BioInfoServ

BioInfoServ is an open source operating system that has been highly customised for scientists who want to handle and analyze biological data on an open platform. It is optimized for the i386 hardware platform and based on the Deepin Linux, Xubuntu and Linux Mint distributions.

Distributed as a dual-arch Live DVD

The distribution is available for download as a single, dual-arch Live DVD ISO image of approximately 3GB in size, supporting both 64-bit (x86_64) and 32-bit (i386) instruction set architectures. Keep in mind that it must be deployed to either a USB flash drive or DVD disc in order to be booted from the BIOS of a PC.

Ubuntu-style boot menu in Chinese

The default language on the boot menu is Chinese, but it can be easily switched to English by pressing the F2 key on your keyboard. Default boot options include the ability to try the operating system without installing anything, directly start the installer, check the integrity of the bootable medium (only if using a DVD media), test the system memory for errors, as well as to boot from the local drive.

Old-style desktop environment powered by Xfce

Before you can access the graphical desktop environment, you must login using the “bioinfoserv” username without a password. The Xfce desktop environment uses a single panel layout, providing an old-style, yet productive interface.

Default applications

Default applications include the gmusicbrowser audio player, Cheese webcam viewer, Xfburn CD/DVD burning utility, Totem movie player, Rainlendar calendar software, Kingsoft Office, aMule P2P client, Deluge and Transmission torrent downloaders, Pidgin multi-protocol instant messenger, Mozilla Thunderbird email and news client, uGet download manager, and Mozilla Firefox web browser.

All of the bioinformatics tools are organized on the Education category of the main menu, under the BioInfo subcategory. There are over a hundred of applications designed for a wide range of bioinformatics topics, such as gene expression, sequence manipulation, molecule visualization, sequence assembly, phylogenetic, sequence analysis, gene prediction, genomics or microarray.

Bottom line

Summing up, the live edition of BioInfoServ Linux is a welcome addition to this bioinformatics oriented distribution of Linux based on several Ubuntu platforms, allowing users to try the operating system without installing anything on their computers. An installable only edition of BioInfoServ Linux is also available for download on Softoware.