The Penguin (named Tux) is finally making inroads as an operating system (OS) on desktops too. While it has an over 20 per cent market share when we speak of servers in India, the free OS called Linux has just around 5 per cent market share in the country when it comes to desktops – the lion’s share going to Microsoft Windows.
The scenario is gradually changing, it appears. Novell along with the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) is installing Suse Linux in around 40,000 desktops in the entire state. Over 50 per cent of the estimated Rs 200 crore project – which has been put up on YouTube too – has already been completed, according to C Umashankar, managing director, ELCOT.
This is the second largest implementation of Linux on the desktop – the biggest one being that of around 60,000 desktops in LIC of India by Red Hat, which is estimated to have implemented over 200,000 desktop OS installations. Canara Bank too has around 10,000 Linux OS desktops.
LINUX SPREADING WINGS
Project area
No of PCs
LIC of India 60,000
Higher secondary schools (TN)* 30,000
Common service centres (WB)# 15,000
Canara Bank 10,000
Panchayats (TN)* 6,000
University of Delhi 5,000
Government offices (TN)* 4,000
* Tamil Nadu,
# West Bengal
ELCOT migrated its entire IT infrastructure from Windows to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise desktop. ELCOT is the implementing agency for the prestigious Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network Project (TN-SWAN) and is in the process of commissioning the state’s data centre and disaster recovery centre too.
The growth of Linux on the desktop, according to analysts, has been stymied by piracy. Many people prefer to use pirated Windows OS on their desktops. However, since Microsoft is hardening its coming down hard on piracy, more users may opt for Linux since it reduces the cost of the PC.
Source: BusinessWorld
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