gnuLinEx, or LinEx, is a Debian-based GNU-Linux operating system that uses GNOME for its desktop. An initiative of the regional government of Extremadura, Spain, 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. The aim of the project is the promotion of a technologically literate information-based society in order to improve the citizens' quality of life.
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Advantages
- Stability
- Easy installation
- Free distribution and use (no costs associated with license payments)
- Lack of malware
- Specific to the Spanish language (The programs come represented by important figures of the literature, science, etc)
Limitations
- The option to purchase hardware bundled with gnuLinEx the way Microsoft Windows is pre-installed with most new computers by hardware manufacturers is not common.
- 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 favorite applications with Spanish instead of English names. The version of 2004 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 personalized for a particular student, with content and software each pupil
Users
As of May 2003, 200,000 LinEx CDs had been distributed for free by local newspapers, and 70,000 copies of the operating system has been downloaded from the web site. About 10% of the inhabitants of Extremadura are estimated to use LinEx.
Acclaim
- Received Prize that grants the Users' Association of the Telecommunications (AUTEL) to the development of advanced services of Technologies of the Information and the Communication (October, 2002)
- Prize of the Association of Spanish Users of Linux (Hispalinux) to the Meeting of Extremadura, for the development of gnuLinEx (November, 2002).
- Was awarded " Computerworld 2003 " to the Council of Education, Science and Technology of the Meeting of Extremadura for the creation of gnuLinEx (March, 2003).
- " Vettonia, voice Castúa " award to the counselor of Education, Science and Technology, granted by Alcorcón's Extremaduran Group, by the development of gnuLinEx (June, 2003).
- European award of the Regional Innovation, Category of Society of the Information, granted by the European Commission in the framework of the European Regional Program of Innovative Actions and handed in the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions, in Brussels, on April 22, 2004.
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.
External links
- Official site (in Spanish)
- A clip about the LinEx project (originally from EuroNews, archived unofficially on YouTube)
- An interview with a lead developer of the project
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