A Debian Pure Blend is a project completely inside of

Debian Debian () is a free and open-source software, free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock in August 1993. Debian is one of the oldest operating systems based on the Linux kerne ...

targeting a server or a desktop installation in very broad and general terms. A Debian Pure Blend aims to cover interests of specialised users, who might be children, lawyers, medical staff, visually impaired people, certain academic fields, etc. The common goal of those is to make installation and administration of computers for their target users as easy as possible, and to serve in the role as the missing link between software developers and users well.

Idea

The ideas behind Debian Pure Blends are * providing an out-of-the-box working solution (i.e. some useful collection of software from the Debian pool for the designated target group of specialists) for end-users * providing a frame in which specialists can better channelize their efforts of sustaining a software ecosystem for their field The Debian 8 "Jessie" release consists of approximately 43,000 software packages. Therefore, without knowing the specific name of a given application, it can be difficult for a user to find packages matching their needs. This is particularly an issue when the name of the software doesn't make its function clear.

Technical

Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...

that is configured to support a particular target group out-of-the-box. All changes and improvements are integrated to the official Debian repositories. A Debian Pure Blend can contain multiple flavors (or profiles) (e.g., Debian Edu has flavors for main-server, workstation, and thin-client-server). Technically a Debian Pure Blend builds a set of metapackages and provides an overview about the packages which are included and which are on the todo list for further inclusion. Both pages are rendered from the information inside the tasks files in an SVN. Most of the distributions based on Debian, like for example

Knoppix Knoppix, stylized KNOPPIX ( ), is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD or DVD (Live CD) or a USB flash drive ( Live USB). It was first released in 2000 by German Linux consultant Klaus Knopper, and was one ...

or Sacix, are not Debian Pure Blends, and

Ubuntu Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed primarily of free and open-source software. Developed by the British company Canonical (company), Canonical and a community of contributors under a Meritocracy, meritocratic gover ...

is not even

binary compatible Binary-code compatibility (binary compatible or object-code compatible) is a property of a computer system, meaning that it can run the same executable code, typically machine code for a general-purpose computer central processing unit (CPU), ...

with Debian.

Linux Mint Debian Edition Linux Mint is a community-developed Linux distribution. It is based on Ubuntu and designed for x86-64 based computers; another variant is based on Debian which is named Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) and has both 64-bit and IA-32 support. The ...

is binary compatible with Debian, but is also not a Debian Pure Blend.

Existing Debian Pure Blends

* Debian Junior: Debian for children "from 1 to 99" * Debian-Med: Debian in Health Care * Debian Edu: Debian for Education * Debian GIS: Debian with many

geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and Geographic information system software, software that store, manage, Spatial analysis, analyze, edit, output, and Cartographic design, visualize Geographic data ...

-Packages, e.g.

GRASS GIS ''Geographic Resources Analysis Support System'' (commonly termed ''GRASS GIS'') is a geographic information system (GIS) software suite used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, producing graphics and maps, spatial and ...

QGIS QGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) software that is free and open-source. QGIS supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. It supports viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of geospatial data in a range of data formats. Its name comes from ...

, GPSPrune, QLandkarteGT, et al. * Debian Astro: Debian for professional and amateur astronomers * DebiChem: Debian for chemists * Hamradio: Debian for radio amateurs * Debian Accessibility * Debian Science * Debian Accessibility Project * FreedomBox

Debian-Med

The Debian Med project is a Debian Pure Blend created to provide a co-ordinated

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

and collection of available

free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

packages that are well-suited for the requirements for

medical practice Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

s and

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

. Debian Med does not create or program software, but integrates software available under a license conforming to the DFSG into Debian and also extends Debian to be a better platform for this field of interest. The Debian Software Repositories contain over 51,000 packages. Debian Med serves as a magnifying lens to categorize all those packages, that as suited for the field of medicine.

References

External links

Detailed paper about Debian Pure BlendsDebian Wiki Blends articleBlends mailing listDebian-med
*
Debian Med talks
*
Wiki page
with further information for users and developers. {{Free healthcare software Debian-based distributions Linux distributions