HandyLinux is a simplified

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

operating system developed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, derived from the

Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...

stable branch. It was designed to be easily accessible and downloadable, so that it could be used by people with very little computer experience and on a range of older hardware that was no longer supported by the latest versions of proprietary

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

s. It was particularly aimed at older people with dated hardware who do not need nor possess the skill to use many features afforded by state-of-the-art

s. The last version was released in June 2016, and the project is now listed as "discontinued" by DistroWatch. On April 20, 2020, it was announced that HandyLinux was being replaced by Debian-Facile, which is not a distribution itself but a customization of Debian.

Goals

The goal of the HandyLinux project was to provide a "stable"

-based OS for

elderly Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

people,

novices A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

, and people seeking freedom and full functionality on a user-friendly desktop. HandyLinux was an official Debian derivative with a simple and clear

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

called the HandyMenu. The system featured built-in tools to facilitate the handling of home computing. The distribution and the project's documentation was aimed primarily at French-language users. Documentation was intended to teach users desktop navigation and help them to learn the HandyLinux distribution. Prospective users were encouraged to browse the HandyLinux online forum and ask questions about the operating system.

Features

HandyLinux was designed to be installable on any modern computer with, at minimum, a

Pentium 4 Pentium 4 is a series of single-core CPUs for desktops, laptops and entry-level servers manufactured by Intel. The processors were shipped from November 20, 2000 until August 8, 2008. The production of Netburst processors was active from 2000 ...

processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 3.7 GB of

hard drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

storage available. The distribution could be run as either of two "live" versions,

live CD A live CD (also live DVD, live disc, or live operating system) is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than loading fro ...

(handylinuxlight) or

live USB A live USB is a portable USB-attached external data storage device containing a full operating system that can be booted from. The term is reminiscent of USB flash drives but may encompass an external hard disk drive or solid-state drive, thou ...

, to sample the prepackaged software and test its compatibility with the installed hardware. Alternatively, it could be installed on a

netbook Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...

equipped with at least 4 GB of

storage Storage may refer to: Goods Containers * Dry cask storage, for storing high-level radioactive waste * Food storage * Intermodal container, cargo shipping * Storage tank Facilities * Garage (residential), a storage space normally used to store car ...

on computers built before 2005 (HandyLinux

i486 The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the Intel 386. The i486 was introduced in 1989. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the ...

non-PAE) and on

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

s built from 2005 onward (HandyLinux

i686 The P6 microarchitecture is the sixth-generation Intel x86 microarchitecture, implemented by the Pentium Pro microprocessor that was introduced in November 1995. It is frequently referred to as i686. It was succeeded by the NetBurst microarch ...

- PAE). If they choose, users could remove the default HandyMenu and substitute the classical menu of the Xfce

desktop environment In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphica ...

, as well as add software packages, and customize the look and feel of the distribution after becoming more experienced with the OS by reading the documentation. All the software needed for a functional desktop was included in the

disk image A disk image, in computing, is a computer file containing the contents and structure of a disk volume or of an entire data storage device, such as a hard disk drive, tape drive, floppy disk, optical disc, or USB flash drive. A disk image is us ...

, and an

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

connection was not necessary to install the program bundle prepackaged with the HandyLinux operating system.

Applications

* File manager:

Thunar Thunar is a file manager for Linux and other Unix-like systems, initially written using the GTK+ 2 toolkit and later ported to the GTK+ 3 toolkit. It started to ship with Xfce in version 4.4 RC1 and later. Thunar is developed by Benedikt Meu ...

* Internet: Firefox, Icedove,

Transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

* Multimedia: Clementine, VLC media player * Office: LibreOffice * Remote Assistance: TeamViewer (optional with graphic installer) *

Printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

installation by:

CUPS CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common UNIX Printing System) is a modular computer printer, printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a Server (computi ...

Tools were integrated for improving

accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

: a color inverter, a screen filter and magnifier, direct access to documentation, copy and paste button, a virtual keyboard, and voice synthesis integrated into the browser. Some small practical programs are also included: screenshot, calendar, file search, automatic download folder sorting, Bleachbit for cleaning, "

Archive Manager Archive Manager (previously File Roller) is the file archiver of the GNOME desktop environment. Archive Manager can: * Create and modify archives * View the content of an archive * View a file contained in the archive * Extract files from the a ...

", Disk Utility for formatting, Hardinfo for system information, and XL-wallpaper wallpaper changer.

Desktop environment

HandyLinux's native

was based on Xfce, and the

Compiz Compiz () is a compositing window manager for the X Window System, using 3D graphics hardware to create fast compositing desktop effects for window management. Effects, such as a minimization animation or a cube workspace, are implemented as lo ...

compositing window manager A compositing window manager, or compositor, is a window manager that provides applications with an off-screen data buffer, buffer for each window. The window manager Compositing, composites the window buffers into an image representing the screen ...

is optional. Users could switch to the more traditional Xfce

menu In a restaurant, the menu is a list of food and beverages offered to customers and the prices. A menu may be à la carte – which presents a list of options from which customers choose – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-established seque ...

if they preferred it to the HandyMenu. A seven-tab

with a large computer icon enabled users to graphically launch applications, and only a single click is necessary to open files and folders or run a program. File:Handymenu4-latest-en.png, latest File:Handymenu4-internet-en.png, internet File:Handymenu4-files-en.png, files File:Handymenu4-office-en.png, office File:Handymenu4-multimedia-en.png, multimedia File:Handymenu4-games-en.png, games File:Handymenu4-adventurers-en.png, adventurers

Releases

HandyLinux updates generally followed updates of the Debian stable branch. A development fork of HandyLinux in the

Finnish language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...

was published May 29, 2014.

References

External links

HandyLinux Documentation (Archived)

HandyLinux
on

DistroWatch DistroWatch is a website which provides news, distribution pages hit rankings, and other general information about various Linux distributions as well as other free software/open source Unix-like operating systems. It now contains information on ...

The beginners handbook
{{Linux-distro Debian Debian-based distributions Operating system distributions bootable from read-only media Linux distributions