 if [ -f "build.conf" ];
 then
@@ -82,3 +84,5 @@ do
 done
 
 rm -f ${LOCKFILE}
+
+echo "Finished successfully at $(date)!"
diff --git a/extra/build.conf.sample b/extra/build.conf.sample
index 887bc11..2ac9f19 100644
--- a/extra/build.conf.sample
+++ b/extra/build.conf.sample
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #####################################################
 #
 # This file is used to define various variables/settings used by the build script. 
-# 
+#
 
 # This should be an alpha-numeric string less than 8 characters. No spaces, etc.
 # Used for metainfo
@@ -132,6 +132,11 @@ I_AM_A_RACECAR="no"
 # The following should not be changed unless you are ABSOLUTELY, 100% SURE and COMPLETELY POSITIVE
 # about what you are doing!!!
 
+# This can be used to override automatic distro-detection.
+# If you DO set this, be sure that you have a matching profile in
+# ${BASEDIR}/lib/prereqs/<Distro>/meta !!
+HOST_DIST=""
+
 # This used to be defined statically, but is now dynamically appended. Please don't alter this
 # unless you renamed the chroot directory paths.
 CHROOTDIR="${BASEDIR}/"
diff --git a/lib/00-depcheck.func.sh b/lib/00-depcheck.func.sh
index eb8946c..ff3ca03 100755
--- a/lib/00-depcheck.func.sh
+++ b/lib/00-depcheck.func.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,35 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-# placeholder...
+function so_check_me_out {
+
+ if [[ -n ${HOST_DIST} ]]; 
+ then
+   if [[ ! -f ${BASEDIR}/lib/prereqs/${HOST_DIST}/meta || ! -f ${BASEDIR}/lib/prereqs/${HOST_DIST}/pkgs ]]; 
+   then
+     echo "ERROR: You have specified ${HOST_DIST} as your host system's distro, but it is missing a meta and/or pkgs profile."
+     exit 1
+   fi  
+ fi
+
+ if [[ -z ${HOST_DIST} ]]; 
+ then
+   for dist_profile in $(find ${BASEDIR}/lib/prereqs -type f -name 'meta');
+   do  
+     source ${dist_profile}
+     if [[ ${SUPPORTED} != "yes" ]];
+     then
+       continue 
+     fi
+     eval "${CHECK_METHOD}" > /dev/null 2>&1
+     if [[ "${?}" == "0" ]]; 
+     then
+       export HOST_DIST=${NAME}
+       echo "Detected distro as ${HOST_DIST}."
+       break 2
+     fi
+   done
+ fi
+
+# So we've validated the distro. Here, check for packages and install if necessary. maybe use an array, but it'd be better to soft-fail if one of the packages is missing.
+
+}
diff --git a/lib/03-holla_atcha_boi.func.sh b/lib/03-holla_atcha_boi.func.sh
index 9ba8209..2c9d02d 100644
--- a/lib/03-holla_atcha_boi.func.sh
+++ b/lib/03-holla_atcha_boi.func.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ function holla_atcha_boi {
    RACECAR_CHK=""
  fi
 
+ so_check_me_out
 
   # Do we have an existing chroot set up yet? If not, create.
   if [[ ! -d "root.x86_64/root" || ! -d "root.i686/root" ]];
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Arch/meta b/lib/prereqs/Arch/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..977d4f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/Arch/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME='Arch'
+SUPPORTED='yes'
+CHECK_METHOD='egrep "^NAME=\"Arch Linux\"" /etc/os-release'
+PKG_MGR='pacman -S'
+PRE_RUN='pacman -Syyy'
+PKG_CHK='pacman -Q'
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Arch/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/Arch/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/CentOS/meta b/lib/prereqs/CentOS/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dec0748
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/CentOS/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME='CentOS'
+SUPPORTED='yes'
+CHECK_METHOD='egrep '^CentOS' /etc/redhat-release'
+PKG_MGR='yum -y install'
+PRE_RUN='none'
+PKG_CHK='rpm -q'
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/CentOS/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/CentOS/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Debian/meta b/lib/prereqs/Debian/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89f1fc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/Debian/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME='Debian'
+SUPPORTED='yes'
+CHECK_METHOD='cat /etc/debian_version'
+PKG_MGR='apt-get -y install'
+PRE_RUN='apt-get update'
+PKG_CHK='dpkg-query -l'
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Debian/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/Debian/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Fedora/meta b/lib/prereqs/Fedora/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0415972
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/Fedora/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME='Fedora'
+SUPPORTED='yes'
+CHECK_METHOD='egrep '^Fedora' /etc/redhat-release'
+PKG_MGR='yum -y install'
+PRE_RUN='none'
+PKG_CHK='rpm -q'
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Fedora/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/Fedora/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Gentoo/meta b/lib/prereqs/Gentoo/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dc5cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/Gentoo/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME=
+SUPPORTED=
+CHECK_METHOD=
+PKG_MGR=
+PRE_RUN=
+PKG_CHK=
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Gentoo/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/Gentoo/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/HUMAN b/lib/prereqs/HUMAN
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86acdb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/HUMAN
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+This directory is used to enable cross-distro support. A list of packages is needed for the *host* to build the ISO. Adding distro support is easy; there simply needs to be the following added:
+
+<basedir>/lib/prereqs/<Distro>/{meta,pkgs}
+
+"pkgs" should contain a list of the specific package names needed to install for that specific distro (as this isn't always standardized).
+
+"meta" is a file consisting of the following variables (enclosed in single or double quotes, please:
+
+NAME=<Distro - this should match the name of the directory this file is in!>
+SUPPORTED=<yes or no- yes by default>
+CHECK_METHOD=<a command that will be run that should return '0' (success) on *only* this specific distro
+		(or fully compatible derivatives, i.e. CentOS/RHEL)>
+PKG_MGR=<a command used to prefix installation of packages e.g. for RHEL, "yum -y install">
+PRE_RUN=<a command to be run before PKG_MGR (e.g. on Ubuntu, "apt-get update"). commonly used to update package caches/metadata.
+		if your distro does not require this, set PRE_RUN=none >
+PKG_CHK=<a command that will be run that should return '0' (success) *only* if any given package in the pkgs file is installed. e.g. for RHEL, "rpm -q">
+
+Oh- and your distro *must be able to install the package*. That means if you need to enable/add additional repositories, be sure to do so ahead of time.
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Mageia/meta b/lib/prereqs/Mageia/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dc5cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/Mageia/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME=
+SUPPORTED=
+CHECK_METHOD=
+PKG_MGR=
+PRE_RUN=
+PKG_CHK=
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Mageia/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/Mageia/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Manjaro/meta b/lib/prereqs/Manjaro/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dc5cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/Manjaro/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME=
+SUPPORTED=
+CHECK_METHOD=
+PKG_MGR=
+PRE_RUN=
+PKG_CHK=
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Manjaro/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/Manjaro/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Mint/meta b/lib/prereqs/Mint/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dc5cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/Mint/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME=
+SUPPORTED=
+CHECK_METHOD=
+PKG_MGR=
+PRE_RUN=
+PKG_CHK=
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Mint/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/Mint/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/RHEL/meta b/lib/prereqs/RHEL/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dc5cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/RHEL/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME=
+SUPPORTED=
+CHECK_METHOD=
+PKG_MGR=
+PRE_RUN=
+PKG_CHK=
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/RHEL/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/RHEL/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/SUSE/meta b/lib/prereqs/SUSE/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dc5cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/SUSE/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME=
+SUPPORTED=
+CHECK_METHOD=
+PKG_MGR=
+PRE_RUN=
+PKG_CHK=
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/SUSE/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/SUSE/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Ubuntu/meta b/lib/prereqs/Ubuntu/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dc5cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/Ubuntu/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME=
+SUPPORTED=
+CHECK_METHOD=
+PKG_MGR=
+PRE_RUN=
+PKG_CHK=
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/Ubuntu/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/Ubuntu/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/openSUSE/meta b/lib/prereqs/openSUSE/meta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dc5cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/prereqs/openSUSE/meta
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+NAME=
+SUPPORTED=
+CHECK_METHOD=
+PKG_MGR=
+PRE_RUN=
+PKG_CHK=
diff --git a/lib/prereqs/openSUSE/pkgs b/lib/prereqs/openSUSE/pkgs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29