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Kylin OS – more details and download links

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My last post on Kylin, China’s secure, FreeBSD based operating system, has raised quite a bit of interest and people have been asking for download links.

I’ve done some more research into Kylin, and came across the main Kylin website: kylin-os.com (Chinese). The government seems to have set up a company, Kyrin,  to research, develop, promote, educate and deploy Kylin in government departments and commercial enterprices, e.g.

  • China Construction Bank
  • North China Electric Power
  • Xiangcai Securities
  • Shanghai Unicom

Kirin also develops load balancing servers, NAS storage systems,  secure network storage (SecStor) and a Linux based Kylin version.

It’s interesting to note that NeoKylin, or any replacement for Kylin, is developed by China Standard Software and the National University of Defense Technology, and not by Kirin.

What is the reasoning (for the government) to begin developing a new product? Was Kylin with its proprietary security layer not secure enough? Or, is NeoKylin just another domestic Chinese product built with government sponsorship and funding like redflag-linux?

For the record, Kylin 2.1 is Freebsd 5.3 + linux_base-fc4. If you’re familiar with Chinese, you may download Kylin 2.1 from freebsdcentral.com:

I’ve not been able to get my fingers on Kylin 3.0 (yet).

More on Kylin OS (use Google Translate):

NeoKylin. China’s new domestic FreeBSD based desktop O/S

By 15 Comments

Two respected Chinese software companies of two operating systems used in China are said to be joining forces (20/12/2010) to create a domestic operating system called NeoKylin.

China Standard Software and the National University of Defense Technology have signed a strategic partnership to launch an operating system brand known as “NeoKylin” that will be used for national defense and all sectors of the country’s economy.

China Standard Software said via a spokesman that the agreement was meant to pave the way for a stronger domestic operating system environment for China. No information has been offered on a timetable for any product launches under the new brand.

China Standard is the maker of the NeoShine Linux desktop series, which includes operating systems built to run in government organisations, business and personal computers.

Academics at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), on the other hand, are responsible for the Kylin operating system, a secure and FreeBSD based alternative to foreign software such as Microsoft Windows.

The Chinese government seems to be in favour of developing domestic operating systems and being less dependent on the West, i.e Microsoft Windows, out of security considerations (CIA/FBI backdoors??) and as a way to support the local economy. They are determined to kick Windows out of government departments and to make NeoKylin China’s new preferred O/S.

It is not clear whether Kylin will be used as server O/S and NeoKylin as desktop system, or whether NeoKylin will be deployed for both server and desktop use. Neither is it yet known when NeoKylin OS will be released in China.

Do you know have any information on NeoKylin? It would be great if you could share them with us all.

(via pcw)