VidaLinux is an operating system

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...

 based on Gentoo Linux

Gentoo Linux

Gentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...

. Because Gentoo is notorious for its arduous installation process, VidaLinux uses the Red Hat

Red Hat

Red Hat, Inc. is an S&P 500 company in the free and open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide....

 Anaconda installer

Anaconda installer

Anaconda is the installer for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora.Anacondas are lizard-eating snakes , and the Caldera installation program was called “Lizard”, hence the name.- Functionality :...

 to make it easier for end users to install it. Its default desktop environment

Desktop environment

In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...

 is GNOME. The purpose of VLOS (VidaLinux Desktop OS) is to make the Linux operating system

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...

 more accessible to home and office users. Its goal is to combine the power of ebuild

Ebuild

An ebuild is a specialized bash script format created by the Gentoo Linux project for use in its Portage software management system, which automates compilation and installation procedures for software packages....

s and portage

Portage (software)

Portage is a package management system used by Gentoo Linux, based on the concept of ports collections. Gentoo is sometimes referred to as a meta-distribution due to the extreme flexibility of Portage, which makes it operating-system-independent. The Gentoo/Alt project is concerned with using...

 and compiling all software from source

Source code

In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...

 (aside from a select few larger ones, which are available in binary) into an easy-to-use package. VidaLinux tries to provide most appropriate tools for home and office use, including:

• ALSA Support
• AMD 64-bit Support
• PPC support
• Anaconda Installer
• CD Player
• Epiphany
• Evolution
• Firefox
• Gaim
• GIMP
• Mozilla
• Mplayer
• OpenOffice.org suite
• PCMCIA Support
• RealPlayer
• Reiser4 Support
• X-Chat
• X.Org
• Xine

History

As of December 3, 2009, VLOS has been rebuilt with Daniel Robbins

Daniel Robbins

Daniel Robbins is a computer programmer and consultant best known as the founder and former chief architect of the Gentoo Linux project. In 2008, he launched the Funtoo project, a free GNU/Linux distribution based on Gentoo, and is the project's lead hacker and organizer...

' fork of Gentoo Linux called Funtoo

Funtoo

Funtoo is a a free operating system, more precisely a GNU/Linux distribution based on Gentoo, and initiated in 2008 by Daniel Robbins former Gentoo Linux project leader.- History :...

.

Versions

Vidalinux comes in two different flavors; one can be downloaded, while the other must be purchased. While the downloaded version technically has all the same software packages as the purchased version, the difference is that the purchased version (which can be bought for 25 USD) contains many binaries of often used programs, while the downloaded version forces the user to download ebuilds of these packages and build the binaries themselves, which requires more time.

Version History

• 1.0 October 4, 2004
• 1.1 December 20, 2004
• 1.2 August 1, 2005
• 1.2.1 January 18, 2006
• 1.2.1-r2 January 30, 2006
• 1.3 18 October 2006

External links

• VLOS website