gnuLinEx, or LinEx, is a Debian

Debian

Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...

-based GNU

GNU

GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...

-Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

 that uses GNOME

GNOME

GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...

 for its desktop

Desktop environment

In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...

. An initiative of the regional government of Extremadura

Extremadura

Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, gnuLinEx is intended to be used in all schools in Extremadura, as well as in official institutions. It is actively promoted for business and home use as well. gnuLinEx is only compatible with computers based on the i386 architecture

CPU design

CPU design is the design engineering task of creating a central processing unit , a component of computer hardware. It is a subfield of electronics engineering and computer engineering.- Overview :CPU design focuses on these areas:...

. The aim of the project is the promotion of a technologically-literate information-based society in order to improve the citizens' quality of life.

Limitations

1. The option to purchase hardware bundled with gnuLinEx the way Microsoft Windows
   Microsoft Windows
   Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
   
    is preinstalled with many new computers by hardware manufacturers is not common.
2. Extremadura has changed the names of many programs installed by default with the distribution, which has caused some confusion amongst users. Some see it as a virtue for helping them to remember their favourite applications with Spanish instead of English names. The 2004 version includes the possibility of choosing the original icons and names of all the applications included in gnuLinEx.

School LinEx

School LinEx is a gnuLinEx variant oriented toward teachers. It consists of three user profiles. Each profile is personalised for a particular student with content and software for each pupil.

Users

200,000 LinEx CDs have been distributed for free by local newspapers and 70,000 copies of the operating system have been downloaded from the website as of May 2003. About 10% of the inhabitants of Extremadura are estimated to use LinEx.

gnuLinEx in secondary schools

Nowadays gnuLinEx is principally in the public institutes of secondary education of the Extremaduran community, having a computer (with gnuLinEx installed) for every two pupils, or for every table.

Further reading

• An interview with a lead developer of the project
• Description of gnuLinex in Linux Journal, written by Dario Rapisardi

External links

(Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

)