"PhyLIS is a user-friendly, free linux distribution for phylogenetics. Install it and you have an instant phylogenetics workstation. No downloading packages or messing with compilers, no configuring software, no worrying about small differences between systems that mess up your scripts. Simply install, sit down, and work. PhyLIS started during a period when I was acquiring several new computers for a large phyloinformatic project and grew tired of installing general purpose linux distributions, and then having to spend an hour or two reconfiguring everything and adding software on each new computer. I began developing scripts that would do some of this work for me, eventually they became overly-complicated, and I still had to carry around thumbdrives full of software or needlessly re-download everything. Eventually it just became more desirable to have an operating system that was specifically geared towards doing phylogenetics. PhyLIS is based on Ubuntu linux, a widely used 'friendly' linux distribution that is rapidly growing in popularity. Ubuntu itself is based on Debian. So, if you're already familiar with Debian, PhyLIS should also feel familiar; and if you're familiar with Ubuntu, PhyLIS should feel really familiar. PhyLIS is distributed as a liveCD. This means that you can run the operating system off of the cd itself, without making changes to your computer, or you can easily install it on your hard drive like any normal operating system. To try it out, simply pop it into the optical drive, reboot the machine, and you're good to go. In practical terms, this means that you can go into the lab at night and take over all of the windows machines with no one being the wiser (good times!). To install PhyLIS, just get it running with the liveCD and then click the 'install' icon on the desktop and follow the directions." - Mike Chelen from Bookmarklet