I fail to understand the hype behind Steve Jobs or the next version of Windows. Since Apple Mac OS is a fluffed up pathetic eye candy, I would not dwell on it. However, it is the more sinister and draconian Windows that needs to be properly trashed.
1) Security: It is pathetic. You need a "firewall" + antivirus and loads of hardware to run them properly. Linux does not need any of that.
2) Software: Open Source has polished in most of the aspects of daily use software and is improving day by day.
3) Locked in formats is the number one reason why you should avoid Microsoft like poison.
The Governments should implement Open Source and save the scarce resources to support the independent developers. At the same time, the updates to the operating system does not mean costly upgrades over the lifetime of the product.
I have been using Linux for over 10 years now without feeling the need to make a switch. Everything works the way it is intended to.
1) Security: It is pathetic. You need a "firewall" + antivirus and loads of hardware to run them properly. Linux does not need any of that.
2) Software: Open Source has polished in most of the aspects of daily use software and is improving day by day.
3) Locked in formats is the number one reason why you should avoid Microsoft like poison.
The Governments should implement Open Source and save the scarce resources to support the independent developers. At the same time, the updates to the operating system does not mean costly upgrades over the lifetime of the product.
I have been using Linux for over 10 years now without feeling the need to make a switch. Everything works the way it is intended to.
3 comments:
Aumkar
Steve Jobs to me is a first failed then succesful monopolist. Crapple failed to do that with PCs then they succeeded with the Ipod, Iphone etc. which basically force you to buy applications. I can't understand how in people's eyes Steve Jobs can be a saint if Bill Gates is the Devil. If anything, what Steve Jobs attempted with the Mac was more anti-competitive than whatever Bill Gates is accused of.
I'm not an IT guy but I have used Linux a few years back. I don't think it is as user friendly as Windows. I don't know about the more recent versions like Ubuntu though.
Good point on Govt. use of Open Source software as well.
If we're an IT superpower, then how does one explain the following:
- No impetus from Govt. on Open Source
- Most Govt./PSU staff using gmail/yahoo etc. email IDs for official correspondence, becuase their official IDs never work
- Viruses and trojans sitting inside Govt computers; the Chinese probably know which porn sites are more popular with cabinet ministers
- No IT firm developing an operating system (Linus Torvalds did it sitting at home)
I am an IT guy who uses both Linux and Windows and I have to agree with a lot of what Non Carborundum is saying above about Linux. Linux offers "too many" choices to average non-geek users and it confuses them (should I use KDE or GNOME, gvim or kedit or kwrite, koffice or openoffice or abiword, xfe or Dolphin, etc...
That being said, the Indian government could very easily standardize a set of tools to go along with a popular Linux distribution (like Ubuntu or Mandriva) and make it a standard installation in government offices.
What you are not taking into account is the good old lobbying and corruption in the government. I am sure there are a bunch of middlemen and bureaucrats being used by the big, non-open-source IT companies as tools to keep projecting the vision of proprietary software. India is too big a potential market for them to think of giving up. Which is why you still see Indian government websites programmed in .NET and deployed on the Windows stack instead of using something like Java on Linux.
I am an IT guy who uses both Linux and Windows and I have to agree with a lot of what Non Carborundum is saying above about Linux. Linux offers "too many" choices to average non-geek users and it confuses them (should I use KDE or GNOME, gvim or kedit or kwrite, koffice or openoffice or abiword, xfe or Dolphin, etc...
That being said, the Indian government could very easily standardize a set of tools to go along with a popular Linux distribution (like Ubuntu or Mandriva) and make it a standard installation in government offices.
What you are not taking into account is the good old lobbying and corruption in the government. I am sure there are a bunch of middlemen and bureaucrats being used by the big, non-open-source IT companies as tools to keep projecting the vision of proprietary software. India is too big a potential market for them to think of giving up. Which is why you still see Indian government websites programmed in .NET and deployed on the Windows stack instead of using something like Java on Linux.
The new Linux distributions are pretty good GUI-wise and many of the other problems with Linux (like non-availability of drivers) have now been sorted out to a large extent. But my feeling is that the promotion of open-source is pretty low on the Indian government's agenda of pressing concerns.
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