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IBM Launches Linux Desktop in India
kanad writes "Who says that Linux on desktop is dead. Well maybe in the developed markets where people are using windows since last 10 years and are used to it. But in nascent markets it maynot be the case. From this story at Times of India , IBM is launching a linux based desktop model (A30) for about US$ 850. The specifications of the A30 is available from zdnet india site although the price mentioned is about US$ 1100.
IBM CEO recently visited India generating news and smoke about big blue taking some serious linux initiative in India.
Here is a more practical story on
Linux in India"
The articles don't state what company has put together the desktop software, just that the hardware is from IBM. Is this another partnership for Red Hat or have IBM rolled their own?
E-Sys has launched Linux PCs in India some 2 months ago - priced from $200 onwards (no monitor). The highest model comes in at about $300 which includes a financial accouting package as well.
LUGs are very active in India - and the recent drives by MS thru NASSCOM (like the BSA) is forcing lots of folks to switch over. Every day, new firms spring up offering Linux support for Home PCs as well as business segments.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Does anyone know if IBM is making Debian GNU/Linux available on these systems? It would be fitting for the only truly free Linux distribution to be delivered pre-installed on these systems in such a poverty-stricken country. I'm sure IBM will do great support for their hardware (they have been impeccable on the service contract on our department's 'Regatta' p690 POWER4 system (32 CPUs really make dselect fly!!!). The only question that remains is the software aspect of the deal. So...Does anyone know of any reliable apt-get mirrors in India?
Why does it have to be an oversea's government? Let's "start the dominos" right here... I dont think the US Government has that super a relationsihp with M$ anyways.
Visualize the world of wine
> I think the first step we'll see in Linux becoming big on the desktop (in a general work area) is overseas governments. Eventually it may spread to the schools of those overseas countries. After that has happened, other countries will follow.
What about all the CS & EE students back home who use it at the university and get used to having a big pile of free, powerful, and stable apps, and demand the same thing on their desktop both at work and at home after they graduate?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
that the linux PCs are being sold in non-metro areas of the country.
Unlike in US, there is vast diff. between the metro cities and other small cities.
Majority of the enterprise level business are located in metro cities and I am not sure targetting SOHO business in non-metro cities is such a bright IDEA.
Simply because, in non-metro cities it is very easy to get pirated microsoft software and PCs are assembled from cheap parts from taiwan , rather than bought from PC vendors.
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
This is exactly what I get from my newphew. He's using macs at school, and he complains about OS9 all the time, and not those logical i can agree with you sorta things. It's primarly the "why did they put that over there" sorta deal. I guess i'm somewhat old and grew up in a market of aspiring and dying platforms.
It's somewhat ironic the fact that while I've never been a big mac fan my self, I have always respected its relative ease of use, yet i'm finding more often then not, the kids are complaining cause it's not *windows*(tm) which I find to be an unacceptable complaint.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Perhaps we'll actually start seeing some OEM level hardware support, or if nothing else at least some specifications so we can make our own drivers for the latest GO-GO gadget device.
While I'm by no means a fan of IBM, their whole microchannel experence has left a sour taste in my mouth, I must admit they are a big ass company, and when their business is supporting linux for large nations like India I see an increase in demand for drivers for cheeper hardware. Wether or not then will be release under some form of OSS license remains to be seen, but IBM at the very least has the mussle, they have the contacts, and they have the ability to get the job done.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Like all technological things, serious Linux aoption starts in Asia (Dell started selling linux systems in Asia a few days ago according to some article), and now it has reached India. Soon it will reach Europe, and around 2013 the USA may also start moving out of the stone age, and onto an OS that works.
Are you kidding? Putting Linux on systems will reduce 'much of the hardware costs'??
Did you notice the price mentioned in the article on these machines? $850 is well beyond the reaches of many, many people in the First World and completely beyond the reach of people in the Third World.
Wow, I am totally floored. On slashdot when the subject of computers in India comes up theres usually 300 posts from liberals basically asking "what are thes filthy illiterate wogs gonna do with a computer when they don't have indoor plumbing, food or basic sanitation ?"
I guess the IT market being moved on a massive scale to India helped educate them as to what "illiterate peasants living in dirt shacks and eating grubs to stay alive" are capable of.
Gee, wonder if my sarcasm is showing yet.
That's why the current slide in the dollar is so important. Here's to hoping the dollar bottoms out somewhere in the yen territory. But hopefully not down where the Romanian Lei is. Then India and China would start outsourcing THEIR IT projects here. Of course, the whole India question could be moot if they don't settle their differences with Pakistan. I don't think either of those countries really realizes the power a nuclear weapon contains, and a nuclear exchange between them would mess up economies in the entire region for years.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Well, I work for the government and we (people in my office) certainly support the use of linux on desktops. However, security is a major concern, and rightly so. We have solved this problem with a very restrictive firewall, this can be a nuisance, but I think it's worth it.
In fact, I think the only hesitation on the part of the IT staff here on allowing users to migrate to linux is security. Argue all you want, but a default install of a commercial linux distro is much more likely to be cracked than a default install of Windows.
Visualize the world of wine
Would people please stop caring who "ready for the desktop" Linux is compared to windows?
If windows is the measure for "readyness" I hope Linux will never grow up!
People who actually KNOW something about Linux desktop also KNOW that Linux desktop is goin into a completely different direction than windows desktop. Comparing both is like saying: "Hey, my Gameboy is much better to handle than your Playstation, because it has less buttons and a smaller display! F* your Playstation!"
You mean this analogy is too harsh? NO. Because I really ask myself why Microsoft doesn't open source/out source their PR department to those windows addic ts who're desperate to tell everyone who doesn't care that less features for much money is better than anything Linux desktop has to offer.
What about the CS & EE students who use Windows, and software developed for the Windows operating system. Large companies like M$ are not that stupid, they realize the market has potential and therefore market directly it and offer giant price breaks. I go to Virginia Tech, Microsoft publishes ads in our newspaper that say things such as "Buy Windows XP NOW in your book store for $20! Once you graduate you will have to pay HUNDREDS!"
Visualize the world of wine
When you start offering that kind of discount, you lose a lot of the advantage you have as near-monopoly. MS can't sell to everyone at that kind of price. If the "free as in speech" model offers "free as in beer" software for many users, there has to be real compatibility / support services / security / etc advantages to keep customers with proprietary software.
my password really is 'stinkypants'
Here is a more practical story on Linux in India
Puleeeze!
That story is based on a reporter attending a vendor event that as specifically run as a hype-builder for the aforesaid PC product. The reporter clearly has no clue what is really happenning in India - maybe she should try attending a real OpenSource event - the next one comes along this December.
Events like the one reported on are really no representation of the real state of Linux/OpenSource in India. The organisers are essentially riding the wave, but are *completely* out of touch with the realities of OpenSource in India. I know - I was at a meeting of that organising committee where I was told "it is time something is done to promote OSS in India" - this was less than a month after LB/2002 that had thousands of participants, was sponsored by the very same people (HP and IBM) and was totally endorsed by the Indian Government!
If you want to know more about Linux and OpenSource in India, then events like the one described in that article (and the article itself) are certainly not good resources.
You aren't remembered for doing what is expected of you
Security is always a concern regardless of the OS in question. And I agree with you on the default install thing, but I hope you realize that your IT folks are paid to make a non-default optimal solution to your specific needs ;-)
-- Cheers!
On the contrary, I think those people that are "desperate" to use Linux on the desktop have the technical skills such that ease-of-use isn't really an issue. And for most people (I assume you're talking about general computer users), they don't see themselves as getting "done over by Redmond". For them, Windows is what they use at work, so it's the easiest to use at home. The movement towards desktop Linux isn't coming from the user base, but rather the administrative one.
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Compaq has been selling Linux Desktops for sometime now, In India. Funny, it never made news ;)
That is the irony of the whole thing. Whenever IBM even mentions the name Linux, it is worthy of news, unlike other MNCs.
Actually, the development of the microprocessor was outsourced from Japan to the US. Intel had a contract from a Japanese calculator company called Busicom to develop a set of chips for a new calculator. One of Intel's engineers realized that it was easier to build one programmable chip than several function-specific chips, and the 4004 was born.
Intel realized what they had done and bought the rights back from Busicom for $60K. Busicom went broke soon after.
See Intel's version of the story.
Ok let's see....this story is actually a few months old.
Compaq tried this but they don't have the size and clout of "Big Blue"....
Hmmm IBM, Linux on the desktop....
Hmmm....IBM is introducing Linux on the desktop, the Linux vs Windoze wet dream, in a market with the potential for 1.5 Billion new customers and suddenly SCO, with the aid of M$, starts suing IBM for copyright and/or patent infringement and/or contract breach (depending on which day of the week it is) on Linux source code, spreading FUD and trying to chill the acceptance of Linux everywhere.
Hmmm.... combine this with the large IT labour market in India that many firms are "taking advantage of" and suddenly Windoze doesn't look so good as a future enterprise solution.
Perhaps my tinfoil hat is on crooked, but doesn't all of this, timed with the SCO lawsuit and M$ purchasing SCO licensing seem a little to coincidental?
Just a thought on a Monday morning...(going to get some more coffee now)
Never by hatred has hatred been appeased, only by kindness - the Buddha
The problem as I see it (and I am a Linux desktop user) is that certain technologies that people want to use really are more difficult on Linux.
...still haven't found what I want for Linux several months later.
:( not exactly what I'd wanted. I'd prefer to be able to do everything within Linux, without shutting the machine down.
Take DVD burning for example. I bought a DVD burner for 2 main reasons, #1 as a backup drive (I thought about tape, but decided it was better for me to use DVD as it takes less space and has other functions) and #2 to make copys of my expensive originals of both software and dvd-video so that I don't have to worry about scratches ruining a $100+ set.
While DVD-video was more difficult than I'd anticipated on both windows and Linux platforms, it was easy to do once I was able to track down the right combination of software for windows
Backups are very simple in Windows and I was able to find a number of tools to do the job, my linux box I've resorted to using a Norton Ghost 2003 boot disk
Other things have popped up over the years, IDE raid was one not too long ago... so was SoundBlaster Live support (still not 100% satisfied with that, though ALSA does a pretty good job)
Over all I love Linux, I've been using it exclusivly on my desktop for 3 years now, but I still think Windows is where to be if you have to have bleeding edge hardware. Also I've found that the support for Palm and PocketPC handhelds on Linux has left a lot to be desired. I sync with my PC at work for this reason, as much as I hate having my personal appointments (even flagged as private) stored on the exchange server at work.
Not that I have anything to hide, it's just that that's none of their business. I'm quite confident that none of my co-workers care/have timt to waste reading my personal stuff, but the fact they can is a bit creepy to me.
People don't have the time to devote to learning new things...
Bull-ca-ca...
People DO have the time, it's technophobia that keeps them from doing it.
They are SCARED of anything new or different.
This is the underlying problem. I have found that it is extremely simple to switch and entire windows based sales force to KDE + linux. over 50% of them had it down and were up to speed in 24 hours. the rest were fine by weeks end.. Oh and productivity was not impacted contrary to the gloom-and -doom sayers that haunt here...
if you tell users to quit acting like 3 year olds and get to work Open office and KDE seems much easier to deal with initially, and by the end of the week, I had given out 30 cd's with Open Office on it to sales people for home use and told them "Yes it's legal and you can give it away to everyone else you know.. Yes free and legal."
also today I have had 2 people ask if Linux can be used at home and where they can learn more...
yeah, linux is too damned hard to use...
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
There are exceptions, but most of the Indian programmers I've met in the US (H1b visas) did not have the English skills you speak of. They couldn't have written a report in English to save their lives. They also had no interest in Linux. They were all big fans of Windows.
I wonder if those types of customers have more money than typical Wal-Mart shoppers. I'll have to check into this.. maybe it means I can make more money as a programmer, doing custom work at $100 per hour by offering my services to business, instead of hanging out near my local Wal-Mart, asking people to hire me.
IBM just might be on to something. Going where the money is -- what a concept!
Mmm... another reason not to study in the U.S. :)
My uni runs Redmond on most departments, but the School of Computing uses Linux exclusively, and it's a requirement to learn it, and for a good reason. As a double-degree student with BBA being one of the diplomas I will hopefully get, I will most likely make damn sure not to employ anybody without academic or professional experience with a POSIX operating system.
Sensibly, the school does not require anyone to buy any software licenses. In fact, it is not even a requirement to have a computer. The school has 24-7 swipe-card access labs with plenty of machines. Obviously, regardless of any Microsoft discounts, with $0 extra per machine running Linux, having more machines is more feasible if one does not use proprietary software. Also, the machines are not the fanciest things around (a lot of them are Pentium-based from a generation or two ago, or Celery-based). Another thing you couldn't do with Windows, unless you wanted to run 3.11.
I for one welcome our new SCOviet Russian overlords to whom all our base are belong.