| Indian schools to use homebrew Debian distro |
Sep. 26, 2006
Earlier this month we learned via an AP story that the southern Indian state of Kerela is in the process of migrating all computers in its 12,500 high schools from Windows to Linux. Today, DesktopLinux.com learned what distribution they plan to use: a homegrown, Debian-offshoot dubbed "IT@School GNU/Linux."
IT@School GNU/Linux is a customized, single-CD distribution that includes the applications typically required by a high school student or teacher, according to the project. Apart from a wide range of typical desktop software, it also contains educational programs such as TuxPaint, Ghemical, Kalzium, DrGeo, and Gcompris, school spokesperson Vimal Joseph told DesktopLinux.com.
The CD was developed by the IT@School Project, in association with the Free Software Foundation of India.
The decision to migrate all those desktops was prompted, in part, by the recent visit to India of free software guru Richard M. Stallman, founder of the GNU free software project. Stallman said he helped persuade school officials in Kerela to discard proprietary software, such as Microsoft's, at state-run schools, but that the free software group in that country was the key factor in facilitating the changeover.
"It is our stated policy that only free software should be used for IT education in Kerala's schools," Education Minister M.A. Baby told the Associated Press. "The government is introducing GNU/Linux-based software as tools to teach various subjects."
The IT@School GNU/Linux iso image file can be downloaded here.
Related Stories:
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
