gnuLinEx facts for kids

gnuLinEx, or LinEx, is a Linux distribution based on Debian which uses GNOME as its desktop.

It is promoted and created by the regional government of Extremadura, Spain, gnuLinEx is intended to be used in all schools in Extremadura, as well as in government offices. The regional government of Extremadura also wants people to use it for business and home use as well.

gnuLinEx works only on computers whose processor is based on the i386 architecture.

Advantages

1. Free in all senses.
2. No computer viruses.
3. No costs.

Disadvantages

1. The names of many programs contained in the distribution have been changed by Extremadura into related names, which can make the use or learning confused in occasions, though in the version 2004 there has been included the possibility of choosing for the original icons and name of all the applications included in gnuLinEx. Anyway, many users see it as a virtue, because it helps them to remember their favourite applications with common names instead of using English.

School LinEx

School LinEx is a gnuLinEx variant oriented toward teachers. It consists of three user profiles, each for a cycle of primary. All of them are personalized and full of contents and educational software for every pupil.

Users

As of May 2003, 200000 LinEx CDs had been distributed free by local newspapers, and 70000 copies of the operating system had been downloaded from the web site. About 10% of the inhabitants of Extremadura might use LinEx.

Obtained prizes

• Prize that grants the Users' Association of the Telecommunications (AUTEL) to the development of advanced services of Technologies of the Information and the Communication (October, 2002)
• Prize of the Association of Spanish Users of Linux (Hispalinux) to the Meeting of Extremadura, for the development of gnuLinEx (November, 2002).
• Award " Computerworld 2003 " to the Council of Education, Science and Technology of the Meeting of Extremadura for the creation of gnuLinEx (March, 2003).
• " Vettonia, voice Castúa " award to the counselor of Education, Science and Technology, granted by Alcorcón's Extremaduran Group, by the development of gnuLinEx (June, 2003).
• European award of the Regional Innovation, Category of Society of the Information, granted by the European Commission in the framework of the European Regional Program of Innovative Actions and handed in the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions, in Brussels, on April 22, 2004.

gnuLinEx in secondary schools

Nowadays gnuLinEx is principally in the public institutes of secondary education of the Extremaduran community, having a computer (with gnuLinEx installed) for every two pupils, or for every table.