Linux in India [was 'Members']

[Atul Chitnis <achitnis@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 15 Mar 2001, Shimon C. Constante wrote:

> 	I was wondering how is linux developing in India right now. Are there
> many companies that are using it? Where do you see it most active?

Linux is actually developing pretty well in India. Lots of corporate
interest (a survey of the top 500 companies in India showed not a single
one *not* using Linux - much to the discomfort of the surveyor who wanted
to prove otherwise).

Corporate India has moved from saying "we use only commercial software" to
saying "we use Linux, of course" - and Linux server installations no
longer face the kind of resistance one used to face a few years ago.

Companies like IBM, who have a massive corporate presence here, now push
Linux as virtually their "preferred OS", with other corporate automation
giants like Compaq and Dell not far behind.

While Linux is usually found in server environments, it is not uncommon to
see people use it as their regular day-to-day desktop as well.

Most ISPs use Linux, of course. Every second development house in
Bangalore claims Linux development skills, and I personally know many such
firms who are doing pretty well. A lot of them actually use Linux as
development frontends for Large Unix-development projects, or even just as
plain X-terminals.

The Simputer (http://www.simputer.org) is Linux based, and is getting some
serious world-wide attention. Also of interest is the rapid growth of
Linux in use by the Biotech industry.

Linux in India gets pretty heavy support from the 4th estate - newspapers,
magazines and other publications fall over themselves to be seen Linux
friendly, and many of them offer at least some Linux content in their
regular issues and cover CDs.

Recently, several TV channels (TMG, for example) have indicated that they
are starting Linux-specific segments - all this helps getting Linux closer
to the common (wo)man.

Some state governments actively encourage Linux. For example, the state of
Karnataka (of which Bangalore is the capital city) actually makes the
study of Linux compulsory in technical education.

This is a good thing - unlike in the USA and Europe, people expect their
PCs to remain useful for much longer periods in India (typically 2-3
years) - using Windows, that is completely out of the question (unless you
are OK with running old stuff), but Linux lends itself beautifully to such
an environment. This is now being noticed in a very serious way.

Linux pavilions and Linux product stalls are a familiar sight at the giant
techno-expos in India.

And, of course, there are the LUGs, who have played (and will continue to
play) a massive role in the growth of Linux in India by providing
something Corporate India has not been used to - real support.

(Ignore some of the bickering you may have seen here - none of that is
representative of Linux in India, and I am sure you must have seen similar
stuff on your local lists ;-)

BTW - I have been following the Aduva manager as a product, though I have
yet to use it. Any product for Linux that comes from the land that gave us
ICQ deserves fullest and undivided attention! ;-)

Atul

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Atul Chitnis       | achitnis@xxxxxxxxxxx (PGP:6011BCB8)
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