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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

#71

Post by danford »

microtonal wrote: post #38
digisign wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are significant training cost assoc with windows 7,8, and later office vers as well. Xubuntu might be closer to XP in many respects.

I don't think that is true, especially for Windows 7. But there are other issues to consider. Windows 7 is from 2009 and is still supported until 2020 (!). There is no Linux distribution outside RHEL and probably SLES that provides such long support cycles. And even the comparison with RHEL is not really fair. New applications will continue to be compatible with Windows 7 for many years, while with RHEL you are mostl…

But isn't the main problem with using an unsupported version of windows security vulnerabilities which are impossible to patch? This isn't true for Linux in any sense. If by "support" you mean tech support, then you don't really need an "official maintainer" for that.

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

#72

Post by ojii »

D9u wrote: post #16
cycnusx wrote: post #10

OSS, the order said, “is almost free of virus. Hence loss of information, hacking, phishing can be prevented… there is no need to spend on expensive anti virus software.” I disagree with that statement.

I agree with you. Using OSS doesn't mean that you will have no software vulnerabilities, but when was the last time you heard a major news story about a Linux based virus?

The sad thing is, more widespread, high profile (eg government) deployment will likely increase the amount of those news stories. Until now attacking desktop Linux with viruses was simply not worth it.

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

#73

Post by patja »

gphilip wrote: post #70
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 al…

I did find some errors in the article, albeit many of them were in the quotes from government communications. My question was prompted by this as well as the experience I've had reading newspapers and magazines in India during visits I've made. The tone and language used in the Indian press is often quite striking when compared to other English language press.

Many of the errors were in the quotes, but there are some in the article itself. Some of the errors that stood out to me were simply the omission of the word "the", for example

"With the Microsoft Corporation deciding to stop technical assistance for Windows XP operating system next month, the Tamil Nadu government has advised all its departments to install free open source software BOSS Linux."

Just as the author uses "the" in "the Microsoft Corporation" I expect to see "the Windows XP operating system" and "the open source software BOSS Linux"

Here is another:

"many of them continued to Windows XP use as the primary operating system"

Sentences like this one stand out as well:

"The prompt for the present advisory is the Microsoft decision as a result of which security updates or technical support for Windows XP operating system would not be discontinued after April 8."

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

#74

Post by noisyboy »

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…

Not only in India but even present day UK magazines (e.g. Linux Format) come with DVDs.

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

#75

Post by samscrazy »

patja wrote: post #73
gphilip wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 al…

I did find some errors in the article, albeit many of them were in the quotes from government communications. My question was prompted by this as well as the experience I've had reading newspapers and magazines in India during visits I've made. The tone and language used in the Indian press is often quite striking when compared to other English language press. Many of the errors were in the quotes, but there are some…

The article was just poorly proofread, that's all. The Hindu should have better editorial standards than this. p.s. I'm Indian, and I don't think any claim that this article represents 'Indian English' -- I'm not even sure what that means -- makes sense.

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

#76

Post by noisyboy »

S4M wrote: post #53
auctiontheory wrote: post #12

It's about time. In fact, it's way past time. But don't expect Microsoft to give up without a great deal more fight, a legal challenge or two, and other tactics from their vast playbook.

What can they possibly do to prevent the state department to switch to Linux (except bribing some people)?

Your "except" is pretty big to be put in "except".

Apart from that, simply resistance from users, who are not really "computer people" and basically know that clicking the "w" icon launches the application on which letters can be drafted, is not a small matter. I hope the training programmes are well planned to cover that aspect.

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

#77

Post by bunderbunder »

patja wrote: post #69
bct wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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?

I'd suggest that's a distinction without a difference. Or to be more precise, it's a distinction whose difference - the level of official ossification built up around the dialect - isn't really relevant to the question because it has more to do with external factors, and little to do with the language's actual developmental status.

For example, American and British English have crossed the boundary that you propose despite being so similar that native speakers are often hesitant to even regard them as different dialects. But they do have separate rulebooks, because at some point in the past few centuries Americans of high social rank decided that England's culture was no longer the ideal to which they should continue to aspire.

On the other hand, take Haitian Creole and French, which are so different as to not really even be mutually intelligible. But up until very recently Creole did not have an official grammar (or even spelling) enforced by proofreaders and copy editors. How come? Well, Creole's spoken by poor people, and French is spoken by rich people. Rich people set up the social institutions you propose, and for a long time they had a strong interest in maintaining French as the only official dialect.

The example is extreme, but I hope it does illustrate that there are actually two different continua at play here, and while they may be correlated they aren't closely tied together.

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

#78

Post by noisyboy »

superuser2 wrote: post #19
cycnusx wrote: post #10

OSS, the order said, “is almost free of virus. Hence loss of information, hacking, phishing can be prevented… there is no need to spend on expensive anti virus software.” I disagree with that statement.

Is there any evidence of credible/useful proprietary anti-virus software for Linux?

I don't know about credibility but I use clamav and it was able to detect a (windows?) virus on my USB stick when I plugged it in while running Linux and removed the virus as well. That was useful.

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

#79

Post by jezclaremurugan »

For people wondering about BOSS linux, it is Debian based, and is bundled with LibreOffice, Gnome, Iceweasel (browser) etc. the usual stuff and is distributed by CDAC Chennai. CDAC Chennai adds value to the distro by providing support (they have a toll free number where anyone call for any doubts in relation to BOSS), ensuring all the drivers of local printers are present, local fonts are all set up and working right from the beginning. They also provide training when any govt. department switches to BOSS.

Source - I worked in CDAC Chennai and was involved in a project related to BOSS, and quite a few depts. were switching to BOSS while I was there (2 yrs back)

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

#80

Post by fzltrp »

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…

Isn't there also the global decline of english quality because of it being broadly used on internet by non native speakers? Many people (including me) get influenced by what they read on the net, to the point of accepting some of the strange forms you describe further down. There's also a global lack of proofreading all across the web, people editing content through web interfaces, on devices not supporting even simple spellchecking. English on the multicultural web is a strange melting pot of english forms and foreign ones being shoehorned in english. How much is (the)[1] american english influenced by spanish for instance, given the growing incidence of the spanish speaking population for the last few decades?

[1] Here I'm not even sure if I need to use "the" there. In my native language I would have to use it, but isn't the expression "american english" specific enough to avoid the need of it?

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