I also would like Knoppix to be modular, like the slackware derivative porteus (http://www.porteus.org/). I would use porteus, but they have split their 32- and 64- bit kernels and so you have to have complete separate filesystems for the two versions, unlike the dvd version of Knoppix in which they co-exist nicely in the same filesystem.
What I really want (and am working on, slowly) is a modular Knoppix (Debian, good hardware-detection with great filesystem) with modular software (preinstalled, injected into filesystem)