Linux Caixa Mágica

Linux Caixa Mágica, sometimes abbreviated as Linux CM or LCM, is a discontinued Portuguese Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. It was maintained by the company Caixa Mágica Software and its target market were companies, individuals, schools and public administration in Portugal. It is a free operating system suitable for desktop and server machines.

This Linux distribution was included in the Magalhães laptop, a Classmate PC-based computer that was distributed to primary school students as part of a state-sponsored school modernization program in the late 2000s in Portugal.

History
The Linux Caixa Mágica project was started in 2000 by José Guimarães, Daniel Neves and Paulo Trezentos, researchers of the ADETTI research lab in the ISCTE-IUL institute in Lisbon. They released the first beta version, code-named Copperfield, in the summer of 2001. The first stable release was version 8.0, released in April 2002.

In 2004, as the popularity of the distribution grew and demands increased, the team decided to create a spin-off company, named Caixa Mágica Software.

Magalhães laptops
In 2008, Linux Caixa Mágica was selected as one of the two bootable operating systems that came installed in the first generation of the Magalhães laptops, the other being Windows XP (replaced by Windows 7 in the second generation of the laptop). This line of laptops assembled in Portugal was targeted at primary schools students. It was for sale in stores for an affordable price, but was freely distributed to students under social assistance.

The open-source game SuperTux, included in Linux Caixa Mágica, was particularly popular among school children.

Features
Linux Caixa Mágica has been based on three other Linux distributions. It was initially based on SUSE Linux, until version 11. From version 12 to 15, it was based on Mandriva Linux, after which it became based on Ubuntu.

The latest version comes bundled with open-source programs such as the LibreOffice suite, GIMP, Chromium and Firefox.

Releases
The first beta version of Linux Caixa Mágica was released in the summer of 2001.

The latest version is 23, released in April 2015.