Edubuntu

Edubuntu is an open source Linux distribution derived from the world's most popular free operating system, Ubuntu Linux. It provides users with a modern and complex computing environment suitable for classroom/educational use.

Designed for educational instututions

It is actually one of the very first Ubuntu-derived operating systems. It uses the same desktop environment as the main Ubuntu distribution and comes bundled with numerous open source educational software packages. Edubuntu's main targets are educational organizations and institutions, including, but not limited to, schools, universities, and elementary schools. It is designed to help students learn better and faster, in a free environment.

Distributed as 32-bit/64-bit Live DVDs

The distributions comes with Live DVD ISO images that support both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. Edubuntu’s Live DVDs are the biggest from all other Ubuntu flavors (3GB in size). Except for the fact that it uses a custom logo, the functionality of the boot menu is unchanged from the main edition of Ubuntu.

Boot options

From the boot menu you can boot the currently installed OS, test the system memory for errors, install the operating system without testing it, as well as to add predefined kernel parameters (only for advanced users).

Includes a wide range of educational apps

Among the educational application included in this distribution, we can mention Blinken memory enhancement game, Celestia space visualization software, GCompris educational suite, Kanagram anagram creator, KBruch fractions calculator, KGeography geography learning tool, Kig geometric constructions explorer, Klavaro typing tutor, KLetters alphabet learning tool, and KmPlot graphs drawing software.

Default applications

Default applications include the Mozilla Firefox web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird email client, Liferea feed reader, Transmission torrent downloader, GIMP image editor, Shotwell photo manager, Calibre ebook library management app, Gramps genealogy system, as well as the entire LibreOffice office suite.

Bottom line

All educational institutions should dump the buggy and ugly Microsoft Windows operating system and use this modern, powerful, complex, beautiful, open source, freely distributable Linux operating system.

What is new in this release:

• The Edubuntu team is proud to announce Edubuntu 14.04.2 LTS, which is the second Long Term Support (LTS) update as part of the Edubuntu 14.04 5 years support cycle. This point release includes all the bug fixes and improvements that have been applied via updates to Edubuntu 14.04 LTS since it has been released. It also includes updated hardware support and installer fixes. If you have an Edubuntu 14.04 LTS system and have applied all the available updates, then your system will already be on 14.04.2 LTS and there is no need to re-install. For new installations, installing from the updated media is recommended since it will be installable on more systems than before and will require less updates than installing from the original 14.04 LTS media.

What is new in version 12.04.5 LTS:

• Edubuntu 12.04.5 LTS contains the kernel and graphics stack of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr).

What is new in version 12.04.4 LTS:

• The Edubuntu team is proud to announce the release of Edubuntu 12.04.4. This is the fourth of five LTS point releases for this LTS lifecycle. The point release includes all the bug fixes and improvements that have been applied to Edubuntu 12.04 LTS since it has been released. It also includes updated hardware support and installer fixes. If you have an Edubuntu 12.04 LTS system and have applied all the available updates, then your system will already be on 12.04.4 LTS and there is no need to re-install. For new installations, installing from the updated media is recommended since it will be installable on more systems than before and will require drastically less updates than installing from the original 12.04 LTS media. This release ships with a backported kernel and X stack. This enables users to make use of more recently released hardware. Current users of Edubuntu 12.04 won't be automatically updated to this back-ported stack, you can however manually install the packages as well.
• Although Edubuntu 10.04 systems will ask for upgrade to 12.04.4, it's not an officially supported upgrade path. Testing however indicated that this usually works if you're ready to make some minor adjustments afterwards. To ensure that the Edubuntu 12.04 LTS series will continue to work on the latest hardware as well as keeping quality high right out of the box, we will release another point release before the next long term support release is made available in 2014. More information is available on the release schedule page on the Ubuntu wiki. The release notes are available from the Ubuntu Wiki. Thanks for your support and interest in Edubuntu!

What is new in version 12.04.3 LTS:

• The Edubuntu team is proud to announce the release of Edubuntu 12.04.3. This is the third of four LTS point releases for this LTS lifecycle. The point release includes all the bug fixes and improvements that have been applied to Edubuntu 12.04 LTS since it has been released. It also includes updated hardware support and installer fixes. If you have an Edubuntu 12.04 LTS system and have applied all the available updates, then your system will already be on 12.04.3 LTS and there is no need to re-install. For new installations, installing from the updated media is recommended since it will be installable on more systems than before and will require drastically less updates than installing from the original 12.04 LTS media.
• This release ships with a backported kernel and X stack. This enables users to make use of more recently released hardware. Current users of Edubuntu 12.04 won't be automatically updated to this back-ported stack, you can however manually install the packages as well.