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A Computers Today Report on Linux in India : Really inspiring
- Subject: A Computers Today Report on Linux in India : Really inspiring
- From: Oommen Thomas <oommen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 16:17:30 +0530 (IST)
Computers Today
October 1-15, 1999
Will Linux Bust Windows?
Not in the near future. Forget about Bill Gates, even the Linux
creator Linus Torvalds wouldn't hope so. However, riding on the
anti-MS wave and backed by leading hardware and software vendors like
IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Dell, Linux has lately picked up an
amazing amount of mindshare spanning corporates, end-users, ISPs and
geeks.
By Praveen S. Thampi with K. Jayadev and Indrajit Basu
Suman Saraf of Hughes Software with his Linux Desktop September 19,
1999. Another dull summer Sunday. For a while, the lengthy, dark
corridor to Delhi's Electronics Niketan hall seemed to conjure the
same sombre mood inside. Only a small paper stuck on the wall-'Linux
World Demo, Delhi chapter-this way', lights up the confusing pathway.
As you enter the hall area, you see a bunch of young guys sipping
coffee. Now, a pretty girl on the reception desk hands you over a kit
(yes, even before you show your press card). In it are five thick
brochures and a grey T-shirt with the Tux logo. Welcome to the Linux
community, Version India 99.
Executives of big infotech brands and consultancies walk up and down
with a "may I help you" look; teenaged geeks gossip about Ethernet
cards and VGI adapters; a few old men stare curiously at the desktops
arrayed flashing a StarOffice window or a Tux logo. One striking
factor-nobody is even taking the 'M' word. It looks like the Linux
community has declared freedom from the 'anything- but-Microsoft'
advocates.
Inside the packed hall, a projector display is going on. Intriguingly,
the screen is flashing only a Tetris game, but the audience is
watching it in solemn silence. A new entrant quips: "Is there a game
going on?" The answer comes immediately from the side-"No, they are
demonstrating Caldera installation." Two minutes later, the screen
throws up a new window: the bearded person at the podium clicks the
'finish' button. Pops up the desktop screen, the now-famous KDE one
for Linux. And he goes on: "We can opt for either the Windows desktop
screen, the Mac screen, the FreeBDS one or the KDE itself."
Kishore Bhargava of C&B Consultants, who was doing the demo, now turns
back to the crowd and asks-"Any doubts?" Hands throw themselves in the
air, but no one apparently has got doubts with the installation. Only
that the smoothness with which he installed (within flat 20 minutes)
the OS in the Pentium-I system was incredible.
Will Government Tux it all in?
Though it is premature to say that government departments are shifting
to Linux-based systems, a gradual acceptance of the penguin is
perceptible. The Karnataka government is seriously looking at
Linux-based solutions for the simple reason that it is the most
cost-effective. Thinking along the same lines are the Ministry for
Agriculture and Indian Council for Agricultural Research Institutes.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Stamps and Registration Department is opting
for Linux. The first one to take part in the state's famous
computerisation drive, it is now fully networked through a system
called CARD. The system began functioning on Unix, but later found it
difficult to manage the growing transactions. Around that time, C.
Ramakrishna, assistant commissioner (commercial taxes) began toying
with the idea of using
Linux. Today, the department has finished all the testing phases and
is getting ready to change over. Says Ramakrishna: "I am a government
servant and have been with the computerisation drive adopted by the
state government. I understand the limitations that the government
departments face during computerisation. This includes limitation of
finances. In that context, I think an OS like Linux is the ideal
solution. It is virtually free software and helps in making use of the
existing hardware. Whereas Windows NT will force to shun the existing
systems and go for newer expensive ones. And this type of cost
governments cannot afford."
On his part, Ramakrishna is trying to push the virtues of Linux to the
state government. He feels that public service-oriented departments
should be first computerised as the benefits flow down directly to the
citizen-thereby indirectly encouraging the computerisation movement
itself. Service departments, he says, cannot afford exorbitant IT
costs. One good reason to have a look at Linux. Indian governments
cannot be shelling money continuously for making a department
techno-savvy. "At one point they will stop, " Ramakrishna says.
In the meantime, the Karnataka government is promoting it in full
measure. This year at Bangalore IT.com, a separate pavilion has been
allotted to Linux. Anticipate a major boost to the software after the
show.
More incredible is the fact that Linux has arrived in India, all the
way from the University of Helsinki, Finland, with its culture
intact-the culture of openness, freedom and flexibility. The
eight-year-old journey has been truly completed: even 'print-out'
home-users talking eagerly about the new zing thing. IS managers swear
by its name, corporates offer both free and commercial support,
datahouses churn out new figures of support every week, and above all,
the government keeping a serious finger on the 'Enter' key. Is the
millennium shift about to happen?
The Indian Warmth
An estimate by the Linux Users Group of India (ILUG) shows that there
are nearly two lakh users currently using the OS in the country. With
the government departments seriously considering the usage of Linux,
Linuxperts predict that it will become the favourite OS in the country
in the next five years. Linux still ranks third in the country's OS
market. What about tomorrow? With Windows leading the baton, followed
by Novell, it is likely that the other flavours of Unix will lose
their place to Linux quite soon. It is easy to see why. So far, Linux
has been termed as a great performer in the areas of the Internet and
intranet. A few users in India are changing that brand image: they
have started developing applications on Linux. Alongside, the OS has
made its foray into the application server and desktop levels.
"1998 was the year of Linux," says Indraneel Dasgupta, founder member,
ILUG Calcutta chapter. During that year, Linux came out and grabbed
people's attention, he adds. Dasgupta feels that much of the uproar
was also created as more and more global software majors realised the
growing importance of Linux, the stability of the platform, the
tremendous creativity and dynamic nature of its developers.
Corroborates Atul Chitnis of C&B Consulting: "Today, Linux is a
mainstream operating system, and is being promoted by corporate
vendors very aggressively. Examples are IBM, Dell, Compaq, HP, HCL-all
in India."
Linux freedom does not stop at free downloading and installation. It
is the freedom to change, share and distribute. Says Dasgupta: "The
so-called freeware status is not of great importance here, you only
have to look at the rampant levels of software piracy. In that angle,
most software being used in our country is "free" or almost so. Linux
is free in the sense of "freedom" or "free speech" not as we say "free
mangoes."
Hues and Flavours
Atul Chitnis of C&B consulting divides the usage of Linux in Indian
corporate sector into three categories:
The first is as a server. This can be both as an Internet/intranet
server or a traditional file server. Due to its ability to emulate
just about any network OS available today, Linux can be a Unix server,
a Windows NT server or a Novell NetWare: all without letting
server-end users realise the change.
The second is development. Software developed under Linux will run
under just about any flavour of Unix available in the market. The
basic difference is in the hardware. Linux can run on a low-end 386 or
486 system and still perform almost similar to a high-end workstation.
In India, where costs and rapid obsolescence of hardware can play
havoc with a company's finances, this makes for an attractive
proposition.
The third is for the user category. End users use Linux as their main
operating systems, working under Windows environment on a desktop very
similar to other OS. Most of the applications are available on Linux.
Full office suites priced at a tenth of what they would cost under
other OS, communication programs, utility programs, multimedia
applications and games are available. "If a company wishes to give its
users functionality similar to what they would have under another OS,
then they can do so at very low cost, and with added stability and
manageability."
Linux also stands out among its peers for its flexibility. Cut to
India, where the angle is that Linux running on affordable machines
can quickly eradicate the computer-literacy gap at educational and
government levels. It is 'possible' to deploy computers running Linux,
while other operating systems have tremendous hardware requirements
that a country like India just cannot afford. There are other reasons
too-stability, reasonable cost, varied features, easy deployment,
availability of knowledgeable support people, quick and constant
updates, etc.
Back-up Power
The critical boost that Linux got in India in recent times is the
support services announced by major corporates like HCL Infosystems
Ltd and Hughes Software Systems. Both have the early lead in promoting
the corporate Linux surge.
HCL Infosys announced its Linuxpertise programme in 1999 March to
"promote the Linux movement in India". Sharad Talwar, general manager,
Marketing, HCL Infosys traces back the Linux support programme to the
Unixpertise programme that the company had launched way back in 1988.
Linuxpertise includes E-mail support, telesupport and on-site support.
Apart from leading the Linux surge, one advantage that the company has
got here is that the service helps users to familiarise themselves
with the Infinity Global Line servers tested and validated for Linux.
Its Linux helpline operates at linux@xxxxxxxxxxxx while the
telesupport operates from nine cities in the country.
Later on in August, HCL Infosys signed up with the global leader in
Linux applications, Red Hat, as its authorised system builder in
India. One major client of the company's Linuxpertise is
Hyderbad-operating Pioneer Online (POL). It uses Linux as the
operating system platform and has SendMail for the E-mail solution.
The caching implementation is Squid-based and obviously Apache is the
Web-hosting solution.
Hughes Software Systems (HSS), a subsidiary of $1.2 billion Hughes
Network Systems, USA, has got a different approach regarding Linux.
The firm has been using Linux as the development platform of choice
ever since its inception in 1992. An HSS analysis of competing
operating systems, at that point of time, had rated it as the highest
on "parameters of flexibility, richness and robustness".
Today, HSS is offering its Linux expertise free to users across the
country, both through a dedicated E-mail (penguine@xxxxxxxxxxx) and a
phone line at 91-124-346666. Vinod Sood, vice president, Engineering
Services, HSS, says the Linux helpline program was devised to lend out
the company's brainpower on Linux. "Right now, we are not looking at
it on a commercial point of view, and are willing to share our Linux
knowledge-base for free," says Suman Saraf, senior software engineer,
HSS. "We have a Linux core group working here consisting of 30
engineers. The queries that come in are taken up by the group, and the
solution would be posted at the earliest."
Booty of Boon
Even today, however, Linux is known only as a network operating
system. For Tuxicans, the good news is that corporate India is
embracing Linux steadily. The not-too-good news is that the space that
it is taking is not quite that of Windows NT or Novell NetWare, but
that of the good-old Unix. An interesting opinion on the Linux love of
Indian corporates comes from an unexpected quarter. Mahesh
Jaychandran, a US-based neuro-physician turned Linux fan, and promoter
of Linux usage in India, says: "It is not just the software licensing
aspect which has to talked about, but even the hardware. As and when
you had new software, your hardware has to be upgraded. This means
doubling your expenditure. On the other hand you have Linux which will
serve the same purpose for a minimal cost."
Jaychandran has a point when you consider the server statistics.
Windows NT, consisting of Windows NT server 4.0, Exchange 5.0
Enterprise, SQL Server 6.5, and Win Proxy costs Rs 5,74,075 for
100-user licence. Novell with NetWare 5, GroupWise 5.5, Oracle 8
(five-user licence) and others will cost Rs 8,70,000 for 100-user. On
the other hand we have Linux with all the similar features costing Rs
2,100 only. The cost factor seems to driving many corporates to look
at Linux as the alternative OS solution for their enterprise.
Krishna Susrala, a Hyderabad-based independent consultant who is
promoting Linux through seminars and workshops, has a panoramic
perspective: "It is not right to use the term 'switching over to
Linux'. As of now we are in the transformation phase and it is
difficult to state whether a corporate has completely switched over to
Linux leaving behind their earlier OS. I think a company should start
using Linux in conjunction with other operating systems. No one is
actually propagating the one-OS idea anymore."
The IS managers of Indian corporates are more concerned about using
the right tools for the right job and not so bothered about which
software, points out Susrala. They take up any OS that is flexible to
their needs and cost-effective to their management. He explains:
"Their biggest concern is inter-operation between various platforms.
OS like Solaris (on Sun machines), OS/400 (on IBM AS/400 systems), and
others recognise and cater to this. As does Linux, which happily
co-operates with just about any OS under the Sun, including Windows."
Says C. Rama Krishna, assistant commissioner, commercial taxes, Andhra
Pradesh, who has been instrumental in computerising the entire
department in the state, "As of now Linux is the best solution for
Indian governments which can not afford to shell out huge sum of money
regularly."
The four major factors, which are placing Linux above other OS, are
stability, robustness, scalability and price. For example, to set up a
Windows NT server in a 100-user environment, you would need a high-end
server with at least 64 MB RAM and running at a pretty high CPU speed.
"Now take the same hardware platform, put Linux on it, and you will
see an improvement in performance and stability that's unbelievable.
The exciting thing is that this performance is not very different if
you were to run it on a much lesser machine," points out Atul Chitnis,
a Linux evangelist. This allows for only the basic functions. Once you
start adding other features like E-mail, the hardware has to be simply
doubled. On the other hand, we have Linux box distributed by Caldera,
Red Hat or SuSE which comes with all the functions and will run on the
same hardware platform. "The best part is Linux would have all these
functions built-in." India can be called an "Unix Country" as it has a
large number of Unix based installations in major research centres,
universities, defence research organisations and in the aerospace
industry. These machines range from PDP Series to Alpha servers, IBM
RS/6000s and HP Unix Servers. "The transition from Unix to Linux is
already in process," says K.G. Ramesh Kumar, managing director of
Institute for Specialised Education based in Bangalore. "We see the
younger generation software engineers showing a great deal of interest
in Linux". The institute has started an exclusive Linux Learning
Centre, the first of its kind in the country.
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