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BOSS Linux
Developer	C-DAC/NRCFOSS
OS family	Linux (Unix-like)
Working state	Current
Source model	Open-source (The source was never made freely available to the public)
Initial release	10-January-2007 (19 years ago) (10-January-2007)
Latest release	10.0 ("Pragya") / 15-March-2024 (23 months ago) (15-March-2024)
Marketing target	Desktop computer,Laptop,Education, andServer
Available in	19 languages
List of languages Assamese,Bengali,English (India),Gujarati,Hindi,Kannada,Malayalam,Marathi,Odia,Punjabi,Sanskrit,Tamil,Telugu,Bodo,Urdu,Kashmiri,Maithili,Konkani andManipuri
Update method	APT (several front-ends available)
Package manager	dpkg
Supported platforms	x86-64
Kernel type	Monolithic (Linux)
Userland	GNU
Default user interface	Cinnamon
License	Derived from GNU software but does not accept changes.
Official website	bosslinux.in

Bharat Operating System Solutions GNU/Linux, also referred to asBOSS Linux, is an IndianLinux distribution based onDebian. The latest stable release is 10.0 (Pragya), which was released in March-2024.

BOSS Linux was released in various editions for different purposes:^[1]

• BOSS Desktop: Designed for personal, home, and office use.
• EduBOSS: Designed for schools and educational institutions.
• BOSS Server: Server variant of BOSS GNU/Linux supports Intel and AMD architectures.
• BOSS MOOL: A special edition for maintainability by changing how kernel drivers are loaded as modules.
• Secure BOSS: A Secure Linux distribution with access control and security policies.
• CDAC ERP: ERP is an application to automate the business processes.

BOSS Linux was developed by theCentre for Development of Advanced Computing with the aim of promoting the adoption of free and open-source software throughout India. As a deliverable software of theNational Resource Centre for Free and Open Source Software, it has adesktop environment that includes support for variousIndian language and instructional software.

The software was endorsed by theGovernment of India for adoption and implementation in India. BOSS Linux has been certified by theLinux Foundation for compliance with theLinux Standard Base.^[2] BOSS Linux supportedIntel andAMDIA-32/x86-64 architecture until version 6 ("Anoop"). Version 7 ("Drishti") onward only supports thex86-64 architecture.

BOSS Linux has nine major releases:^[3]

This release came with many new applications focused mainly on enhanced security and user-friendliness.^[vague] The distribution included over 12,800 new packages, for a total of over 37,493. Most of the software in the distribution had been updated as well: over 20,160 software packages (70% of all packages in Savir). BOSS 5.0 supported Linux Standard Base (LSB) version 4.1. It also featuredXBMC to allow users to easily browse and view videos, photos, podcasts, and music from a hard drive, optical disc, local network, and the Internet.

Notable changes in this release include a kernel update from 3.10 to 3.16, a shift forsystem boot frominit tosystemd, the full support ofGNOME Shell as part ofGNOME 3.14, an updated version ofGRUB, theIceweasel browser being replaced byFirefox and thePidgin messaging client replacingEmpathy, as well as several repository versions of available programs being updated as part of the release.

BOSS Linux 6.0 also shipped various application and program updates, such asLibreOffice,X.Org,Evolution,GIMP,VLC media player,GTK+,GCC,GNOME Keyring, andPython.

Related specifically to localization support, language support improved with the replacement ofSCIM withIBus with the Integrated System Settings.Indic languages enabled with "Region and Languages" are now directly mapped to the IBus, and the OnScreenKeyboard layout is provided for all layouts.

This release is fully compatible with LSB 4.1.

The most significant change over previous releases is that this release does not supportx86 and BOSS is now only available for thex86-64 architecture. Other notable changes include a kernel update to 4.9.0, a 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 to enhance the user interface with more glossy themes and is coupled with the latest applications from the community.

The desktop environment is changed from GNOME toCinnamon.

The Linux kernel was updated from 5.2 to 5.10.

BOSS GNU/Linux version 10 features theCinnamon Desktop Environment and aims to provide a complete e-Governance stack based on free and open source software.^[a] The recommended system requirements include 2 GB of RAM, 15 GB of hard drive space, and a minimum 1GHz Pentium processor.^[4]

• Debian
• Comparison of Linux distributions
• Free culture movement
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• Official website
• Bharat Operating System Solutions atDistroWatch

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• Language-specific Linux distributions
• Operating system distributions bootable from read-only media
• X86-64 Linux distributions
• Indic computing
• Urdu-language computing
• State-sponsored Linux distributions
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