FAQ: Frecuently Asked Questions



What is DNALinux?

DNALinux is a Linux distribution with bioinformatics software pre-installed.

What kind of Bioinformatics software is installed?

DNA and protein sequence manipulation software is included. Like EMBOSS, Primer3, ClustalW, T-Coffe and others. (See complete list of Bioinformatics software)

How much does it costs?

DNALinux is free to download and use. It's based on the GNU Public Licence (GPL). Please note that not all software contained in DNALinux is GPL. Some of the (like ClustalW) is free only for non-commercial uses. So check the licence of each software if you plan to use it in a commercial way.

Why another Linux distribution?

We believe that this distro fills an empty niche. Specialized biotech software usually is released as source code only and it's not packaged for easy installation on "mainstream" Linux. Most scientific software is "author software" and it is not easy to install (that is particulary true for Biotech people). As we told before, all the software is pre-installed. Since the distro works from CD, you don't even have to install the operation system.

I know how to compile and install any program, do I still need DNALinux?

Chances are you don't need DNALinux. If you know about compilation and installation issues under Linux/Unix, you may use your favorite distro and then install the programs over there. The convenience of DNALinux is that you have the software pre-installed.

In which Linux distribution DNALinux is based?

DNALinux is based in SLAX, which is a small live version of Slackware.

Which Bioinformatics software is included in DNALinux?

Yes, here it is (Version 0.33): BLAST
EMBOSS-2.8.0
T-COFFEE_distribution_Version_1.37
abacus-0.63
arka-0.11
avid
big_mac
cap3
clustalx1.81.linux
e-pcr
efmc
hmmer-2.3.2.bin.intel-linux
ncbi
GeneSplicer
infernal-0.55
paml3.12
primer3_0_9_test
tacg-4.0.8-src

There is also sequence data included (on BLAST format):

Arabidopsis Thaliana (aa).
Drosophila Malanogaster (aa)
Escherichia Coli (aa)

I want to be informed when a new version is available, is there a mailing list?

Yes. You can subscribe in this page: DNALinux news mailing list.

What is an ISO? How do I burn an ISO into a CD?

An ISO is a image file of a CD. To burn it into a CD, use the apropiate option on the CD-recorder software. Under Windows Adapted Easy CD Creator, just go to file, then "Create CD from CD image" and then just select the iso image (if you don't see it, it could be because the default view files is set to cif, just change it to iso). The resulting CD will be bootable, you don't need to specify this feature separately.

The CD doesn't boot, why?

There could be several causes for non-booting CDs. Some CD-RW doesn't boot, so try to record it on CD-R instead of CD-RW. Check also that you have enought memory. 96Mb RAM is the low memory this program is known to boot. Also check the md5 of your image, it should correspont to the one reported in the download page. Note: On version 0.2 was an ISO with a booting problem, now is corrected, please check the md5.

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