Hi!
So I have managed to get through step 1 regarding experimenting with distributed SCM tools and the VM sources:
http://goran.krampe.se/blog/BzrOnDebian.rdoc
The article explains getting Bzr 1.0 running with the svn plugin on Debian, in excrutiating detail. And a hack to get it to swallow the Squeak VM repo. But the end section is the one that is interesting - it describes two Bzr branches available "trunkmirror" and "experimental". The first is a pristine mirror. The other is "open for interested people"!
regards, Göran