Linux Gaining Ground In India

GillBates0 writes "Yahoo/Reuters is reporting that Linux seems to be gaining over Microsoft in India. According to Red Hat, about 10 percent of India's personal computers will be sold with Linux rather than Microsoft operating systems by March, 2004, up from nothing in January. Linux already drives India's National Stock Exchange, and the Government of India has been promoting open source lately."

Comments

Open source hosting in India....

[tcopeland]

...can be found here.

Yet another GForge installation!

call centres

[Ugodown]

Almost all of the UK's tech support call centres are located in India because it costs less. Since call centres require so many PCs, I wouldn't be suprised that they don't want to pay high MS prices for OSs. Linux to the rescue, especially for a somewhat poor country.

Re:Bye Bye, domestic workforce

[deander2]

actually, they're not in the public domain. they're covered and protected by international copyright laws. that's what prevents anyone from using it if they don't agree with the GPL.

don't confuse freely available for public domain. linux very much relies on copyright law.

Ever been there?

[jcr]

They have one small disadvantage - they barely make a living there.

India has an enormous (and growing) middle class.

-jcr

Re:Ever been there?

[swillden]

Middle class, USA-style, or middle class India-style? (The difference being one is a touch more third-world than the US)

This question is completely irrelevant. If the Indians in question consider themselves to be comfortable and happy with their income, some of them will be able and willing to devote their free time to writing software for fun. Their actual standard of living doesn't matter; as long as they think it's good enough that they can afford leisure time, they'll take it. And if they're geek-inclined, that leisure will sometimes take the form of hacking code to give away.

Besides which, I'm sure you'd find if you visited that the Indian middle class is pretty comfortable by American standards as well. Smaller homes, maybe, perhaps one car instead of two, and maybe a few less gadgets, but they're far from starving, or having to work 16 hours a day seven days a week.

Re:Bye Bye, domestic workforce

[RealAlaskan]

We've got to remember that OpenSource Operating Systems (and other software) such as GNU/Linux, the *BSDs, and whathaveyou.... Are in the public domain.

No. They're copyright their various authors. It is that copyright which enables those authors to place the programs under the BSD|GPL|some other licence. CMUCL is an example of a program in the public domain: it ISN'T licenced.

I think your point could have been that ideas are free to all, or not free at all. Good point.

Grey Boxes - No Windows Tax anyway.

[dharhas]

I've seen a lot of comments here about avoiding the windows tax. This doesn't take into account the fact that very few people actually buy branded computers like HP etc. Most of them are assembled from parts and sold by companies/individuals who ask you what software you want on you computer and then load up pirated versions of everything you ask. Considering that name brand computers are almost 2x or more costly this is what most people buy.

Another things is the whole $380 per year thing is misleading due to disparities in income and because India has a much lower cost of living and fairly large number of middle class families can afford computers. Most of my friends and relatives have computers.

- dharhas
ps. I'm an Indian.