Thursday, May 29, 2003

First Munich, then India More pro-Linux rhetoric from the President of India. While this official isn't as powerful as his prime minister, the truly scary Vajpayee, his remarks point to a potentially interesting development. Much of the outsourcing of software development from US firms is done in India, thanks to the relatively cheap labor. If Linux makes headway in the sub-continent, will enough Indians know Windows to make it an effective sweatshop? Just an offhand thought. Really offhand. 8-) 4:50:57 PM

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The Munich Revolution? Such is the headline for this piece by Cynthia Webb at the Washington Post. The City of Munich dumped Windows and Office for IBM, GNU/Linux and OpenOffice.org yesterday. This despite a personal appeal from Steve Ballmer. Webb also quotes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's note that more than two dozen countries are considering mandating or promoting open-source software use. I have said more than once (pre-blog, of course) that government organizations, which are always cash-strapped, will drive Linux to the desktop. It may happen last here in the US, but the rest of the world is getting smart. Caveat: Germany has always been friendly turf for IBM. A good chunk of OS/2's install base lived there, as recently as 1998 (and probably even more recent than that). 4:39:07 PM

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