Custom distro

Hello,
I am new to the T2 project. I am yet going to compile a linux 
distribution with T2, but now I have some questions:

- is the default target (desktop) usable for end user as a linux distro? 
Or which target should I wstart with?
- are there any succesful user-friendly linux distributions built with 
T2? I know of puppylinux, but it seems there is still a lot of manual 
work necessary
- is it possible to speed up compile time (by omitting unneeded locales 
 during glibc compilation)?
- it it possible to shrink the cd size  (by omitting unneeded locales)?

Thanks,
miko