Or if you want a project take base Debian or Arch and add the necessary packages to build out a full node
Watch this, they talk about start9 early in this video.
Run your own node
Discussion
Is this the poor mans node?
How many hours for skilled person to build it?
Counting the IDB? I'll let you know when I'm done building it. Poor man possibly but I'm doing it to learn more and also to ensure there is nothing except what I have installed. Many of us say trust but verify yet how many can read and understand the code we're looking at