Baltix
Encyclopedia
Baltix GNU/Linux is an operating system
for Lithuanian and Latvian people, based on Debian
and Ubuntu
. The main language is Lithuanian
.
It uses the GNOME
desktop environment and is distributed as an installable Live CD
.
The first public versions of Baltix GNU/Linux were released in 2003 and were based on Knoppix
Live CD
and Debian
software packages, and later, on the Morphix Live CD framework. Most recently, Ubuntu
technology was chosen for Live CD. Despite of changes in startup and installation technologies, Baltix is always distributed as an installable Live CD with graphical installer.
Since 2007 separate Baltix CD/DVD images for home/business use, educational institutions (DVD version for "Science and Education") and servers are being released.
Baltix can run directly from its live-CD, without installation to a computer's permanent storage (hard disk, solid state drive, etc.), but also can be installed into a computer's Linux or Windows partition(s).
CD/DVD images:
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
for Lithuanian and Latvian people, based on Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
and Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
. The main language is Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
.
It uses the GNOME
GNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
desktop environment and is distributed as an installable Live CD
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
.
The first public versions of Baltix GNU/Linux were released in 2003 and were based on Knoppix
Knoppix
Knoppix, or KNOPPIX , is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD or a USB key , one of the first of its kind for any operating system. Knoppix was developed by Linux consultant Klaus Knopper. When starting a program, it is loaded from the removable medium...
Live CD
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
and Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
software packages, and later, on the Morphix Live CD framework. Most recently, Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
technology was chosen for Live CD. Despite of changes in startup and installation technologies, Baltix is always distributed as an installable Live CD with graphical installer.
Since 2007 separate Baltix CD/DVD images for home/business use, educational institutions (DVD version for "Science and Education") and servers are being released.
Baltix can run directly from its live-CD, without installation to a computer's permanent storage (hard disk, solid state drive, etc.), but also can be installed into a computer's Linux or Windows partition(s).
Additional software
Baltix has software packages not included in default UbuntuUbuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
CD/DVD images:
- Educational software for kids and adults, including GComprisGComprisGCompris is a suite of free educational software for children aged 2 to 10., and is currently part of the GNU project.It is available for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and other systems...
, TuxPaint, AtomixAtomixAtomix may refer to:* Atomix , a computer puzzle game* Atomix , a popular magazine for video game consumers in Latin America* Atomix , a Linux distribution developed by Atomix Development Team...
, etc. - Parental Control and Content Filtering software GNOME Nanny, Dansguardian-GUIDansGuardianDansGuardian, written by SmoothWall Ltd and others, is content-control software: software designed to control which websites users can access. It also includes virus filtering and usage monitoring features...
- Possibility to run software, compiled for Windows OS Wine (software)Wine (software)Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
- Vector graphic, CADComputer-aided designComputer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
and diagram drawing software, including InkscapeInkscapeInkscape is a free software vector graphics editor, licensed under the GNU General Public License. Its goal is to implement full support for the Scalable Vector Graphics 1.1 standard....
, QCADQCadQCad is a computer-aided design software package for 2D design and drafting. It is available for Linux, Mac OS X, Unix and Microsoft Windows....
and Dia - Internet telephony (VOIP) software, compatible with Google TalkGoogle TalkGoogle Talk is a freeware voice over Internet protocol client application offered by Google Inc. The first beta version of the program was released on August 24, 2005...
- EmpathyEmpathy (software)Empathy is an instant messaging client which supports text, voice, video, file transfers, and inter-application communication over various IM protocols.... - Lightweight Desktop Environment - LXDELXDELXDE is a free and open source desktop environment for Unix and other POSIX compliant platforms, such as Linux or BSD. The goal of the project is to provide a desktop environment that is fast and energy efficient...
+ PCManFM (older versions had IceWMIceWMIceWM is a stacking window manager for the X Window System graphical infrastructure, written by Marko Maček. It was coded from scratch in C++ and is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License...
as lightweight Window Manager) - Clipart, CAD and office documents templates
- Lots of other packages, which are useful for Lithuanians and other Baltic peopleBaltic statesThe term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, including
- - connections to Lithuanian/Latvian mobile Internet providers and drivers for popular 3G and 4G (Wimax) modems
- - universal dictionary software OpenDict
- - various spelling and hyphenation dictionaries, etc.
Baltix Goals
- Easy and right away ready for majority of Lithuanian, Latvian and Russian home/office users (no need to install additionally software for multimedia support or office work, e.g. spelling dictionaries or templates)
- Ability to run software, compiled for Windows OS
- Possibility to work comfortable on older computers (starting from 128MB RAM and 500Mhz CPU), little resources consuming desktop environment is included (currently LXDELXDELXDE is a free and open source desktop environment for Unix and other POSIX compliant platforms, such as Linux or BSD. The goal of the project is to provide a desktop environment that is fast and energy efficient...
) - Comfortable for computer manufacturers (Baltix 1.x, 2008 and 2010) have a noninteractive automatic installation (autoinstall) feature - OS can be installed into computer in about 10 minutes without user intervention.