Indian state Kerala’s state-owned KITE (Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education) has launched a new operating system (OS) called KITE GNU-Linux Lite 2020.
KITE GNU-Linux Lite is a lightweight, customized, free and open-source OS built on top of the most popular Ubuntu Linux for the benefit of computer users in Kerala state.
KITE’s official has also stated that the same OS will ship in lakhs of the student laptops that are being distributed under the Vidyasree project of the state government.
Speaking of software, it comes pre-loaded with applications ranging from productivity tools, language input tools, Database apps, to DTP, image editing, and image-to-text conversion utility.
Additionally, this OS also has internationally acclaimed free educational software suites such as GeoGebra, PhEt, and GCompris.
Going further, it has included a vast collection of Malayalam Unicode Fonts and a dedicated English-Malayalam dictionary in the lite version to boost Malayalam Computing.
Since KITE GNU-Linux Lite features a variety of educational and utility-based software, it is useful not only for the students but also for DTP centers, Common Service Centers (CSC), software developers, college students, and the general public.
With this initiative of installing the FOSS-based Operating System in over 2 lakh Laptops deployed in state schools as part of the Hi-Tech projects, KITE had earlier provided an estimated savings of Rs 3,000 crore for the state exchequer.
Well, this is not the first time Kerala state has made headlines for promoting and using FOSS, earlier we reported that the Indian State of Kerala saves $58 million each year by using FOSS.
In 2019, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan launched the world’s largest integrated Free and Open Source IT facility in the government sector, ‘Swatantra.’
If you want to get your hands on the KITE GNU-Linux Lite 2020, it is freely available to download from the official site.
Image Source: Fossbytes
