51–58 of 58 posts
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Boss Linux is based on Debian. I don't think there much difference between the two.
Don't really know if it's included or how useful it is but they have this: https://bosslinux.in/boss-mool
I worked in the BOSS linux team from 2010-2012. I can probably answer some questions. Let me address the most common sentiment.. Why BOSS when we already have Debian, Ubuntu, Redhat etc.? Support - gov bodies moving to linux need guaranteed support at optimal cost. Localization - if you are working with Indian languages primarily, BOSS linux provides a better experience out of the box. Some customization - some depts…
Some gripes about BOSS:
(1) On the BOSS Download page, the download button downloads i386. Why isn't the 64-bit ISO listed there ?
(2) Why are there no torrents for ISOs ? Don't they know how bad Internet connection in India is ?
As far localization, my experience had been that BOSS is no better than Debian.
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I understand why you are cynical, but I've been part of the BOSS linux team couple of years ago and I would say it was money well spent. To cite just one example - BOSS Linux was installed along side Windows (dual boot) in the free laptops given to students by the Tamil Nadu govt. This alone helped introduce thousands of students to linux.
... helped introduce thousands of students to linux. Why is that so good, and so worth lots of government money?
It encourages tinkering which is especially important for students.
Also, many other general benefits that open-source brings. For example, open source code is more trustable than closed source.
This way, they do not have to re-invent the wheel, but focus resources in the localization efforts for the OS, as well as the applications supported in the OS.
There would have been a meaningful contribution upstream.
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... helped introduce thousands of students to linux. Why is that so good, and so worth lots of government money?
> Why is that so good.. It encourages tinkering which is especially important for students. Also, many other general benefits that open-source brings. For example, open source code is more trustable than closed source.
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OK I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt an assume you don't use Linux much... But both of your examples are not accurate. For your first example ctrl double swipe on my trackpad works pretty much everywhere and ctrl +/- works everywhere except my terminal where ctrl-shift +/- does the job. As for your second. This is not a common use case that any non-technical person would even think of trying. If you need…
ctrl-+ does not increase font size in the file menu. Try it. Icons get bigger, font size remains the same. If you can find a way to increase the font size, even with unity-tweak-tool, I'll eat my hat. The second example is used by people who play video games all the time. People do it for skype/ventrilo calls during gaming sessions constantly. It may not be a common use for _for you_ but it is not as rare as you appe…
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> Why is that so good.. It encourages tinkering which is especially important for students. Also, many other general benefits that open-source brings. For example, open source code is more trustable than closed source.
Yeah but if GNULinux is free in the first place, why spend so much govt. money on it?
For many organizations, Windows is actually monetarily cheaper than Linux, particularly organizations that need to deploy non-web GUI applications for users who are never going to be comfortable on a terminal.
I know we are supposed cheer this as victory for Open Source. But anything a government of India (Current or former) does with Technology, I would take it with a grain of salt. Here are recent Indian Government (or Indian States) Projects: 1. Cheap 35$ laptop. We all know how that turned out. 2. Here a App developed by a State Government with Multi Million Dollars budget recently: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d…
I understand why you are cynical, but I've been part of the BOSS linux team couple of years ago and I would say it was money well spent. To cite just one example - BOSS Linux was installed along side Windows (dual boot) in the free laptops given to students by the Tamil Nadu govt. This alone helped introduce thousands of students to linux.