response
to something Sundeep said about FOSS in India
“not within our power to significantly influence” is only true for
proprietary software. For FOSS, in practice it boils down to how
motivated someone is. What is more of an issue is that we simply don’t
have the sheer number of skilled people to do what is needed, but there
is nothing fundamental to the ecosystem stopping us.
To your other, longer, email… I don’t have a head for policy level
thinking. But I certainly can lay out my thoughts on what the current
status is, as it appears to me. If that helps greater minds to
think about how to approach this problem, I’m happy.
industry
desktops/laptops
bugbear for non-developer users is compatibility with peers who use
MS Office
LibreOffice works fine for DOCX and XLSX, but PPTX has too many
glitches
round-tripping is almost impossible with PPTX
but then again, I’ve heard that even the online version (O365) of
PPTX is not quite compatible with the native Windows app so
maybe this is not a big deal
on-prem servers
there’s enough Linux use here that it’s not on the critical path for
this discussion
the Docker ecosystem is also a powerful factor
IaaS servers
the FOSS part is fine here, the issue is the hardware belongs to a
US company
EU is starting to feel they need to get away from AWS etc, but it
will take time to scale up to those levels
academia is in the best position to lead grassroots awareness and
uptake
faculty
reasonably aware and willing to use FOSS in labs (classes are more
theory so this is N/A)
students
talent
there is no shortage of talent at the university level
what they lack is motivation
with a few exceptions, most of them don’t care about the
reasons we oldies are even debating this
this could be the saddest part, long term
at the same time, the smarter students agree they have one
and only one reason to use Windows: games
specifically, games that have kernel level anti-cheat functions
(thus require Windows)
they cannot even be run in a VM
two solutions:
wait for them to grow out of the gaming phase (takes too long)
VM running Linux, for all “serious” work
many of them are doing that, but not a majority
inertia (“Arre, Windows is already installed na!”) is a big
factor
schools
not aware of the situation today, but suspect it’s not good
chicken-egg issue, network effect, “everyone uses Microsoft so that
is what we have to train them on”
Years ago, some company (I think it was NIIT) had a deal with CBSE,
where they would produce all the “computer training” material for use
across all CBSE schools. My son was forced to learn
Microsoft Powerpoint etc., I think in class 7 or so.
on the plus side, it’s a precedent for some sort of “soft mandate” –
a “de facto” mandate, as it were – that would improve the situation.
Modulo “lobbying” from MS and similar.
individuals
normal people, and really small businesses
Linux will work fine for most people
almost everything just uses the browser
except for those who need really specialised tools (e.g., Corel
Draw, some CAD/CAM software, and similar niche tools)
or maybe even more specialised tools (legal software, medical
software, …)
for many people, Android has replaced the PC
most people don’t even have a PC
side note: I predict evolution of much smaller fingers and an
elongated neck ;-)
problem is
inertia
fear of the unknown
mandates and incentives???
again, will run up against huge “lobbying”
the “tech repair” community
these are the small-shops that do “computer repairs”
they don’t like Linux – reduced support calls are not good for their
revenue
countering this negative motivation will require users to
demand better solutions
that in turn will require concerted efforts in education and
awareness messaging
appealing to the “greater good” type of reasons we are discussing,
may not work
privacy is a lost cause with the hoi polloi, at least in India
so what’s the lever?
(side
note) personal experience with the “tech repair” community
I have a particular shop I go to for the hardware repair needs of all
my past-warranty laptops etc. I’ve been going to them for years. We know
each other well enough that I once offered to teach them Linux, because
it’s more reliable, less chance of malware, etc etc etc
Their answer: sorry but that reduces our support revenue.
Simple as that.
It’s pretty much the same situation as Indian roads and potholes –
i.e., the system (though not the user) benefits if potholes appear every
monsoon despite repairs just a few months ago.
(Let’s be happy the outright corruption that exists in the civic
infra world doesn’t exist here.)