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MetalMusicAddict
September 7th, 2006, 04:10 AM
I just ran across this. Thought it was interesting.



The communist-run Kerala state said yesterday it aimed to break US software giant Microsoft’s dominance in schools, two weeks after rattling investors by banning Coke and Pepsi sales.

Kerala Education Minister M A Baby said his government would promote the use of open source Linux operating systems along with Microsoft in high schools in Kerala, India’s most literate state which has a population of 31.8mn.

"We are against monopolies of multinational companies in any sectors," he said.

"So we would like to provide equal opportunity for both Linux and Windows-Microsoft operating system in the school curriculum." But "ideologically I support Linux and Free and Open Operating Systems for IT enabled-education in schools," he added.

Baby’s statement came two weeks after the southern state alarmed international investors by banning sales of US soft drinks Coke and Pepsi after an environmental group said their locally bottled beverages contained high pesticide levels.

Five other Indian states imposed partial bans on sales of the cola products following the environmental group’s allegations. The US soft drink firms dismissed the charges as unfounded but sales of their products have fallen.

The Kerala government launched a program to provide computer-enabled education to high school students in 2002 that it dubbed "IT @ School."

The project has now been rolled out in all 2,724 high schools across the state.

The education minister said there was no truth to Indian media reports that the government was seeking to ban the use of Microsoft Windows in high schools.

"We won’t act undemocratically. We are giving options to the students and teachers. They can decide on what tool they want to use," he said. There was no immediate response availablBink.nue from Microsoft.

Source: www.gulf-times.com (http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.aspx?cu_no=2&item_no=105168&version=1&template_id=40&parent_id=22)

I think its up to the developing world to really push Linux. In the U.S. MS is just too intrenched.

Here was a comment after the article on Bink.nu (http://bink.nu/Article8210.bink).

What I find funny is Microsoft is one of the leading companies to outsource their business processes...yet the same place they are outsourcing to is now complaining about them? I wonder how India would do if MS decided to pull out all of their business centers there and work on pulling other companies out, also...
I think India would be just fine with MS. Just like China would be. I think MS needs China and India more. They are just too big a market to lose.

terminatingzero
September 7th, 2006, 04:46 AM
Two excellent posts I have run acrossed today yours and the post about a Forbes article which spoke of Ubuntu having 4 million users and gaining 8% per month. I'm just loving it with a grin from ear to ear right now.:D

MetalMusicAddict
September 7th, 2006, 04:48 AM
Cool. :)

Does anyone from India here have a perspective on this?

haiku99
September 7th, 2006, 05:14 AM
interesting stuff, also read the Forbes article at http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/09/05/linux-ubuntu-opensource_cz_mr_0906shuttleworth.html
good to see a mainstream business magazine feature Ubuntu.
FWIW when I drove through Silicon Valley this weekend I saw a large billboard on US 101 advertising Ubuntu and that made me smile too....

Polygon
September 7th, 2006, 06:39 AM
good. now they can spend more money on textbooks, supplies and teachers rather then operating system licences.

H.E. Pennypacker
September 7th, 2006, 06:45 AM
good. now they can spend more money on textbooks, supplies and teachers rather then operating system licences.

So true. This is especially important in a money-tight country like India. They should spend their money more wisely by adopting open source software.

siimo
September 7th, 2006, 01:37 PM
Microsoft already offers licenses to windows and office for almost free to schools anyway? (i think)

prizrak
September 7th, 2006, 02:00 PM
Microsoft already offers licenses to windows and office for almost free to schools anyway? (i think)

At a huge discount but not free by any means. In my old school it came free to student but the school still had to pay. There are also support costs and hardware costs. Yes Linux still needs hardware but while Ubuntu is quite happy on a P3 with 256MB RAM and a 10GB HDD, XP would be very close to unusable (I have tried I know what I'm talking about).

This is great news, the developing world is very much where Linux can do something and provide some tangible benefits.

argie
September 7th, 2006, 04:24 PM
Cool. :)

Does anyone from India here have a perspective on this?

It's nice. But probably only because of those "raids" I've heard that unearthed all those pirated Windows computers.

Still, the real problem is the rest of the states still teaching people like me (when I was in school) and my younger brother Microsoft-software specific instructions in school. It's annoying.

Heh, the big advantage, price, dissappears when everyone pirates stuff for free anyway. That, and most people are satisfied with Windows 98.

EdThaSlayer
September 7th, 2006, 04:31 PM
good. now they can spend more money on textbooks, supplies and teachers rather then operating system licences.


absolutely right!
Just think how much money they can put to better use?
:D

Brunellus
September 7th, 2006, 04:35 PM
So true. This is especially important in a money-tight country like India. They should spend their money more wisely by adopting open source software.
Pirated operating systems are available for not much more than the cost of the media in much of the developing world. Free software doesn't really compete on cost...

H.E. Pennypacker
September 7th, 2006, 07:17 PM
Pirated operating systems are available for not much more than the cost of the media in much of the developing world. Free software doesn't really compete on cost...

And the Indian government is in no state to enforce anti-piracy laws. There are too many people to look after.

They can't even keep animals of the roads...it's unlikely they can do something about piracy.

MetalMusicAddict
September 7th, 2006, 07:43 PM
Heh, the big advantage, price, dissappears when everyone pirates stuff for free anyway.
Actually I think the advantage has been for MS. Its been said that they were soft on piracy to get people locked into the MS way of doing things and products.

I wonder how many people have forked over the money for a licence with WGA in place?