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Penguin Not Taking Flight Down Under

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the flightless-birds dept.

Bill Bennett writes "New Zealand Reseller News reports that Linux adoption down under is three times lower than North America. From the article: 'Adoption of open source software is slow in the Australasian region according to a report from analyst firm Forrester. Only 18% of the businesses in Australia and New Zealand surveyed for the report were using Linux, while 11% were considering its use. Analyst Sam Higgins says the low rate - three times lower than North America - is because open source is caught between two worlds. He says customers have been conditioned to buy software from vendors and their approved partners.'"

3 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like it's 3x more than NA, not 3x less.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Over 50% of companies in North America are using Linux? Does this count companies that have someone who checks Slashdot once a day as 'using Linux?' Can anyone substantiate this rather surprising claim?

  2. 'Ay, Digger! by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe sh**ty download links from Bigpond Telestra - during the peak open source adoption phase - had something to do with it?

    Try and download an ISO without local mirrors in Sydney?

    --
    "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
  3. The Aussie mindset (and conditioning) by Meetch · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Explanation by example:

    A guy I used to know developed a product in Australia, and could not sell the product or the business to anyone.

    So he moved his family and business to America. Some 3 years later the product was being sold by his American company to Australians, amongst others, and his business was purchased by one of the bigger companies for $US 20 million.

    Then he and his family moved back to Australia.

    It seems for some stupid reason that Australian businesses want to buy products from overseas companies, America being a popular choice. It also seems that obviously they don't want "free" stuff, because there's "no such thing as a free lunch" down-under. As a culture, we are wary of gotchas, too much for our own good. I believe it to be nothing more than an over-cautious approach to new things without obviously proven major backing.

    I'm interested in hearing other peoples' takes on this...