INTRODUCTION ON BOSS

Jayanta Parial

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 NRCFOSS

Mission

Foster an eco­system for Open Source, Open Standards and Open

Systems in India, integrating and benefiting the efforts and needs of all
stake holders

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 NRCFOSS - Objectives

Setting up of facilities to promote collaborative research, design and

development, training of manpower.
Develop India relevant Operating system with domain specific
bundling, with associated support.
Promote the development, deployment and adoption of FOSS
Tools, Technologies, Products, Architectures and Solutions in
various application domains (Education, SME’s and Government
environment)
To cooperate and collaborate with national and international
institutions, research laboratories and other academic/research
institutes

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 NRCFOSS - Objectives

To organize study programmes, lectures, symposia, conferences

exhibitions and similar promotional activities related to FOSS
development
To establish and maintain a research and reference library in
pursuance of the objectives of the centre
To establish & maintain National FOSS Resource Portal

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 BOSS

Bharat Operating System Solutions(BOSS)

Product from NRCFOSS

Linux distribution developed by C-DAC for enhancing the use of Free/Open

Source Software in the country.
Made specifically for the Indian environment , it consists of a pleasing
Desktop environment coupled with Indian language support and other
packages that are most relevant for use in the government domain.
a Linux Distribution forked from Debian
The ultimate goal is to localize into all 22 official Indian regional languages.
So this benefits non-english speakers to reach technology that bridge digital
divide in India.

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 Free & Open Source Software(FOSS)

FOSS is software that has made its source code free and public and allows –
perhaps even motivates – users to change the source code and redistribute
the derivative software.
It is often available with no license fee.
The Free Software movement focuses on moral and ethical issues relating
to the freedom of users to use, study, modify and redistribute software.
The promise of open source is better quality,higher reliability,more
flexibility and lower cost.
The word “Free” in free software doesn't represent price instead it represents
the freedom to use the software.

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 What is Debian?

Debian, SUSE, Redhat, Mandriva, Fedora and some of the linux distributions
These distributions in common will contain Linux Kernel and their own set of
applications.
Debian is an volunteer organization dedicated to developing free software and
promoting the ideals of the Free Software Foundation.
Debian, a non-commercial distribution
Debian comes with more than 26,000 software packages for eleven computer
architectures.
Debian offers GNOME, the default desktop, along with KDE and Xfce as
alternatives.

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 BOSS Overview
BOSS 1.0(tarang) – released in January 2007
BOSS 2.0(anant) – released in September 2007
Latest Version - BOSS 3.0(tejas)
It consists of 3 sections:
Install - The Installable allows the user to install the BOSS GNU/Linux
onto the Harddisk and work on it.
Live - lets you to have the BOSS Desktop in your system without
installing it on your harddisk.
Utility - consists of addon packages that can be installed in BOSS for
some specific applications like webserver, education tools, openoffice
language packages etc.
Kernel – 2.6.22-3-486
BOSS 3.0 comes with two desktops – Gnome & KDE
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 BOSS FEATURES
User Friendly Graphical Installer
Indian version of OpenOffice – BharatheeyaOO
3D Desktop
Auto detection of devices
Hardware support for digital cameras, printers, scanners, bluetooth,
Wifi.
Automounting of all Harddisk partitions
Localization support for desktop
Smart Common Input Method
Migration tool - Bulk document converter
Internet tools –Pidgin, Firefox-3.0, X-chat, Ekiga
Multimedia support
Kennel – An application to send SMS
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 Overview
Configuration of BOSS Components (Network, Printer, Mailclient)
Partition Editor
Bluetooth
BharateeyaOO
SCIM
Multimedia (Movie Player, Music Player, Sound Recorder)
Burning CDs & DVDs
Protecting Data from Unauthorized Access
Internet Tools (Ekiga, Pidgin, Xchat)
OnScreen Keyboard & Orca
Special Purpose Tools (BOSS Bulk Document Converter, BOSS Presentation Tool,
3D Desktop)
Customizing Application Centre
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 Configuration of BOSS Components
Network Configuration
Prerequesites
If DHCP – your IP will be automatically configured
If Static IP,
- Find out your IP address from your Network Administrator. It will be in the
form of xxx.xxx.xxx.xx[x].
- And, your Gateway Address.
Simple steps for network configuration:
Go to System -> Administration -> Networking.
Select the type of connection ie., Ethernet or Wifi or modem.
Set the IP address, Gateway etc.. (or) DHCP.

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 Configuration of BOSS Components
Printer Configuration
Steps for Printer Configuration
Go to System -> Administration -> Printing and Double Click on New Printer.
Select the Network Printer , select the type of the printer and enter the IP
address, click “Forward”.
Select the Printer Model, click “Apply” .

To make it as Default Printer

Right click on the printer configured and select “Make Default”

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 Configuration of BOSS Components
Installing Printer drivers externally if not available in BOSS
If you are not able to find your printer model in the list provided in “Step 2 of 2
Printer Driver” then download the divers from the following website:
http://www.linuxprinting.org/printer_list.cgi
Here you select the printer company and the model from the select box and click on
“Show”.
This will follow up a page where you need to search for the Recommended Drivers
line and click on “Custom PPD” or “Download PPD” [Differs based on printer].
Save this PPD file in your system.
Now select the Printing option from System –> Administration –> Printing as
shown above and in the Step 2 of configuration (figure shown below) click on
“Install Driver” and select the saved PPD file. This installs your printer divers into
your system.

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 Configuration of BOSS Components
Mail Client

Mail Client is a program that is used to send and receive emails.

One of the famous e-mail client is Icedove.
To start Icedove choose Applications -> Internet -> Icedove Mail Client
Select the type of account click “Next”.
On the next screen, enter the Email account details.
Specify the incoming and outgoing server information
Enter the name by which you would like to refer the account
A screen showing the account information appears. Click “Finish” to save
these settings and exit the account wizard.

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 Partition Editor
Partition Editor provides a GUI for creating,destroying,resizing, moving
partitions
To use Partition Editor choose System -> Administration -> Partition Editor
Creating a new partition
Select an unallocated area and click the “New” button in the toolbar to create
a new partition. A new window appears and lets you chose the size, file
system, type of partition etc.,
Deleting a partition
The second icon on the toolbar is for deleting the selected partition. If you
want to delete a partition, select that partition and click the “Delete” icon and
then click “Apply”.

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 Partition Editor

Resizing a partition
Click the partition that is to be resized and then select “Resize/Move” from
the “Partition” menu or click “Resize/Move” icon from the toolbar.
Copying a partition
You must first select the partition you want to copy. Right­click on the
partition and click “Copy”.
After copying the partition, you must choose an unallocated area to activate
“Paste” button.
You may wish to resize the partition you want to paste: same size or bigger?
(A smaller partition is impossible!). After you have pasted, you can click
"Apply".

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 Bluetooth

Bluetooth
Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices
such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs
Transfer data from your PC to other external device(a device that supports
bluetooth).
Activate bluetooth in both the PC and the external device.
Right­click on the file you want to send through bluetooth and select “Sent to...”.
A window appears. In “Sent to” select the device to which you want to transfer
the file.

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 Bluetooth

Transfer data from external device(a device that supports bluetooth) to your
PC.
External device will detect your PC as 'boss­0' (scan it)
Send file from your device using bluetooth.
In your PC , Accept request from your device.
Data will be in your $HOME folder.

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 BharateeyaOO
The OpenOffice package contains a set of applications for
performing a number of tasks like word processing, spread sheet,
etc.
BharateeyaOO is a project to enable Indian languages support in
OpenOffice
The BharateeyaOO suite is the customized version of Open Office,
with all the menus, status bars etc., localized for Indian languages.
Languages supported - Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam,
Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

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 BharateeyaOO Components

The BharateeyaOO office suite includes the following components:

Writer (word processor)
Calc (spreadsheet)
Impress (presentation)
Draw (vector graphics)
Base (database)
Math (formula editor)

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 ভারতীয় বাষায় প্রেসেন্টেশন
BOSS একটি মুক্ত সফ্টওয়ার
BOSS এর সাহায়তায় ১৮ ভারতীয় ভাষায় লেখা যায়
BOSS आपको अपनी मात ृ भाषा से जोड़ता है
BOSS ସହାୟତାରେ ଆ ପଣ ଭାରତର ସବୁ ସ୍ତର କୁ ଛୁୁଇ
ପାରିବେେେ

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 SCIM

Smart Common Input Method(SCIM) provides an user friendly

interface using which the input method can be changed.
How to use SCIM?
Open text editor(gedit) or any application.
Type control+space bar to invoke notification icon on task bar.
It will show toggle bar in all languages
Select language in which you want to type
Now you can start typing in the selected language

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 Scanner

Plug the scanner to your PC

Choose Applications -> Graphics -> Xsane Image Scanning Program
The scanner will be detected and the images can be scanned now.
If your scanner drivers are not already present in BOSS
GNU/Linux then you can download them from the link http://www.sane­
project.org/sane­mfgs.html and install the drivers. The steps for installation are
mentioned in the software itself.

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 Multimedia
Music Player
Banshee is the music player for Gnome. It can also connect to the Online
Radio stations if you have the Internet connection. There can be more than
one Radio station configured in this.
Importing Music
Click Music -> Import Music
Choose an import source
Click Import Music Source
Ripping Your Music
Insert the audio CD into the CD drive
Banshee automatically detects it and adds it as a playlist in the side
menu.
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 Multimedia
Click on the playlist
Confirm that detection is all correct
Press Import CD in the upper-right corner(where Burn CD usually)
The extracted songs will be in the Music library
Burning Your Music
Insert a blank CD into the CD drive
In Banshee's music library, highlight the songs you want to burn
(press and hold ctrl and then click your mouse to select multiple
tracks)
Click the Write CD button in the upper right hand corner
Banshee will eject your CD when complete, and a dialog box will pop
informing you that the burn is complete. Click OK
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 Multimedia
CD Player
The CD Player application enables you to play audio Compact Discs(CDs)
on your computer.
Movie Player
Totem is the movie player for Gnome and Noatun is the movie player for
KDE
Sound Recorder
This can be used to record the audio sounds.

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 Burning CDs & DVDs
GnomeBaker(Gnome) and K3b(KDE) are the CD/DVD burning
applications that come with BOSS 3.0
Features
Creating a data CD/DVD
Creating an audio CD
Copying a data CD/DVD
Copying an audio CD
Blanking CD-RW
Burning an ISO image
In addition K3b also supports multisession, Creation of Video CD/DVD

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 Protecting Data from Unauthorized Access
GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) allows you to encrypt, decrypt, sign, and verify
communications and data, as well as create and manage the keys needed for
these tasks.
Seahorse provides a front end to many of the features of Gnu Privacy Guard
(GPG) and integrates with multiple components of the GNOME desktop.
To create keys choose Applications -> Accessories -> Password and
Encryption Keys
Creating Keys
Choose Key ­> Create Key Pair
Select PGP Key and click “Continue”
Enter your full name, your e­mail address and any additional information.

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 Protecting Data from Unauthorized Access
Text Editor
Seahorse installs a plugin for gEdit that allows you to encrypt, decrypt, sign,
and verify plain text.
To enable the GnuGP plugin for gEdit, choose Preferences from the Edit
menu.
Go to the Plugins tab, select the Text Encryption plugin, and click OK.
Then you can select the text you want to encrypt, decrypt, or sign and choose
the encryption option from Edit menu.
Once done, you can copy and paste your encrypted or signed text to other
applications.
To decrypt open the file and choose Edit -> Decrypt/Verify

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 Protecting Data from Unauthorized Access
File Manager
Menu Items for encryption can be found both under the Nautilus Edit menu
and in the context menu when you right-click on a file or folder.
To use them, select the files or folders you want to encrypt and select Edit ->
Encrypt.
GnuPG will create a new file with a .pgp extension for any files you encrypt.
Your original, unencrypted file will remain unencrypted.
To decrypt a file with a .pgp extension, right-click on it and select Open with
Decrypt File.

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 Gdesklets
Gdesklets – small applets that can be placed on the desktop
The applets placed on the desktop are meant to be quick ways for
the user to retrieve information
Some of the gDesklets are:
* Clocks
* Calendars
* Quick Launcher
* Animated toolbars
* Desktop notes
* System monitors

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 Internet Tools

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 Ekiga

Ekiga - an open source VoIP and video conferencing application for

GNOME.
Using Ekiga we can perform
1. PC to PC communication
1.1 Text Based Communication
1.2 Voice Based Communication
2. PC to Phone communication
3. Phone to PC communication

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 Chat Applications
Pidgin
Pidgin is an instant messaging program.
You can talk to your friends using AIM, ICQ, XMPP, MSN Messenger,
Yahoo!, Bonjour, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, SIMPLE, and
Google Talk.
Xchat
XChat is an IRC chat program. Xchat is mainly used for technical chat.
It allows you to join multiple IRC channels (chat rooms) at the same time,
talk publicly, private one-on-one conversations etc. Even file transfers are
possible.

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 Chat Applications
To start Xchat choose Applications -> Internet -> Xchat IRC

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 Chat Applications
Joining a channel
By default BOSS Server will be connected to BOSS­nrcfoss channel. If the
channel is not specified by default a dialog will pop­up asking you enter the
channel to join.

If you know the name of the channel, type the channel name e.g. #BOSS­
nrcfoss (IRC channels usually begin with a hash symbol), and click “OK”.
If you don't know the channel name, click “Retrieve Channel list...”, this will
open a window and list all the possible channels on this network.

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 Chat Applications
Once you've selected a channel, XChat should join it for you and you can start
chatting by typing the queries in the text box at the bottom of the window.

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 Onscreen Keyboard & Orca
Onscreen Keyboard
Onscreen Keyboard is an application that displays a floating keyboard on the
computer screen.
Onscreen Keyboard is the other way which allows you to type in your native
language and create your documentations, mails etc.
Start the Onscreen Keyboard through Applications ­> Accessories ­> OnScreen
Keyboard
Select the language from, “Languages” menu.
open any of your favorite editor, and start typing
Accessibility Tools
Orca(The screen Reader) is an assistive technology for people with visual
impairments.

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 Special Purpose Tools

BOSS Bulk Document Converter

This converter allows you to convert a group of documents of one format to
other format like doc to pdf, doc to html etc.,
BOSS Presentation Tool
BOSS Presentation tool is a simple presentation program that displays
slideshows of image files, PDF or PPT or PPS or ODP documents.
3D Desktop
Compiz-fusion is the 3D Desktop that comes with BOSS 3.0(tejas).
3D­Desktop is an application for switching virtual desktops in a seamless 3­
dimensional manner on Linux.

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 Customizing Application Names

Users new to BOSS might have previously used some other operating
systems.
Some of the applications in BOSS are similar to that in the previously used
OS but the name of the application differs.
Users may find some difficulty in remembering two names for the same
application.
BOSS gives the users a feature to change the application name so that users
can give their own name to the application.

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 THANK YOU

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