14 DAY TRIAL // Today, July 2, 2016, the Debian Edu / Skolelinux project is proud to announce the general availability of the Debian Edu (a.k.a. Skolelinux) 8.0 distribution designed for educational purposes.
Based on the latest Debian GNU/Linux 8.5 "Jessie" operating system, Debian Edu 8 is now available for any educational institution, such as schools or universities that want to ditch the bloated and expensive Microsoft Windows for a fresh, Linux kernel-based OS that offers them the freedom they need to fully customize the installation, as well as the unbeatable stability of Debian.
Debian Edu 8 is for you if you are a network administrator and want to install the best possible Debian-based operating system on every computer on a school network, without having to upgrade the licenses of Microsoft Windows or buy new and expensive hardware components just because one OS doesn't work on them. Not to mention the fact that Debian Edu comes with numerous educational apps.
"Do you have to administrate a computer lab or a whole school network? Would you like to install servers, workstations and laptops which will then work together? Do you want the stability of Debian with network services already preconfigured? Do you wish to have a web-based tool to manage systems and several hundred or even more user accounts? Have you asked yourself if and how older computers could be used?" reads today's announcement.
Shipping with the MATE 1.8 desktop environment
Release highlights of Debian Edu 8 include the availability of MATE 1.8 as an optional desktop environment for those who want a user interface that's modern, fully customizable and light at the same time, support for installing firmware for various hardware components automatically when the OS is installed via network boot, and the addition of a Dutch translation of the manual, along with a complete Norwegian Bokmål translation.
Debian Edu / Skolelinux 8 is available for download right now via our website, where you'll find a multi-arch ISO images that can be used for network booting, as well as an extended, much bigger ISO image that includes more software. Please note that if you already have the Beta version of Debian Edu 8 installed on your computer(s), you can upgrade now to the final release.