Linux is a natural for India - By Prakash Advani

Here is a very interesting viwpoint, including the part which involves M$,
from India.

Subject: [bytesforall_readers] Linux is a natural for India - By Prakash Advani
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 07:10:11 +0000
From: Sunil Abraham <sunil@mahiti.org>
To: bytesforall_readers@yahoogroups.com

http://newsforge.com/newsforge/03/01/21/1423219.shtml?tid=19

Today India is a hot topic for discussion as far as Linux is concerned. Many
users around the world want to understand the mindset of Indians regarding
Linux. This article attempts to give some insight to the market dynamics here,
and how they make Linux a natural fit for India.

Linux and open source offer the cost advantage of the software being free, and
that's important for Indian people who are flocking to Linux.

To give an analogy which people can relate to, I was speaking to a BPO (Business
Process Outsourcing) outfit. These organizations typically perform business
activities outsourced from companies situated in the West. For them the cost of
a Wintel computer is 60 percent of the employees yearly salary. When they hire a
person they end up paying a huge cost for a P4 desktop with Windows and MS
Office. If they move to alternatives such as Linux, Open Office, LTSP, etc. the
savings the move can bring are huge.

Unix has been popular in India since its early days of computerization.
Computerization in India started later than the West, hence India bypassed the
mainframe and minicomputer eras and went directly to Unix and Novell.

This was because mainframes and minicomputers were very expensive, and not many
India corporates could afford them, nor was trained manpower easily available.
Companies implementing computers had to send people abroad for training or had
to fly in the trainers. At that time the government didn't think computers were
important, so the import duties were high. This made computers even more
unaffordable.

Things improved when Unix came. It reduced the costs of hardware, expertise
became more common, and duty structures, too, got revised, so all IT Managers in
India worth their salt have used Unix at some point in time. They appreciate the
power of Unix, and Linux is a natural progression. Most of them find Linux a
better version of Unix. This also brings in a pool of talent that is already
familiar with Unix that can pick up Linux very quickly.

Intel has been very active in India for a while now, and that has paid off.
Intel has more market share in India than in most parts of the World. My
estimate would be in the range of 90 percent or higher. One reason for this is
that the Indian PC/Server industry is dominated by the white box manufacturers
known here as "assemblers." Most of these offer Intel-based solutions only.
Since India predominately uses the x86 platform, and that's where Linux runs the
best, it's easy to get started with Linux here. But there are occassional Linux
problems with incompatible hardware, particularly Winmodems.

India has a huge pool of software and scientific talent. A lot of the engineers
and doctors have moved to green pastures -- the West -- but yet talent levels
are reasonably high. These people are also power users themselves, and a lot of
them enjoy using and encouraging the use of Linux. Every large organization will
definitely have one Linux guru or an enthusiast in it and this helps. This one
person will generally drive the management towards deploying Linux. Linux
expertise is not as easily available as your neighborhood Windows expert, but
it's picking up.

In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, freedom comes naturally. Even though free in
India is more important than Free (note the capitalization), India is a
democracy and people understand and appreciate their freedoms. Also, some Indian
companies have burnt their fingers when developers have taken them to ransom by
holding back source code and demanding huge sums of money. These companies
appreciate software freedom and are willing to contribute to it.

These are some of the reasons why Linux is favorable to India. There are also a
few reasons why Linux is not so favorable

Windows is the defacto standard for desktops. Most PCs and laptops ship with
Windows, and people think that everyone uses Windows so I should also be using
Windows. All the PC vendors and white box manufacturers are very comfortable
supporting Windows.

Piracy is rampant, and Windows/MS Office is the top on the list. Here the cost
comparison doesn't help Linux because a pirated copy of Windows is considered
free. Thankfully, Microsoft is getting after people and conducting raids so
people are getting concerned about piracy. Because all of them can't afford
Windows, they are now at least considering Linux.

Windows applications are there in plenty, especially custom-developed
applications. Most people have no love for the Windows operating system, but the
application situation is what holds them back from changing to Linux.

Windows programmers, and thus applications, are easily available. Any person
with some knowledge can write a simple business application using VB and Access.
This results in more and more Windows applications.

In spite of these limitations, Linux is still picking up, and there is a lot of
Linux interest and enthusiasm among the people. Corporate managers, especially
the CFOs, are seeing Linux's cost benefits and are adopting Linux in their
companies. The government, too, is getting supportive and is trying to emulate
what other countries are doing with Linux.

We hope to see Linux proliferate more in this part of the World, and if things
keep going the way they are it looks like we will.
--
Sunil Abraham, CEO
MAHITI Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
'Reducing the cost and complexity of ICTs'
314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur
Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA
Ph/Fax: +91 80 4150580. Mobile: 98441 01150
sunil@mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org

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