[Ubuntu Urdu] - Linux Spreads its Wings in India says Business Week! - When will the Pakistani Government realize this potential?

Fouad Riaz Bajwa bajwa at fossfp.org
Sun Sep 24 21:33:16 BST 2006


Linux Spreads its Wings in India

Windows is still No. 1, but open-source software is moving into schools and
government offices

Source:
http://www.businessweek.com/print/globalbiz/content/sep2006/gb20060921_46345
2.htm  

With 4,000 students and just 21 computers, the Cotton Hill Girls High School
in the south Indian city of Trivandrum wouldn't appear to be at the vanguard
of anything related to information technology. Yet the 71-year-old school is
abandoning Microsoft (MSFT ) Windows software in favor of its free,
open-source rival, Linux. So when students -- typically eight to a machine,
seated at two benches -- turn on their PCs they see Linux desktop software
that helps them navigate their way to all manner of math, graphics, and
writing programs. ``We're using something called Linux,'' says 12-year-old
Arya VM as she plays with Tux Paint, a Linux drawing and painting
application. And Windows? ``Never heard of it,'' she says. 

The school is one of 2,600 in the state of Kerala making the shift. That
means each of the state's 1.5 million high school students will grow
accustomed to working not in the Windows environment familiar to computer
users worldwide, but in Linux. And over the next two years, computer science
based on Linux software will be made mandatory in all of the state's high
schools. ``As a government that keeps the interest of society over
corporations, we are committed to the use and development of free
software,'' says V.S. Achutanandan, Kerala's sarong-clad chief minister. 

India is shaping up to be a key battleground in the global assault of Linux.
The country's long history of snarling at corporate interests, its
widespread poverty, and its nascent PC culture make it fertile territory for
the communitarian ethic of the upstart computer operating system. Two years
ago, New Delhi said the best way to improve computer literacy in India was
to adopt open source software in schools. Although Kerala is the first to
introduce such a program statewide, 18 of India's 28 states either are using
Linux or have pilot projects for its use in various government departments
and schools. The education ministries in most states, and in Delhi the
federal ministries of defense, transport, communication, and health, are all
using the software on server computers. And eight state governments have put
their treasury operations on Linux, while the western state of Maharashtra
is using it to revamp health-care systems. India ``is one of the key
countries I have been focused on,'' says Scott Handy, IBM's (IBM ) global
Linux boss. ``India has been a star.'' 

That's not to say Linux will be knocking Windows off the desktop anytime
soon. So far, most of its progress has been in server software, programs
that government agencies and businesses use for their Web sites, payroll,
and other key tasks. In June, Microsoft Corp. had 68% of the server market,
vs. Linux' 21%, compared with 70% for Microsoft and 11% for Linux two years
ago. The desktop is a different story: Just 3% of India's PCs use Linux.
Still, that's about triple the level in the U.S. ``We expect India to be the
first country to use Linux extensively over a large user base across many
sectors by the end of the decade,'' says Deepak Phatak, an open-source
evangelist from Bombay's famed Indian Institute of Technology. Two years
ago, he took a yearlong sabbatical to travel across the subcontinent and
make a push for Linux. 

Unlike proprietary software from companies such as Microsoft, Linux is based
on an open-source model. That means its code is available to developers
worldwide, who can tweak it to make it better or adapt it to their own
needs. Since the software itself is often given away for free, revenue
numbers for Linux don't add up to much. Researcher IDC (IDC ) estimates that
the Indian Linux market will grow by 21% annually, to $19.9 million in 2010,
mostly for services provided by companies such as Red Hat (RHAT ), IBM, and
locals like Wipro (WIT ) and Tata Consultancy Services. That's a modest
amount compared with Microsoft's Indian sales of nearly $200 million last
year. But Microsoft's lost opportunity is still substantial, since it sells
Windows at $50 or more per copy to makers of PCs and servers, and then it
typically sells other programs that run on top of it. And if students in the
emerging tech powerhouse never get any experience with Windows, the damage a
decade from now could be far greater. 

The shift in government has spurred more businesses to use Linux, too. One
convert is state-owned Life Insurance Corp. of India, which in 2005 switched
its servers to Linux. With the $2 million in savings from using the free
software, LIC is adding more computers. Today it has 70,000 PCs, all running
Linux, and by next year it expects to have more than 100,000. Others are
taking a more measured approach. Eighteen months ago, when Bombay-based Unit
Trust of India wanted to set up a call center, the bank settled on Linux for
its servers even as it continues to use Windows on its PCs. ``The openness
of the system appealed to us,'' says UTI President V.K. Ramani. Now, he
says, the bank is putting its credit-card system on Linux as well. 

Microsoft is fighting back. The company has been working on India-specific
products at its development center in the southern city of Hyderabad. One of
them is Windows XP Starter Edition, a scaled-down version that can only open
three programs at once and doesn't support advanced networking. But it sells
for just over $20, or less than half the price of the original. And unlike
the full Windows it comes in 10 Indian languages rather than just English
and Hindi. While ``it's too early to say'' whether Linux has hurt sales,
``we are concerned'' about its rise, says Radhesh Balakrishnan, Microsoft's
director of platform strategy for India, who moved from the U.S. in July.
``We need to demonstrate superior value to our customers,'' he says. 

SERVICE TROUBLE. Linux, meanwhile, is having some growing pains. One issue
that has slowed its spread is counterfeiting. Since software is widely
pirated in India, many users pay nothing for the Windows operating system
and other Microsoft applications that they use. Also, since Linux is
distributed free, it's not always obvious whom to call for service.
Companies such as Red Hat and IBM support the software -- for a fee -- but
they're having trouble finding Linux-trained engineers in India. 

Those issues have led some companies to abandon Linux. For instance, North
Delhi Power Ltd. started using Linux both in its servers and on the desktop
in 2002. But the Linux e-mail program it was using, Sendmail, never quite
worked right. The company soon switched to Windows and Microsoft's Exchange
e-mail server, and it has no plans to go back. ``There were immense
maintenance, service, and upgrade issues,'' says Akhil Pandey, NDP's
principal executive officer. The good news for Linux? As all those girls
from Cotton Hill -- and millions of other students -- grow up using the
software, those issues may no longer loom so large.

Forwarded for Information Purposes
-----------------------
Fouad Riaz Bajwa
FOSS Advocate



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