ubuntu minimal cd desktop install

[spareproject]

I downloaded the Ubuntu minimal cd and have set up a command line install in the hopes of learning more about the OS. After searching around on Google for how to set up a graphical desktop. I haven't managed to find any up to date information.

I was aiming to set up any graphical desktop with synaptic installed. Hopefully avoiding the extra packages that come with the different Ubuntu flavours to keep the install as small as possible.

Has anyone tried this approach before? I'm mostly doing it for the learning experience and would appreciate any advice or links to places I could do some more reading on what makes ubuntu tick.

[wheeze]

Yes, that's how I build all my systems. Very nice because you can install only the things you want/need. You need to decide which desktop environment you want then just issue the command to install it. I currently have a very nice 12.04.1 setup running MATE.

In addition I install a display manager such as lightdm to get a graphical login, then install the synaptic package. Anything else can be installed from synaptic.