Project history
Updated 27 July 2021
2007
After we in Calculate Ltd. successfully developed and implemented a Linux distribution that was optimized for our corporate needs, we decided to make the source code open and available for free. On June 6, 2007, the Calculate web site was created and the first version of Calculate Linux 7.6, featuring a KDE desktop, was released. Versions are numbered according to the year and month of release. The very first versions of this OS were distributed as a Stage4 archive, to be installed with the dedicated Calculate utility. Until the end of 2009, new releases were released monthly.
2008
Starting with v 8.2, Calculate Linux is distributed as a bootable LiveCD image. All additional applications have been moved to the Calculate overlay, thus ensuring full compatibility with Gentoo. A second Calculate flavour, Calculate Directory Server was made available. Calculate Linux was renamed to Calculate Linux Desktop.
2009
Calculate Linux 9.0 was the first version to offer a ready-to-use client-server solution for rapid deployment in corporate environments, providing support for centralized authentication and storage of user accounts on the server. The Calculate 2 tools were rewritten for server configuration. All samba, ftp, mail, jabber, proxy, dns and dhcp accounts were moved to LDAP. Calculate Linux was in Distrowatch's top 100. For older computers, we a Calculate Linux Desktop modification with an XFCE desktop. We also release a minimalistic Calculate Linux Scratch, for those who want to build their own system, featuring the software they choose. The first review ever of Calculate Linux appeared in Dator Magazine.
2010
Starting with version 10.0, the overlay in split in profiles, thus making it possible to control the updates: for the same packages, the dependencies vary from a profile to another. For the release of version 10.9, Calculate Linux was provided with the new cl-install tool with both a command-line and a graphical interfaces. A Calculate Linux Desktop featuring the GNOME environment was released.
2011
Starting with Calculate Linux 11.0, all Calculate flavours have had their own repositories of binary packages, providing the main applications for Calculate Linux Desktop (KDE, GNOME oe XFCE) and Calculate Directory Server. Two new flavours, Calculate Media Center for home entertainment and Calculate Scratch Server for building a custom server with one's own software set, were released.
2012
Calculate Utilities came in version 3. Calculate Utilities became client-server oriented, with both graphical and command-line clients available, the graphical and the command-line installers featuring exactly the same functionality. Both the local system and the network were enabled to be managed via SOAP/WSDL.
2013
We chose OpenRC and worked to make the boot process faster, through prioritization and parallel service loading. Calculate Linux boots up much faster. Calculate Utilities 3.1 were released, with revision support for smoother migration between versions.
2014
The cl-update tool was introduced for system updates, which makes it much easier for inexperienced Calculate users to manage their system. Called by the update tool, emerge checks library updates and takes into account modified package sets. The first Calculate Summer Camp took place.
2015
The update tools were completely rewritten. Support was added for all mirrors, thus increasing the reliability of updates and optimizing the download speed. Multiple optimizations were made to make Calculate Utilities significantly faster at all operation times.
2016
We continued working on system optimization. The updates split into testing and stable. All Calculate Linux flavours moved to a single repository, containing packages that differ by their USE flags combination. The Calculate repository amounted to 5000 binary packages. Calculate Linux was included in the Russian Software Register.
2017
A special Calculate Container Scratch version was released for installation in LXC and LXD containers. Binary repo was optimized, and known dependency problems fixed. A new Cinnamon flavour was released. As of 2017, 10000 binary packages were available. We added support for installing Calculate Linux on a software RAID volume. Our official Telegram channels were created.
2018
Запущен Calculate Wiki, поддерживающий встроенную систему перевода. A new desktop flavour, featuring an LXQt desktop has been released, as well as an Education version of Calculate. Instructions for installing Calculate Linux on any VPS were made available. A procedure for migrating applications at reinstall time was introduced.
2019
We launched the Calculate Phone project to provide support and automatic configuration for Android smartphones in Calculate Linux. The binary repos offer choice between different USE flags. Support was organised via bridges, so that to create a common community space for Telegram, Jabber, Matrix and IRC users. Distributed services were integrated, such as Mastodon, PeerTube and PixelFed. Our forum on the site runs on Discourse.
2020
With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees have been working from home. That is why we launched the Home Office project for corporate systems to run from a USB drive. We had to optimize the system, adapting it to limited hardware characteristics. As a result, the system requirements for RAM and CPU performance were significantly reduced by revising and optimizing the software, as well as by using Zram compression on the swap partition.