gLinux is a
Debian Testing-based
Linuxdistribution used at
Google as a
workstationoperating system.[1] The Google gLinux team builds the system from
source code, introducing their own changes.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] gLinux replaced the previously used
Ubuntu-based distribution,
Goobuntu.[9] gLinux is usually installed by loading into a bootstrap environment when it is first booted up.[10] When it is started, the root files are unpacked and the
Debian installer starts to perform the installation.[10] Over the years,
Google has focused on speed, scale and data, which is the thought process that allowed them to move to gLinux.[11]Google used
Ubuntu before switching to gLinux; however, the two years of security updates it provided meant that planning for the next upgrade would take close to a year.[12]