GOVOnix For Linux

Based on Xubuntu, GOVOnix is an open source Linux operating system that replaces the Xfce desktop environment with MATE for an extra boost, and includes the Cairo dock and the XBMC Media Center. It is targeted towards Italian-speaking users.

The distribution is available for download as a single, 32-bit Live DVD ISO image that has been designed from the ground up to work only with 32-bit applications, despite the fact that will run well on either 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (x86_64) hardware platforms.

The Live DVD includes standard boot options, such as the ability to start the operating system in live mode with default drivers or in safe graphics mode, start the graphical installer, perform a system memory test, as well as to boot an existing OS from the first disk drive.

As mentioned, the distribution’s default and only desktop environment is MATE. However, you must first log into the graphical session using the “govonix” username without any password. for your convenience, the MATE setup uses a Mac OS X-like layout, comprised of a dock and a different kind of panel.

Default applications include the LibreOffice office suite, Mozilla Firefox web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird email and news client, FileZilla file transfer client, Synaptic Package Manager, Transmission torrent downloader, Empathy and Pidgin multi-protocol instant messengers, Geany IDE, aMule P2P client, Blender 3D modeller, GIMP image editor and Inkscape vector graphics editor.

In conclusion, this distro is nothing extraordinary or amazing, it is just a simple test that was used by the author in some GNU/Linux courses at the Gela Institute, trying to provide an alternative to popular operating systems, such as Ubuntu Linux.