North Korea Releases Red Star Linux OS

Filed in archive OS on April 11, 2010

North Korea has released its Red Star Linux-based operating system.

"In late February a Russian blogger purchased and stripped down a copy of the operating system, detailing its features and requirements," writes The Inquirer's David Neal. "The blogger tells us that Red Star requires a Pentium III 800MHz CPU, 256MB RAM and a 3GB hard drive to run. It is Linux-based, but apes the Microsoft Windows look and feel."

"And Red Star isn't just any Linux: it's apparently loaded with hooks designed to let North Korean government watchdogs keep an eye on what users are doing," writes Digital Trends' Geoff Duncan.

"Red Star uses the Korean folk song 'Arirang,' popular on both sides of the peninsula, as its start-up music and numbers years using its its 'juche' (self-reliance) calendar, which starts counting from the birth of state founder Kim Il-sung," according to the Toronto Sun.

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