Want to know who the ‘BOSS’ of the Indian Software Industry is? No it isn’t any human being here. Its an operating system which has an uncanny resemblance to its name. Critics describe it as “the most meaningful product to come out of the Indian software industry”.
The Government of India endorses it and is pushing for its large scale adoption and implementation on national level. Users proudly associate with it as ‘India’s own PC operating system’.
Welcome to BOSS – Bharat Operating System Solutions, a free open source computer operating system developed by the National Resource Centre for Free/Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) of India.
Simply called as BOSS LINUX, it is an “LSB certified” Linux distribution and uses the Linux kernel. The product is free software in the sense in which the term is used by the Free Software Foundation, and it is distributed under the GNU General Public License. BOSS has been upgraded from entry-level server to advanced server supporting Intel and AMD x86/x86-64 architecture. With unique features which include web server, proxy server, database server, mail server, network server, file and print server, SMS server, and LDAP server, the advaced server comprises administration tools such as webmin-a web based interface, Gadmin, PHP myadmin, PHP LDAP admin, PG admin.
The latest version of BOSS LINUX, the BOSS GNU/Linux Version 4.0 was released on 26th February 2011 and is coupled with GNOME and KDE Desktop Environment support.
A very big advantage which BOSS LINUX carries with itself is that it is available in all the major India languages like Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Bodo, Urdu, Kashmiri, Maithili, Konkani, Manipuri etc which not only makes it relevant for use in the government domain but also enables the non-English literate users in the country to be exposed to Information and Communications Technology(ICT), empowering them to use the computer more effectively.
The Community Information Centers (CICs) and internet cafes are also huge beneficiaries from BOSS GNU/Linux as this software can be utilized to power these outlets and is affordable and easy to install, use and support.
Want your message to reach the whole of India including the rural population? Try BOSS LINUX – The ‘Desi‘ OS!
