Goobuntu is the unofficial name of a Linux distribution

Linux distribution

A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...

, based on the 'long term support'-versions of Ubuntu

Ubuntu (operating system)

Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...

, that is used internally by Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

. It adds a number of packages for in-house use, but does not have any other stark differences. Some have suggested that Google might plan to market the distribution more widely. While both Google and Mark Shuttleworth

Mark Shuttleworth

Mark Richard Shuttleworth is a South African entrepreneur who was the second self-funded space tourist. Shuttleworth founded Canonical Ltd. and as of 2010, provides leadership for the Ubuntu operating system...

, creator of Ubuntu, have confirmed that Goobuntu exists and is used internally, both have strongly denied suggestions that Google has any plans to market the 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...

. Almost half of the 20,000 employees of Google use Goobuntu.

Mark Shuttleworth

Mark Shuttleworth

Mark Richard Shuttleworth is a South African entrepreneur who was the second self-funded space tourist. Shuttleworth founded Canonical Ltd. and as of 2010, provides leadership for the Ubuntu operating system...

 has confirmed that Google contributes patches to Ubuntu. Google has supported Ubuntu on several occasions, including hosting the Ubuntu Developer Summit. Nevertheless, Shuttleworth and Google representatives have denied any plans to release Goobuntu outside the company.

See also

• Google
  Google
  Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
  
  
• Google Chrome OS
  Google Chrome OS
  Google Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
  
  
• List of Linux distributions
• List of Ubuntu-based distributions

External links

• A screenshot of the login screen in Goobuntu, snapped at an officewarming party held for Google's newly inaugurated Tel Aviv
  Tel Aviv
  Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
  
  offices (Yaron Orenstein).