4 ms·

Which country, or group of countries, will try to make Linux for the masses, or at least for their government and public servants, a reality -- and when? Is it

Which country, or group of countries, will try to make Linux for the masses, or at least for their government and public servants, a reality -- and when? Is it going to be India? The EU? Brazil? Nigeria?

maven29 3y ago
Just issue Chromebooks for the 90 percent if most of the work happens in webapps?
- jruohonen 3y ago
  Even worse spyware.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - hutzlibu 3y ago
    But with very polished drivers and firmware underneath. Untying it from google is quite hard, though.
  - maven29 3y ago
    Enjoy implementing the legal and compliance requirements yourself on linux, then. We live in a society, after all. Enterprise chromebooks are not a consumer product, they are beholden to an entirely different terms of service. You can either have the desktop linux that is proven to work as a drop-in replacement, or you can have the lab rat version that only works out in engineering orgs.
dartharva 3y ago
Linux is already widely used in govt and public servant computers. It's easy to do that, but to do it "for the masses" is an entirely different game. To this day, laptop and desktop computers "for the masses" exist almost solely for office work and gaming. Windows and Microsoft products are too ingrained in both use cases, so it will take a herculean effort in changing software standards and platforms for app vendors to consider Linux.
- dotcoma 3y ago
  I'm sure it's going to take a herculean effort, but hight time somebody took on the challenge.
  - brookst 3y ago
    Please keep us posted on your progress!
    - dotcoma 3y ago
      I am a lurker, not a programmer. Sorry.
- pydry 3y ago
  The effort required is mainly in preventing Microsoft from subtly pressuring OEMs to either not offer Linux or to cripple their offerings. The year of the Linux desktop ought to have started with the netbook craze of 2007 but Microsoft's nuclear response to that (free windows licenses, ordering OEMs to cap netbook RAM at 2GB) successfully choked that market segment in its sleep. There are, unfortunately, an awful lot of ways Microsoft can still subtly bring legally deniable pressure to bear on OEMs and antitrust enforcement in America is a joke anyhow.
  - revelio 3y ago
    Chromebooks managed it, made by OEMs. The issue with Linux is pervasively user-hostile design in the name of GNU ideology, not Microsoft
pjmlp 3y ago
The only thing that will make it, is the increase of nationalism, which will make FOSS OSes the only option that is somehow free from USA influence. Other than that, I keep reading about the big Linux exodus for the last 20 years, myself I have given up for the Apple, Google and Microsoft controlled ecosystems, after having emails with a signature that used to have M$ on it, and having been a Linux Journal subscriber for the lifetime of its printed existence.
viraptor 3y ago
Germany experimented with OpenOffice a few times, which is a related problem. DPRK had (has?) Red Star OS. Russia has Astra Linux for gov / army use.
- timbit42 3y ago
  Have they tried LibreOffice? It seems to have a lot more updates since the split from OpenOffice.
47thpresident 3y ago
I remember that the Kerala government (southern state in India) deployed an ubuntu-based operating system on 200,000 laptops in government-funded schools in 2021. Turns out they saved an estimated $360,000 compared to Windows/ChromeOS offerings. https://www.onmanorama.com/career-and-campus/top-news/2021/02/22/kite-launches-foss-operating-system-students-download-today.html https://www.onmanorama.com/career-and-campus/top-news/2021/0...
- iLoveOncall 3y ago
  So using Linux over Windows saves only $1.8 per user? If anything that makes an amazing selling point for Windows.
  - 47thpresident 3y ago
    $1.80 doesn't sound like a lot in the US, but I'm sure the government would want to spend the savings on teacher salaries and equipment rather than on trivial Windows licenses - especially in developing countries where every dollar counts.
    - Incipient 3y ago
      These types of broad summaries at least often fail to talk about the cost of support, education, and interoperability. Eg xrdp is a huge productivity hit at best, but honestly not viable at all.

maven29 3y ago

Just issue Chromebooks for the 90 percent if most of the work happens in webapps?

jruohonen 3y ago
Even worse spyware.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- hutzlibu 3y ago
  But with very polished drivers and firmware underneath. Untying it from google is quite hard, though.
- maven29 3y ago
  Enjoy implementing the legal and compliance requirements yourself on linux, then. We live in a society, after all. Enterprise chromebooks are not a consumer product, they are beholden to an entirely different terms of service. You can either have the desktop linux that is proven to work as a drop-in replacement, or you can have the lab rat version that only works out in engineering orgs.

dartharva 3y ago

Linux is already widely used in govt and public servant computers. It's easy to do that, but to do it "for the masses" is an entirely different game. To this day, laptop and desktop computers "for the masses" exist almost solely for office work and gaming. Windows and Microsoft products are too ingrained in both use cases, so it will take a herculean effort in changing software standards and platforms for app vendors to consider Linux.

dotcoma 3y ago
I'm sure it's going to take a herculean effort, but hight time somebody took on the challenge.
- brookst 3y ago
  Please keep us posted on your progress!
  - dotcoma 3y ago
    I am a lurker, not a programmer. Sorry.
pydry 3y ago
The effort required is mainly in preventing Microsoft from subtly pressuring OEMs to either not offer Linux or to cripple their offerings. The year of the Linux desktop ought to have started with the netbook craze of 2007 but Microsoft's nuclear response to that (free windows licenses, ordering OEMs to cap netbook RAM at 2GB) successfully choked that market segment in its sleep. There are, unfortunately, an awful lot of ways Microsoft can still subtly bring legally deniable pressure to bear on OEMs and antitrust enforcement in America is a joke anyhow.
- revelio 3y ago
  Chromebooks managed it, made by OEMs. The issue with Linux is pervasively user-hostile design in the name of GNU ideology, not Microsoft

pjmlp 3y ago

The only thing that will make it, is the increase of nationalism, which will make FOSS OSes the only option that is somehow free from USA influence. Other than that, I keep reading about the big Linux exodus for the last 20 years, myself I have given up for the Apple, Google and Microsoft controlled ecosystems, after having emails with a signature that used to have M$ on it, and having been a Linux Journal subscriber for the lifetime of its printed existence.

viraptor 3y ago

Germany experimented with OpenOffice a few times, which is a related problem. DPRK had (has?) Red Star OS. Russia has Astra Linux for gov / army use.

timbit42 3y ago
Have they tried LibreOffice? It seems to have a lot more updates since the split from OpenOffice.

47thpresident 3y ago

I remember that the Kerala government (southern state in India) deployed an ubuntu-based operating system on 200,000 laptops in government-funded schools in 2021. Turns out they saved an estimated $360,000 compared to Windows/ChromeOS offerings. https://www.onmanorama.com/career-and-campus/top-news/2021/02/22/kite-launches-foss-operating-system-students-download-today.html https://www.onmanorama.com/career-and-campus/top-news/2021/0...

iLoveOncall 3y ago
So using Linux over Windows saves only $1.8 per user? If anything that makes an amazing selling point for Windows.
- 47thpresident 3y ago
  $1.80 doesn't sound like a lot in the US, but I'm sure the government would want to spend the savings on teacher salaries and equipment rather than on trivial Windows licenses - especially in developing countries where every dollar counts.
  - Incipient 3y ago
    These types of broad summaries at least often fail to talk about the cost of support, education, and interoperability. Eg xrdp is a huge productivity hit at best, but honestly not viable at all.