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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."
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.
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