Now that Vista is here, what have changed? Nothing so far. Most who have experienced has a few comments to pass, like they like the new looks and they need to upgrade or buy a new machine. Some claim its too much MacOS X , but others feel its just Microsoft. Which ever, Vista is here to stay. The new improved Office is damn good, in terms of functionality and new looks, I'd always give credit to the MS Office team for doing a good job.
So where does Linux come in...? Its a difficult question to answer, but my guess is a lot more people will experience Linux this year and some might even switch. I am talking about Maldives. One major reason why people don't switch between OS's is the cost factor. MS Windows is FREE too in Maldives, just like Linux is. :) Well its the same case for most of under developed and developing countries. So it does not bring a major importance when you say Linux is "FREE". My guess is if and when the cost factor "Hits" us, this might change. Maybe not for most individuals as home users, but at a cooperate level. When the organizations and companies need to pay for the license , etc. Example if the Maldivian government needs to pay the license for the the desktops and servers they own, its gonna be a big expense. The cost of upgrades, etc. I don't think there is much thought given about this as of now, but who knows. Example counties like Japan and India, they are moving into the Free and Open Source environments. Recently Tamilnadu has decided that the all new computers they will buy will come with Linux or Linux and Windows as dual boot. All schools will have Linux as the OS and some government offices will have both the OS's, the reason being that still they have some applications that depends on Windows OS. My guess is soon they will replace all these applications and might move 100% Linux. This has its advantages, mostly in terms of cost and the open platforms has technological advantages.
But for a country like Maldives, the move is not easy and not very practical. I feel one reason being to manage Linux it requires more skill then a windows platform. Which we lack. Windows guys are cheap and easy to get. We don't need much skill to administrate on windows platform. The rule is, if you can read English and know what you want. Most likely you will get things done (most of the cases). This is the biggest advantage I see with windows. Its designed with "not so skilled computer guys" in mind. But one can always raise questions and argue on that. Both the platforms has their advantages and opposite. So I would not say Linux is the "best" choice or windows is the "right" choice. It basically depends on your requirement and how much money and resources you have. This also counts for hardware too, not just the software costs. Windows is famous of being power hungry and it might not be very feasible to buy or replace new hardware every time there is an OS upgrade (which is the case with Windows). But things like the MS Exchange 2007 are really good products for office environments and still its hard to replace MS Outlook with clients like Evolution. But at the same time MTA's like sendmail has a lot of advantages and flexibility over Exchange. It all comes down to requirements. So you need to know when to choose what is bes t for you. Be it Linux, Windows or any other OS or application. My advise is don't be restricted , be open.
Finally the future of Linux on Desktop looks bright, Its been catching up and needs about 2 more years to be fully accepted by normal home users. In terms of looks and feel, I guess on the right track now with projects like Beryl and XGL, etc. Ubuntu might be catching up on this area, where they will attract new comers into Linux and maybe home users. Some still might argue that distributions like Fedora are much better (I think so too), but fact is Ubuntu is reaching out for the normal end users and they are doing a good job too. In the server side, Linux is unbeatable (web servers, application servers, email, etc) but to be practical presently in Maldives there is not much demand for anything like this much. Mostly people need File servers for windows environments and maybe just a DB server (since most developments in Maldives is based on MS, like MS SQL Server , .NET or just VB) they are based on Windows. When it comes to high end computing, like ISP's , banks and telecoms *NIX or Linux is better utilized and common.
So next level, lets just observe and document the progress :) and comment as we can.
So where does Linux come in...? Its a difficult question to answer, but my guess is a lot more people will experience Linux this year and some might even switch. I am talking about Maldives. One major reason why people don't switch between OS's is the cost factor. MS Windows is FREE too in Maldives, just like Linux is. :) Well its the same case for most of under developed and developing countries. So it does not bring a major importance when you say Linux is "FREE". My guess is if and when the cost factor "Hits" us, this might change. Maybe not for most individuals as home users, but at a cooperate level. When the organizations and companies need to pay for the license , etc. Example if the Maldivian government needs to pay the license for the the desktops and servers they own, its gonna be a big expense. The cost of upgrades, etc. I don't think there is much thought given about this as of now, but who knows. Example counties like Japan and India, they are moving into the Free and Open Source environments. Recently Tamilnadu has decided that the all new computers they will buy will come with Linux or Linux and Windows as dual boot. All schools will have Linux as the OS and some government offices will have both the OS's, the reason being that still they have some applications that depends on Windows OS. My guess is soon they will replace all these applications and might move 100% Linux. This has its advantages, mostly in terms of cost and the open platforms has technological advantages.
But for a country like Maldives, the move is not easy and not very practical. I feel one reason being to manage Linux it requires more skill then a windows platform. Which we lack. Windows guys are cheap and easy to get. We don't need much skill to administrate on windows platform. The rule is, if you can read English and know what you want. Most likely you will get things done (most of the cases). This is the biggest advantage I see with windows. Its designed with "not so skilled computer guys" in mind. But one can always raise questions and argue on that. Both the platforms has their advantages and opposite. So I would not say Linux is the "best" choice or windows is the "right" choice. It basically depends on your requirement and how much money and resources you have. This also counts for hardware too, not just the software costs. Windows is famous of being power hungry and it might not be very feasible to buy or replace new hardware every time there is an OS upgrade (which is the case with Windows). But things like the MS Exchange 2007 are really good products for office environments and still its hard to replace MS Outlook with clients like Evolution. But at the same time MTA's like sendmail has a lot of advantages and flexibility over Exchange. It all comes down to requirements. So you need to know when to choose what is bes t for you. Be it Linux, Windows or any other OS or application. My advise is don't be restricted , be open.
Finally the future of Linux on Desktop looks bright, Its been catching up and needs about 2 more years to be fully accepted by normal home users. In terms of looks and feel, I guess on the right track now with projects like Beryl and XGL, etc. Ubuntu might be catching up on this area, where they will attract new comers into Linux and maybe home users. Some still might argue that distributions like Fedora are much better (I think so too), but fact is Ubuntu is reaching out for the normal end users and they are doing a good job too. In the server side, Linux is unbeatable (web servers, application servers, email, etc) but to be practical presently in Maldives there is not much demand for anything like this much. Mostly people need File servers for windows environments and maybe just a DB server (since most developments in Maldives is based on MS, like MS SQL Server , .NET or just VB) they are based on Windows. When it comes to high end computing, like ISP's , banks and telecoms *NIX or Linux is better utilized and common.
So next level, lets just observe and document the progress :) and comment as we can.
I have just one thing to say to that
- Maldivians have been exposed to too much piracy, they can't live without it and even if the cost factor hits grabbing a Windows copy off the internet would be the first option rather than gettin Linux.