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Indian State Switches to Linux
pamri writes "In a pleasant and surprising move, the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has opted to switch to Linux from Microsoft for its Gyandooth (intranet in Dhar district connecting rural cybercafes catering to the everyday needs of the masses) programme. What is more surprising is that the state's Chief Minister Digvijay Singh personally conveyed this to Bill Gates. A choice quote: 'For us it is not a question of Microsoft versus Linux. It is just a matter of choosing between a free software and a monopoly. We feel that when we are putting public information out in the open, then it should not be through a proprietary software.'"
Its a parody, not a story. Nice try, though.
Yes, let's make it even easier to pump out cheap programmers so American companies can fuck over American IT workers! GO INDIA!
WINE doesn't run CS, Starcraft, UT, and all the other online games that make third-world cyber cafes profitable.
Though some of the official stuff, as well as the more family-oriented shops may change to Linux, the vast majority of cyber cafes will still be running pirated games under a pirated Windows.
India will continue to pirate as long as Microsoft leads everywhere else, though having the governor officially reject capitalism is a good step for socialism.
and they don't like the word states, they prefer Sovereign Nations (reservations is racist, too).
"Pleasant and surprising move?" Haha, get real! Who the HECK cares? This story is like "The small Pacific island of Tobu, population 16, has decided to operate their government infrastructure on a Linux system." SO WHAT?!? You guys are so, so, so pathetic these days...
Well, I guess I have to support the use of Linux for any sort of serious application. No such thing as bad publicity and all that. Plus, Linux is a perfect match in this case, since they can't afford anything non-free, and at the moment Linux is the best free OS (some would say it's the best OS period, but I'm not looking for a flamewar) out there. So that's good.
One thing I've thought about a lot is the image that Linux has, in both the media and business worlds. It goes without saying that gaining a foothold in American industry is vital to the long-term success of Linux. But many corporations have been reluctant to switch to Linux due to its image as an OS used by outcasts, hippies, pirates, and hackers. We seem to be making some progress away from this, what with products like Lindows getting some press, but we have a long way to go.
Now this comes along, and it's like we're being attacked from a whole new side. If Linux takes off in India, then we risk being associated with overpopulation, disease, tainted water supplies, and nucular warfare. What American company will consider using Linux after that? I wish there was a way to have it both ways, but I feel like the best thing for the Linux community to do at this point is to try to get India to switch to FreeBSD.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
CNN has a story with images.
Wow, one little obscure region that no one's ever heard of, in a country on the other side of the world (not to mention poverty line), switched too Linux. Woot.
And in other news, another 238 states embraced Microsoft products in their civil offices today.
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
Is this supposed to be news? This obviously shows how desperate the linux community is to brag about something as useless as this. -- lets all report every time some amazon tribe uses toilet paper instead of a leaf to wipe his ass!
We're the light in the night.
Server wise...Linux is a good idea..that is, provided you're running the right software (ie. mail server, web server, database, etc.). Granted, there's plenty that Linux offers...and India (or any other country for that matter) can greatly benefit from this and save a nice chunk of change when compared to the licensing on Windows servers. However, when it comes to the desktop, Windows is still king. Even when it comes to business applications, Windows is still the preferred OS. Reason is simple...Windows has a wider range of software choices, it offers greater integration, and it allows for more compatibility and greater range of document creation and management choices. Ever try to open a Word document in Corel Office or any other Linux-based office suite? It's a pain...a REAL pain. The majority of business users out there use Microsoft Office. It will be a while before Linux can offer the compatibility with Office documents that is required by business users.
:D
Plain and simple...if you're not on Windows or Mac, you can kiss your business infrastructure goodbye. The ability to create cross-compatible documents like speadsheets, word processor docs, PDF's (Adobe Acrobat), and a well integrated mail server platform just isn't quite up to par with Linux. Plus, administration of a Linux based network (although claimed to be easy to use) is an enormous venture in time and configuration.
A good alternative would be Mac...but until Mr. Jobs realizes that a version of the MacOS is needed for the 486 platform (and one that does NOT require the use of Apple branded hardware!) then business users will always be stuck with Windows till Linux gets up to par. I for one would love to use the MacOS platform...but it's even more expensive that Windows...both software and hardware wise. I do too much to move to Linux...business, web development, graphic design, audio editing, MIDI mixing, gaming, etc. Most of the software I use just isn't available on Linux...but it IS available on the MacOS.
Why not petition Apple to release a stand-alone version of the MacOS that is compatible on any 486 PC? It's definitely a thought. And, what's more, the latest verion, OS X, is Linux based!
Jeff Whitfield jeffwhitfield@gmail.com "I can learn to resist anything but temptation..."