Bharat Operating System Solutions

Bharat Operating System Solutions (BOSS GNU/Linux) is an Indian Linux distribution derived from Debian. BOSS Linux is officially released in four editions: BOSS Desktop (for personal use, home and office), EduBOSS (for schools and education community), BOSS Advanced Server and BOSS MOOL. The latest stable version 8.0 ("Unnati"), was released on 15 October 2019.

BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solutions)
DeveloperC-DAC/NRCFOSS
OS familyUnix-like
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial release10 January 2007 (2007-01-10)
Latest release8.0 (Unnati) / 15 October 2019 (2019-10-15)
Marketing targetDesktop computer, Laptop, Education, and Server
Available in19 languages
List of languages
Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Bodo, Urdu, Kashmiri, Maithili, Konkani and Manipuri
Update methodAPT (several front-ends available)
Package managerdpkg
Platformsx86-64
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
UserlandGNU
Default user interfaceCinnamon
LicenseFree software licenses
(mainly GPL)
Official websitebosslinux.in

It is developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in order for enhancing and gain benefit from the usage of Free and Open Source Software throughout India. BOSS Linux is a key deliverable of National Resource Centre for Free and Open Source Software (NRC-FOSS). It has enhanced desktop environment integrated with Indian language support and other software.

The software has been endorsed by the Government of India for adoption and implementation on a national scale.[1] BOSS Linux is an "LSB certified" Linux distribution. The software has been certified by the Linux Foundation for compliance with the Linux Standard Base (LSB) standard.[2] It supports Intel and AMD IA-32/x86-64 architecture till version 6. From version 7, the development shifted to x86-64 architecture only.

BOSS Linux has upgraded from entry-level server to advanced server. BOSS 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 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[3] 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 Linux as this software can be utilized to power these outlets and is affordable and easy to install, use and support.

As of 2019 Link . There are very few institutions and individuals in India who use BOSS.

BOSS and LibreOffice is included in the school syllabus but only few schools teach these open source software to the students.

Version history

BOSS 5.0 (Anokha)

This release came with many new applications mainly focused on enhanced security and user friendliness. The distribution includes over 12,800 new packages, for a total of over 37,493 packages. Most of the software in the distribution has been updated: over 20,160 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 to allow the user to easily browse and view videos, photos, podcasts, and music from a hard drive, optical disc, local network, and the internet.[4]

BOSS 6.0 (Anoop)

There are several major updates in BOSS Linux 6.0 (Anoop) from 5.0 (Anokha). Notable changes include a kernel update from 3.10 to 3.16, a shift for system boot from init to systemd, the full support of GNOME Shell as part of GNOME 3.14, an update to the GRUB version, Iceweasel being replaced by Firefox and Pidgin replacing Empathy, and several repository versions of available programs being updated as part of the release.

BOSS Linux 6.0 also shipped with various application and program updates, such as updates to LibreOffice, X.Org, Evolution, GIMP, VLC media player, GTK+, GCC, GNOME Keyring, and Python.

Related specifically to the localisation support, language support got even better with the replacement of SCIM with IBus with the Integrated System Settings. Now Indic languages enabled with ″Region and Languages″ are directly mapped to the IBus and the OnScreenKeyboard layout is provided for all layouts.

This release is fully compatible with LSB 4.1.[5]

BOSS 7.0 (Drishti)

Biggest change over previous releases is that support for x86 version has been dropped and now it is only available for x86-64. Other noticeable changes include a linux kernel update to 4.9.0, GNOME update from 3.14 to 3.22 and software updates to various applications and programs with wide Indian language support & packages. This release aims more at enhancing the user interface with more glossy themes and is coupled with latest applications from the community.

BOSS 8.0 (Unnati)

Biggest change over previous releases is that the Desktop Environment is changed from GNOME to Cinnamon Desktop Environment.

BOSS Linux has had seven major releases.

Legend: Old version, not maintained Older version, still maintained Current stable version Latest preview version Future release
Version Code name Kernel number Desktop Date of release
Old version, no longer maintained: Evaluation Sethu 2.6.14-2-smp GNOME 2.8
Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0 Tarag 2.6.17-1-i386 GNOME 2.14 January 2006
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0 Anant 2.6.21-1-486 GNOME 2.18 September 2007
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.0 Tejas 2.6.22-3-486 GNOME 2.20 September 2008
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.0 Savir 2.6.32-5-686 GNOME 2.30.2 April 2011
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.0 Anokha 3.10 GNOME 3.4.2 September 2013
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0 Anoop 3.16.0-4-686 GNOME 3.14.4 August 2015
Old version, no longer maintained: 7.0 Drishti 4.9.0-8-amd64 August 2018
Current stable version: 8.0 Unnati Cinnamon July 2019
gollark: Just have anyone arbitrarily able to say "I'm exempt"?
gollark: So how *do* you make it work?
gollark: Not a fair comparison.
gollark: They don't occur in equal numbers, though.
gollark: I don't think the majority of work can magically be done online, and mental health is a Hard Problem which everyone being at home makes somewhat worse.

See also

References
  1. "Make In India: Now government to have its own operating system, may replace Microsoft Windows in future", Manan Kumar, DNA India dated 14 September 2015 (Retrieved on 15 September 2015)
  2. The Product Directory of The Linux Foundation, LSB Certification Management System. Retrieved on 31 October 2008
  3. "BOSS Linux: The Desi Operating System from India". The Windows Club. 10 April 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "The new software for promoting 'made in India'". Mil-OSS. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
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