Bharat Operating System Solutions

Bharat Operating System Solutions (BOSS) is a free and open source Linux distribution developed by the National Resource Centre for Free/Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) of India. BOSS GNU/Linux is also known by the acronym BOSS. The latest version is 5.0 .^[2][3]

This software package has been described as "India's own PC operating system" and "the most meaningful product to come out of the Indian software industry in decades — and a work that a government department had done".^[4]

The software has also been endorsed by the Government of India for adoption and implementation on a national scale. It was developed at Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Chennai INDIA. BOSS GNU/Linux is an "LSB certified" Linux distribution: the software has been certified by the Linux Foundation for compliance with the Linux Standard Base standard.^[5] BOSS GNU/Linux is derived from Debian GNU/Linux.

Versions

BOSS GNU/Linux has had five major releases till February 2011

BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solutions) GNU/Linux distribution developed by C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) derived from Debian for enhancing the use of Free/ Open source software throughout India. BOSSGNU/Linux - a key deliverable of NRCFOSS has upgraded from entry-level server to advanced server. It supports Intel and AMD x86/x86-64 architecture. BOSS GNU/Linux advanced server has unique features such as web server, proxy server, database server, mail server, network server, file and print server, SMS server, LDAP server. BOSS GNU/Linux advanced server comprises administration tools such as webmin which is a web-based interface, Gadmin, PHP myadmin, PHP LDAP admin, PG admin. The accessibility of BOSS Linux will have a constructive impact on the digital divide in India as more people can now have access to software in their local language to use the Internet and other information and communications technology (ICT) facilities. Community Information centers (CICs) and internet cafes will also benefit from BOSS GNU/Linux as this software can be utilized to power these outlets and is affordable and easy to install, use and support.

BOSS 4.0 is coupled with GNOME and KDE Desktop Environment with wide Indian language support and packages, relevant for use in the government domain. Currently BOSS GNU/Linux Desktop is available in almost all the Indian Languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Bodo, Urdu, Kashmiri, Maithili, Konkani, Manipuri which will enable the mainly non-English literate users in the country to be exposed to ICT and to use the computer more effectively.

BOSS 5.0 codenamed anokha, comes with many new applications mainly focused on enhanced Security and User friendliness.The distribution includes over 12800 new packages, for a total of over 37493 packages. Most of the software in the distribution has been updated: over 20160 software packages (this is 70% of all packages in savir). BOSS 5.0 supports Linux Standard Base (LSB) version 4.1 The new version features XBMC Media center to allow the user to easily browse and view videos, photos, podcasts, and music from a harddrive, optical disc, local network, and the internet.^[11]

Available Indian languages

BOSS GNU/Linux is available in the following languages of India:

The languages that are not available are Nepali, Sindhi, Dogri and Sanskrit.

References

http://bosslinux.in/boss-50

External links

• Official website