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Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

thehindu.com

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Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#61

Post by speeder »

Oculus wrote: post #5

Aside from the city of Munich, are their any other governments that are using Linux as their main operating system?

Good parts of Brazil military.

I don't remember all details now, but the Air Force I am sure their official policy is that all their desktop machines run Ubuntu and all their server machines run Debian.

The Army and Navy don't have a broad policy like this, but also has lots of FOSS-related use and work.

Also Brazil government has several state companies that develop FOSS software, but several places still unfortunately rely too much on Microsoft (usually in the judiciary and executive branches)

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#62

Post by speeder »

groovy2shoes wrote: post #56
tatqx wrote: post #52

Slightly off note, but any movement by the Indian government should be appreciated, considering how much inertia they have :) More on the topic - way back in 1995 when CD-ROM drives became affordable and popular in India [1], I expected Linux to thrive in the country considering how nobody, especially students and enthusiasts, had the money to buy legit copies of Windows. Sadly that never happened. At least the unive…

> Internet connections were so slow that it was impossible for most people to download a Linux distro on off the internet. But there were a lot of computer magazines distributing various Linux distros on CDs for a Rs. 100 or thereabout. As a teenager, the only Internet access I could afford was Netzero. Any time I had $13 to spare, I'd head to Books-a-Million and buy a copy of the Linux Format, if only so I could upg…

Dunno in India, but in Brazil they do :)

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#63

Post by donniezazen »

webreac wrote: post #58

I think the main difficulty in migration from windows XP to linux is leaving word, excel, outlook, ie and powerpoint. If users have already migrated to open alternatives (libre office, ...), the OS switch is almost transparent.

I don't think Microsoft Office is any better than LibreOffice for general users. Most of the Indian government officials are tad computer illiterate. They would not know what they use.

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#64

Post by dijit »

donniezazen wrote: post #63
webreac wrote: post #58

I think the main difficulty in migration from windows XP to linux is leaving word, excel, outlook, ie and powerpoint. If users have already migrated to open alternatives (libre office, ...), the OS switch is almost transparent.

I don't think Microsoft Office is any better than LibreOffice for general users. Most of the Indian government officials are tad computer illiterate. They would not know what they use.

even basic things in Excel are not supported in libreoffice, such as validations.

I recently attempted to move everyone in my office to libreoffice where possible and was met with a very large resistence from people who's spreadsheets simply did not work.

it's hard telling people that they have to edit functions/macros that were set up by someone smarter than them 10 years ago.

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#65

Post by aniketpant »

donniezazen wrote: post #63
webreac wrote: post #58

I think the main difficulty in migration from windows XP to linux is leaving word, excel, outlook, ie and powerpoint. If users have already migrated to open alternatives (libre office, ...), the OS switch is almost transparent.

I don't think Microsoft Office is any better than LibreOffice for general users. Most of the Indian government officials are tad computer illiterate. They would not know what they use.

I think you should not club the two points together. Your first point makes a lot of sense because even if you say that the Indian government officials were "tad computer illiterate", LibreOffice is still not an acceptable replacement majorly due the UI and the loss of basic features.

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#66

Post by lambda »

crdoconnor wrote: post #36
liquidwax wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

North Korea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Star_OS

Even North Korea, they're still training them on office/windows: http://imgur.com/lQQGjyu (taken in a school in pyongsong, autumn last year)

Wow, I love that sign! It has such a classic Soviet propaganda feel, it's appears to be entirely hand-painted despite the fact that it's offering computer courses (hand done sign lettering is a dying art in the West), and it has an awesome retro-futuristic robot!

Now I'm wondering what those dates on the bottom refer to.

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#67

Post by patja »

I know this is completely tangential, but I am hoping someone can enlighten me. What's the best way to think about or explain the prevalence of grammatical errors in the Indian English-language press?

Is it because Indian English is its own distinct dialect or variation with different rules, similar to differences between American and British English?

Is it because English is fundamentally a lingua franca in India where nobody is expected to really master the grammar, including the press?

Is it because the press in India doesn't consider it important? I know in my local press in the US I've seen many more typographical and grammatical errors creep in since newspapers went into decline a few years ago.

Or is there something else explaining it which I have not imagined?

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#68

Post by bct »

patja wrote: post #67

I know this is completely tangential, but I am hoping someone can enlighten me. What's the best way to think about or explain the prevalence of grammatical errors in the Indian English-language press? Is it because Indian English is its own distinct dialect or variation with different rules, similar to differences between American and British English? Is it because English is fundamentally a lingua franca in India wh…

There's a whole Wikipedia article on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_English

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#69

Post by patja »

bct wrote: post #68
patja wrote: post #67

I know this is completely tangential, but I am hoping someone can enlighten me. What's the best way to think about or explain the prevalence of grammatical errors in the Indian English-language press? Is it because Indian English is its own distinct dialect or variation with different rules, similar to differences between American and British English? Is it because English is fundamentally a lingua franca in India wh…

There's a whole Wikipedia article on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_English

Thanks, I read that article. Do you think Indian English is strictly colloquial similar to the dialects of English we have in the US? Or does it have its own accepted grammar enforced by proofreaders and copy editors?

For example African American Vernacular (aka ebonics) and Southern American English both have their own Wikipedia pages as well, but you would never find the Washington Post or New York Times using them in an article.

Re: Tamil Nadu state departments asked to switch over to open source software

#70

Post by gphilip »

patja wrote: post #67

I know this is completely tangential, but I am hoping someone can enlighten me. What's the best way to think about or explain the prevalence of grammatical errors in the Indian English-language press? Is it because Indian English is its own distinct dialect or variation with different rules, similar to differences between American and British English? Is it because English is fundamentally a lingua franca in India wh…

If I may ask: Did you find such errors in the linked article? Is this what prompted your question?

"The Hindu" (linked in the post) is one newspaper which takes these things seriously. They even have an "ombudsman" of sorts (whom they call the "Reader's Editor") and they encourage readers to write in to this person pointing out all sorts of mistakes, including grammatical [1].

Constraints of the printed page would also explain some of the "different" language which one finds in newspapers.

[1] http://www.thehindu.com/navigation/?type=static&page=contact

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