Nickname: dbcoyle

Review: Another large chunk of savings not listed with the $2 million LIC saved on the free software, is the millions more saved in IT support, downtime, productivity, and upgrades. My small group of five scientists and engineers at NASA had about 20 Windows 2000 PCss and my top engineer's task was keeping them all operating throughout the labs and offices. We only used the swamped and costly building IT support for dire situations ... which was often. Since switching to OSX for all the labs and offices, and Linux for our mail server and Wikis, I've an immediate savings of roughly $80,000 (1/2 of my top engineer's contract), zero IT support (yes, zero), plus the priceless savings of no downtime and improved productivity for everyone. Not enough "savings estimate" pieces regarding a switch from Windows factor in the productivity and improved atmosphere of working in a Mac/Linux atmosphere where "getting a computer to work" is simply a non-event.

Date reviewed: Oct 3, 2006 2:14 AM

Nickname: vipin

Review: Let me tell you what pulls people to open source development. I had been involved in open source programs like VIM editor, etc and what makes me work there is a sense of community. When a set of 10 to 15 core developers around the world work on a project across time zones and get the stuff out, it is thrilling. The good thing about Linux is that it is not just open source -- you can rip open the sources and read, understand, and learn the operating system internals in depth. With Windows, there is hit and trial involved in learning the OS internals, but what makes Windows interesting is that it is fun to hack a black box. I have hacked a couple of things on Windows. Personally, I am a Windows programmer currently and believe there is more you can earn and there are more opportunities in the Windows world. That said, I am not asking to junk Linux. We need a mix of Windows and Linux education, so that things that Windows doesn't offer can be learnt with linux and vice versa.

Date reviewed: Oct 1, 2006 2:28 PM

Nickname: Vadivel

Review: I always have a feeling that, depending upon the project, situation, budget etc., we should let management decide on the best software platform to use. Let's learn from the techs that are going to feed us. If its C# now and Perl comes up hot again tomorrow we better learn that, too, or be left out. If an organization decides that by moving to Linux we would save a huge amount of money and it would also help our client then I have nothing to complain about. If a government says that all schools will move to the Linux platform I am really worried for the next generation of students. A large part of the software development in India still depends on Microsoft platforms. Since that's the case what would these kids do after learning just the Linux platform? Kids should learn Windows, Linux, and other platforms so that they will be better prepared to face the real world. This Kerala government's move doesn't seem to make any sense to me. Catch me at http://vadivel.blogspot.com

Date reviewed: Sep 30, 2006 7:39 AM

Nickname: Ash

Review: Hi Nadini/Steve/Jay, good article and nice coverage on the uptake of Linux in India. I would like to point out that men in Kerala do not wear Sarongs, as you incorrectly mention. The correct term for that item of apparel (what Mr. V.S Achutanadan was wearing) is a Veshti/dhoThi/or locally known as munDu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundu

Date reviewed: Sep 27, 2006 8:02 PM

Nickname: Hima

Review: Nickname: bimbo Review: You think all who graduated in IT with Microsoft centric solutions get jobs? Heck no. I didn't agree with you BIMBO. Compared to linux I am sure that opportunities are more for Microsoft For Freshers on naukri.com: A search on "microsoft" turns out 174 jobs while search on "linux" turns up only 33 results i.e. around 5 times more jobs in favour of MS. On Monster.com: Search on "Microsoft" throws 20,159 results while search on "linux" turns up only 2924 i.e. around 7 times more jobs in favour of MS. It is obvious that in MS technologies, you have 5-6 times better chance of getting employed versus on Linux.

Date reviewed: Sep 27, 2006 9:23 AM

Nickname: Aamir Jan

Review: I had some older desktop hardware that previously ran MS Wndows 98 (now out of support). So, I decided to install Linux on those old PC's since the hardware was below the minimum needed for any Windows version. I was amazed to see how fast it ran...much faster than Win98! I recommend Linux due to its ability to run on lower powered hardware, and also for it's huge array of open-source software like OpenOffice, MySQL database, Apache web server, and PHP, etc.

Date reviewed: Sep 26, 2006 7:33 PM

Nickname: Hima

Review: I don't want to oppose Linux but I would like to promote MS. From the past five years I have been associated with MS Technologies. And the way that it makes products as user-friendly and takes feedback from the customers is really admirable. Coming to the hot topic People will have more opportunities in terms of career and knowledge when compared to LINUX that is an open fact. Please visit my blog to view my comments on this. http://himabinduvejella.blogspot.com/2006/09/keralas-inclination-towords-linux.html

Date reviewed: Sep 26, 2006 11:42 AM

Nickname: taptamus

Review: The people's interest has to stay on top of corporate interests, which doesn't often happen in capitalism. Linux will move on as more and more service and support comes in. I have been using it at home for the last 2 years. It has some issues but it has some good stuff too, and I think it's a better fit in schools.

Date reviewed: Sep 25, 2006 7:34 AM

Nickname: Nandini

Review: Hi Drink, this is Nandini Lakshman, the writer of the story. Many thanks for reading. Sendmail, though, works on both Linux and Unix. The Indian company mentioned in the story used it on Linux. Again, thanks for reading.

Date reviewed: Sep 25, 2006 5:45 AM

Nickname: StormNineNet

Review: I applaud the Indian people's choice to use Linux. I work with several Indian contractors at my governent IT job in Little Rock, Arkansas, and while I'm the only Linux evangelist there, Linux is making strides amongt our IT crew. Unfortunately, where the purchasing decisions come in, the management seems to take the opinion of: "No one ever got fired for buying Micrsoft," which is a really screwed up way to think. Since being there, I've managed to get our LAN admins using Knoppix as part of their tool pack, and several of my team now experiment with Fedora, SuSE, and other more popular Linux flavors. About six months ago, I convinced our management team to buy a Linux based anti-spam firewall appliance (Barracuda M600). I've tried to teach them, "Don't replace," augment instead. Create hybrid network platforms." This teaching is begining to show its effects. We haven't had much of a spam problem since the new system went online. Go Linux!

Date reviewed: Sep 24, 2006 4:03 PM