LocalFOSS

In 1998 the small mountain nation of Bhutan, population around 700,000, decided to end a long period of technological isolation and allow in such modern trinkets as television and the internet.

One of the first problems the new Department of Information Technology faced was the lack of support for the national language in the available Operating Systems. An estimated $523,000 was spent on creating the Dzongkha Unicode system, however at the last minute a plan to include it in the next version of the Windows Operating system fell through, forcing the DIT to look at other alternatives.

Two and half years after the failed attempt with Microsoft, Bhutan has announced the launch of Dzongkhalinux. Based on the Debian linux distribution, it has been customized to meet the exact needs of the Bhutan government including full support for the Dzongkha language, mandated as the official language of the government of Bhutan.