Linux serves — of that there is no doubt — literally and figuratively. The open source platform serves up websites across the globe, it serves educational systems in numerous ways, and it also serves the medical and scientific communities and has done so for quite some time.
I remember, back in my early days of Linux usage (I first adopted Linux as my OS of choice in 1997), how every Linux distribution included so many tools I would personally never use. Tools used for plotting and calculating on levels I’d not even heard of before. I cannot remember the names of those tools, but I know they were opened once and never again. I didn’t understand their purpose. Why? Because I wasn’t knee-deep in studying such science.
Modern Linux is a far cry from those early days. Not only is it much more user-friendly, it doesn’t include that plethora of science-centric tools. There are, however, still Linux distributions for that very purpose — serving the scientific and medical communities.
Let’s take a look at a few of these distributions. Maybe one of them will suit your needs.
Scientific Linux
You can’t start a listing of science-specific Linux distributions without first mentioning Scientific Linux. This particular take on Linux was developed by Fermilab. Based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Scientific Linux aims to offer a common Linux distribution for various labs and universities around the world, in order to reduce duplication of effort. The goal of Scientific Linux is to have a distribution that is compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, that:
- Provides a stable, scalable, and extensible operating system for scientific computing.
- Supports scientific research by providing the necessary methods and procedures to enable the integration of scientific applications with the operating environment.
- Uses the free exchange of ideas, designs, and implementations in order to prepare a computing platform for the next generation of scientific computing.
- Includes all the necessary tools to enable users to create their own Scientific Linux spins.
Because Scientific Linux is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can select a Security Policy for the platform during installation