Linuxcare
Encyclopedia
Linuxcare was founded in San Francisco in 1998 by Dave Sifry
, Arthur Tyde
and Dave LaDuke. The company's initial goal was to be "the 800 number for Linux
" and operate 24 hours a day. Due to the dot-com bubble
of the early millennium years, this version of Linuxcare morphed into Levanta
and eventually closed its doors in 2008.
, a bootable Linux distribution designed to be run entirely from the CD. In 1999, this was a very new concept, and was preceded by only one other Linux distribution designed exclusively to be run from CD, DemoLinux
. While DemoLinux was designed to show the whole desktop experience of a Linux distribution, the Linuxcare BBC was designed to be used mainly as a utility CD, and was the first Live CD with this focus.
The BBC distribution was under 50MB, and designed to fit on a mini CD
shaped like a standard business card. It included utilities designed to assist system administrators, and was primarily a text console operating system, but a minimal Blackbox X11 UI was included.
Linuxcare produced an initial launch of an unversioned release, pressed as business card CDs, and distributed them at LinuxWorld
1999. Versions 1.2, 1.5 and 1.6 were later released online, and pressed and released at other conventions and Linux user group
s from 1999 to 2001.
announced that the original three developers of the Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox had left Linuxcare to fork the project into a new community project, named LNX-BBC. Release 1.6, released in May 2001, served as a transition release between Linuxcare and LNX-BBC, with both projects offering the same release on their respective sites. LNX-BBC produced three more BBC releases: 1.618 in August 2001, 2.0 in January 2003, and 2.1 on May 1, 2003. Early versions were assembled by hand, while later versions utilized GAR, a software build system built around GNU Automake
. LNX-BBC was discontinued after the 2.1 release.
and incorporated as an LLC
by Dr. Scott S. Elliott and his partners in the state of California. The new company provides IT
services to businesses related to cloud computing
. Linuxcare LLC has offices in San Francisco and Manila.
Dave Sifry
Dave Sifry is an American software entrepreneur and blogosphere icon known for founding Technorati, a leading blog search engine. He also lectures widely on wireless technology and policy, weblogs, and open source software....
, Arthur Tyde
Arthur Tyde
Arthur Tyde is an American software entrepreneur and private investigator based in San Francisco and SE Asia. He has been an advocate for Open Source software since founding the first Linux Users Group in the San Francisco / Silicon Valley Area...
and Dave LaDuke. The company's initial goal was to be "the 800 number for Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
" and operate 24 hours a day. Due to the dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
of the early millennium years, this version of Linuxcare morphed into Levanta
Levanta
Levanta was a company based in San Mateo, California, United States, that created products for Linux management and data virtualization.-Company history:...
and eventually closed its doors in 2008.
Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox
In 1999, Linuxcare developed the Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox, also known as the Linuxcare BBC, or Bootable Business Card. The BBC was a Live CDLive 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...
, a bootable Linux distribution designed to be run entirely from the CD. In 1999, this was a very new concept, and was preceded by only one other Linux distribution designed exclusively to be run from CD, DemoLinux
DemoLinux
DemoLinux has been one of the first Live CD Linux distributions.It was created by Roberto Di Cosmo, Vincent Balat and Jean-Vincent Loddo, in 1998.The DemoLinux CD was created to make it possible to use Linux without having to install it on the hard disk...
. While DemoLinux was designed to show the whole desktop experience of a Linux distribution, the Linuxcare BBC was designed to be used mainly as a utility CD, and was the first Live CD with this focus.
The BBC distribution was under 50MB, and designed to fit on a mini CD
Mini CD
Mini CDs, or “pocket CDs” are CDs with a smaller diameter and one third the capacity.-Formats:Amongst the various formats are the* Mini CD single, a small disc. The format is mainly used for audio CD singles in certain regions , much like the old vinyl single...
shaped like a standard business card. It included utilities designed to assist system administrators, and was primarily a text console operating system, but a minimal Blackbox X11 UI was included.
Linuxcare produced an initial launch of an unversioned release, pressed as business card CDs, and distributed them at LinuxWorld
LinuxWorld
LinuxWorld has various meanings:* LinuxWorld Conference and Expo - a series of Linux conferences worldwide that became OpenSource World in 2009.* LinuxWorld Magazine - a print publication produced from 2003 to 2006...
1999. Versions 1.2, 1.5 and 1.6 were later released online, and pressed and released at other conventions and Linux user group
Linux User Group
A Linux User Group or Linux Users' Group or GNU/Linux User Group is a private, generally non-profit or not-for-profit organization that provides support and/or education for Linux users, particularly for inexperienced users...
s from 1999 to 2001.
LNX-BBC
On May 8, 2001, Seth SchoenSeth Schoen
Seth David Schoen is senior staff technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a technology civil rights organisation, and has been actively involved in discussing digital copyright law and encryption since the 1990s...
announced that the original three developers of the Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox had left Linuxcare to fork the project into a new community project, named LNX-BBC. Release 1.6, released in May 2001, served as a transition release between Linuxcare and LNX-BBC, with both projects offering the same release on their respective sites. LNX-BBC produced three more BBC releases: 1.618 in August 2001, 2.0 in January 2003, and 2.1 on May 1, 2003. Early versions were assembled by hand, while later versions utilized GAR, a software build system built around GNU Automake
Automake
GNU Automake is a programming tool that produces portable makefiles for use by the make program, used in compiling software. It is made by the Free Software Foundation as one of GNU programs, and is part of the GNU build system. The makefiles produced follow the GNU Coding Standards.It is written...
. LNX-BBC was discontinued after the 2.1 release.
2011 company relaunch
The Linuxcare brand was repurchased by Arthur TydeArthur Tyde
Arthur Tyde is an American software entrepreneur and private investigator based in San Francisco and SE Asia. He has been an advocate for Open Source software since founding the first Linux Users Group in the San Francisco / Silicon Valley Area...
and incorporated as an LLC
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
by Dr. Scott S. Elliott and his partners in the state of California. The new company provides IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
services to businesses related to cloud computing
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
. Linuxcare LLC has offices in San Francisco and Manila.