Bharat Operating System Solutions (BOSS GNU/Linux) is an Indian Linux distribution based on Debian. Its latest stable version is 10.0 (Pragya), which was released in March 2024.
Editions
BOSS Linux was released in various editions for different purposes:[citation needed]
BOSS Desktop: Designed for personal, home, and office use.
EduBOSS: Designed for schools and the education community.
BOSS Advanced Server: The server-oriented edition.
BOSS MOOL: A specialized edition for maintainability by changing how kernel drivers are loaded as modules.
The software was endorsed by the Government of India for adoption and implementation in India. BOSS Linux has been certified by the Linux Foundation for compliance with the Linux Standard Base.[1] BOSS Linux supported Intel and AMDIA-32/x86-64 architecture until version 6 ("Anoop"). From version 7 ("Drishti"), the development shifted to x86-64 architecture only.
This release came with many new applications focused mainly on enhanced security and user-friendliness. The distribution included over 12,800 new packages, for a total of over 37,493. Most of the software in the distribution had been updated as well: over 20,160 software packages (70% of all packages in Savir). BOSS 5.0 supported Linux Standard Base (LSB) version 4.1. It also featured XBMC to allow users to easily browse and view videos, photos, podcasts, and music from a hard drive, optical disc, local network, and the Internet.
BOSS 6.0 (Anoop)
There are several significant updates in BOSS Linux 6.0 (Anoop) from 5.0 (Anokha). Notable changes include a kernel update from 3.10 to 3.16, a shift for system boot from init to systemd, the full support of GNOME Shell as part of GNOME 3.14, an update to the GRUB version, the Iceweasel browser being replaced by Firefox and the Pidgin messaging client replacing Empathy, as well as several repository versions of available programs being updated as part of the release.
Related specifically to localization support, language support improved with the replacement of SCIM with IBus with the Integrated System Settings. Indic languages enabled with "Region and Languages" are now directly mapped to the IBus, and the OnScreenKeyboard layout is provided for all layouts.
This release is fully compatible with LSB 4.1.
BOSS 7.0 (Drishti)
The most significant change over previous releases is that support for the x86 version has been dropped, and BOSS is now only available for x86-64. Other notable changes include a kernel update to 4.9.0, a GNOME update from 3.14 to 3.22, and software updates to various applications and programs with wide Indian language support & packages. This release aims to enhance the user interface with more glossy themes and is coupled with the latest applications from the community.
BOSS 8.0 (Unnati)
The desktop environment is changed from GNOME to Cinnamon.
BOSS 9.0 (Urja)
The Linux kernel was updated from 5.2 to 5.10.
BOSS 10.0 (Pragya)
BOSS GNU/Linux Version 10, featuring the Cinnamon Desktop Environment, is designed to further efforts in developing an e-Governance stack based on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The release aims to foster a robust FOSS community across industries, government, and academia, driving growth and contributing to a sustainable ecosystem in India. BOSS Pragya OS supports this initiative by promoting the adoption of FOSS solutions for a wide range of applications. The recommended system requirements include 2 GB of RAM, 15 GB of hard drive space, and a minimum 1GHz Pentium processor.[2]
