Quantian
Encyclopedia
Quantian OS is a remastering of Knoppix
/Debian
for computational sciences. The environment is self-configuring and directly bootable CD/DVD that turns any PC or laptop (provided it can boot from cdrom/DVD) into a Linux
workstation
. Quantian also incorporates clusterKnoppix
and adds support for openMosix
, including remote booting of light clients in an openMosix terminal server context permitting rapid setup of a SMP cluster
computer.
The packages for "home users" include:
Additionally, some of the scientific applications/programs in Quantian are such like:
Knoppix
Knoppix, or KNOPPIX , is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD or a USB key , one of the first of its kind for any operating system. Knoppix was developed by Linux consultant Klaus Knopper. When starting a program, it is loaded from the removable medium...
/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...
for computational sciences. The environment is self-configuring and directly bootable CD/DVD that turns any PC or laptop (provided it can boot from cdrom/DVD) into a 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...
workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
. Quantian also incorporates clusterKnoppix
ClusterKnoppix
ClusterKnoppix is a specialized Linux distribution based on the Knoppix distribution, but which uses the openMosix kernel.Traditionally, clustered computing could only be achieved by setting up individual RSH keys, creating NFS shares, editing host files, setting static IPs, and applying kernel...
and adds support for openMosix
OpenMosix
openMosix was a free cluster management system that provided single-system image capabilities, e.g. automatic work distribution among nodes. It allowed program processes to migrate to machines in the node's network that would be able to run that process faster...
, including remote booting of light clients in an openMosix terminal server context permitting rapid setup of a SMP cluster
Cluster (computing)
A computer cluster is a group of linked computers, working together closely thus in many respects forming a single computer. The components of a cluster are commonly, but not always, connected to each other through fast local area networks...
computer.
Applications
Numerous software packages for usual or scientific aims come with Quantian. After the installation, total package volume is about 2.7 GB (For the detailed package list see: List of all the available packages).The packages for "home users" include:
- KDEKDEKDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
, the default desktopDesktop environmentIn 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...
environment and their components - XMMSXMMSThe X Multimedia System is a free audio player for Unix-like systems.-History:XMMS was originally written as X11Amp by Peter and Mikael Alm in November 1997. The player was made to resemble Winamp, which was first released in May that year. As such, XMMS has supported Winamp 2 "classic" skins...
, KaffeineKaffeineKaffeine is a media player for Unix-like operating systems running KDE.By default it uses xine-lib media framework but also supports GStreamer. It also supports the use of MPlayer project's binary codecs for proprietary formats...
, xineXinexine is a multimedia playback engine for Unix-like operating systems released under the GNU General Public License. xine is built around a shared library that supports different frontend player applications. Another important feature of xine is the ability to manually correct the synchronization...
media players - Internet accessInternet accessMany technologies and service plans for Internet access allow customers to connect to the Internet.Consumer use first became popular through dial-up connections in the 20th century....
software, including the KPPPKpppkppp is a modem and internet dialer for the KDE system, whose name is an abbreviation for "KDE Point-to-Point Protocol".kppp is generally used to connect to an internet service provider via a modem and phone line, although it can be used in other situations where the PPP protocol is needed...
dialer, ISDNIntegrated Services Digital NetworkIntegrated Services Digital Network is a set of communications standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network...
utilities and WLANWireless LANA wireless local area network links two or more devices using some wireless distribution method , and usually providing a connection through an access point to the wider internet. This gives users the mobility to move around within a local coverage area and still be connected to the network... - The MozillaMozillaMozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
, Mozilla FirefoxMozilla FirefoxMozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
and KonquerorKonquerorNot to be confused with the Conqueror web browser.Konqueror is a web browser and file manager that provides file-viewer functionality for file systems such as local files, files on a remote ftp server and files in a disk image. It is a core part of the KDE desktop environment...
web browsers - K3bK3bK3b is a CD and DVD authoring application by KDE for Unix-like computer operating systems. It provides a graphical user interface to perform most CD/DVD burning tasks like creating an Audio CD from a set of audio files or copying a CD/DVD, as well as more advanced tasks such as burning eMoviX...
, for CD (and DVD) management - The GIMPGIMPGIMP is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux.In addition to detailed image retouching and...
, an image-manipulation program - Tools for data rescue and system repair
- Network analysis and administration tools
- OpenOffice.orgOpenOffice.orgOpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...
- KileKileKile is a TeX/LaTeX editor to edit TeX/LaTeX source code. It runs on Unix-like systems including Mac OS X and Linux with the Qt libraries installed.- Name :...
, LyxLyXLyX is a document processor following the self-coined "what you see is what you mean" paradigm , as opposed to the WYSIWYG ideas used by word processors...
Additionally, some of the scientific applications/programs in Quantian are such like:
- RR (programming language)R is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. The R language is widely used among statisticians for developing statistical software, and R is widely used for statistical software development and data analysis....
, statistical computing software - Octave, a Matlab clone
- ScilabScilabScilab is an open source, cross-platform numerical computational package and a high-level, numerically oriented programming language. Itcan be used for signal processing, statistical analysis, image enhancement, fluid dynamics simulations, numerical optimization, and modeling and simulation of...
, another Matlab clone - GSLGNU Scientific LibraryIn computing, the GNU Scientific Library is a software library written in the C programming language for numerical calculations in applied mathematics and science...
, GNU Scientific Library - Maxima computer algebra system
- Python programming language with ScipySciPySciPy is an open source library of algorithms and mathematical tools for the Python programming language.SciPy contains modules for optimization, linear algebra, integration, interpolation, special functions, FFT, signal and image processing, ODE solvers and other tasks common in science and...
- FitykFitykFityk is a curve fitting and data analysis application, predominantly used to fit analytical,bell-shaped functions to experimental data.It is positioned to fill the gap between general plotting softwareand programs specific for one field, eg...
curve fitter - Ghemical for computational chemistry
- Texmacs for wysiwyg scientific editing
- GrassGRASS GISGRASS GIS is a free, open source geographical information system capable of handling raster, topological vector, image processing, and graphic data....
geographic information system - OpenDXOpenDXOpenDX stands for Open Data Explorer and is IBM's scientific data visualization software. It can handle complex domains along with measured or computed data...
and MayaViMayaViMayaVi is a scientific data visualizer written in Python, which uses VTK and provides a GUI via Tkinter. MayaVi was developed by Dr. Prabhu Ramachandran, is free and distributed under the BSD license. It is cross-platform and runs on any platform where both Python and VTK are available...
data visualisation systems - GnuplotGnuplot- License :Despite gnuplot's name, it is not part of or related to the GNU system and it is not distributed under the GNU General Public License .However, some GNU packages do use gnuplot....
, a command-line driven interactive data and function plotting utility - LabPlotLabPlotLabPlot is a platform-independent open-source cross-platform computer program for interactive scientific graphing and data analysis, written for the KDE desktop. It is similar to Origin and is able to import Origin's data files.-History and Perspective:...
, an application for plotting of data sets and functions