Canaima GNU/Linux is the Venezuelan Free Software distribution, based on the parent distribution Debian GNU/Linux and arises as a consequence of Presidential Decree No. 3,390 on the use of Free Information Technologies in the Venezuelan National Public Administration (APN), promulgated by President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. On March 14, 2011 in the Official Gazette No. 39,632 where it is established as the operating system for APN workstations.
Canaima is a State project designed with the needs and realities of the Venezuelan public servant in mind, oriented to the processes of the National Public Administration, in support of its automation with Free Software, this being an alternative to the traditional dependent model and facing a market surrounded by large corporations, mostly transnational.
Canaima includes tools and methods to advance towards technological independence and sovereignty, serving as a meeting platform for developers and users involved in the management of free information technologies, relevant to our national project. Canaima is Free Software, which implies a new ethic of consumption, production and economic relations around free technologies.