Kerala's Schools to Use Only Linux

[Dark Star]

Kerala will become the first state in India to completely switch from Microsoft Windows to only GNU/Linux free software to be used in the mandatory IT test at the state SSLC examinations.

Until last year, the students could take the test either by using
Windows or Linux. From now on, the use of GNU/Linux free software will be compulsory, because the state government ordered so a few weeks ago. Now, in IT education, high school students will use the new Linux text books created by the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the Free Software Foundation from India.

All the high schools in Kerala will have high-speed broadband Internet connections by this July, by using free software. Education Minister M. A. Baby said:

The big cost of maintaining the massive Windows-based infrastructure seems to be the main reason behind completely abandoning Windows solutions and moving to Linux applications.

Last year, the Left Government vowed to use only free, open-source software in every project they might create, and declared it would motivate – by using funds, I think – companies developing free software. A senior state IT official said:

These two words "freedom" and "compulsory" don't get along too well, from my point of view. By forcing the students to use ONLY free and open-source applications will just turn out to be a bad idea. Of course, there will be a few persons who might like the idea, but this will scare everyone else. No one can force knowledge in someone's mind, that's why only some of the students, let's say a mere 20-30 percent of them, will be fully interested in Linux, while the others will consider learning it a boring process.

Source : IndianExpress.com :: Kerala shuts windows, schools to use only Linux

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Already posted here.
Kerala shuts windows, schools to use only Linux

[Dark Star]

Darn it I missed the discussion..

[FilledVoid]

I don't understand why this suddenly becomes news. Kerala has been adopting Linux in schools since 2006 if I recall right.

[The Unknown]

Cool! Hope all states in India adopt this measure.

[Kiran.dks]

Thread reported. Already posted and the thread has met the usual ending.
Kerala shuts windows, schools to use only Linux

[The Unknown]

Yeah true. This was once posted in Tech or Random News.

[kalpik]

I'm letting this thread run as an independent thread. But it WILL be locked if people go off topic.

[NucleusKore]

I don't think Microsoft will sit quietly, they might go in for litigation.

[FilledVoid]

I don't think Microsoft will sit quietly, they might go in for litigation.

About what Kerala Government not adopting Windows. No can do. basically they would have to sue the Government and as folks in Kerala know. Thats not going to get you anywhere.....

[NucleusKore]

Originally Posted by FilledVoid

About what Kerala Government not adopting Windows. No can do. basically they would have to sue the Government and as folks in Kerala know. Thats not going to get you anywhere.....

Yes, they won't leave them

[MetalheadGautham]

Originally Posted by NucleusKore

I don't think Microsoft will sit quietly, they might go in for litigation.

they can't do anything. If they go to court, there will be reasons asked.
and the moment M$ monopoly issue is raised, the ball will be in govt's court

the following arugements can be used against M$ in court:

1. M$ products are expensive

2. Even if they are freely given to the govt, the source code of M$ OSes can't be made available to let the geekier students experiment

3. Even if there was a fair bidding, it has been proved time and again that as an OS, linux based systems are extremely more effitient than M$ solutions

4. M$ is against the Leftist ideologies of the Kerala Govt

5. M$ products are insecure; sensitive data on M$ based systems can't be held as safely as in Linux based systems. There are countless bugs, holes and viruses in M$ systems.

6. M$ products may not be sutiable for mission critical applications. One may aruge that such applications don't take place in schools; but if Linux is used, the same knowledge(linux) can be applied even at the student's future, when he works(in mission critical applications). And hence Linux is more future proof

Originally Posted by FilledVoid

About what Kerala Government not adopting Windows. No can do. basically they would have to sue the Government and as folks in Kerala know. Thats not going to get you anywhere.....

+1. And if there is an exeption, use my set of points.
You can easily expect an anti-M$ strike in kerala. There are countless strikes already for every small issue in kerala. So anything against the Govt will mean Crisis.

[mehulved]

I am totally disappointed by this move.
I always liked FOSS because there was freedom of choice.
There are other ways to balance an unbalanced scale but this method is absolutely blasphemous

[The Unknown]

they can't do anything. If they go to court, there will be reasons asked.
and the moment M$ monopoly issue is raised, the ball will be in govt's court

the following arugements can be used against M$ in court:

1. M$ products are expensive

2. Even if they are freely given to the govt, the source code of M$ OSes can't be made available to let the geekier students experiment

3. Even if there was a fair bidding, it has been proved time and again that as an OS, linux based systems are extremely more effitient than M$ solutions

4. M$ is against the Leftist ideologies of the Kerala Govt

5. M$ products are insecure; sensitive data on M$ based systems can't be held as safely as in Linux based systems. There are countless bugs, holes and viruses in M$ systems.

6. M$ products may not be sutiable for mission critical applications. One may aruge that such applications don't take place in schools; but if Linux is used, the same knowledge(linux) can be applied even at the student's future, when he works(in mission critical applications). And hence Linux is more future proof

+2

[ray|raven]

Not a good move IMO.
They are becoming the same monopoly they are trying to avoid.

[gary4gar]

^^^^
well they can't completely avoid windows, so hence no monopoly

In course like Animation,graphics design etc windows is still a must.

But ya this at least People would know what Linux is.

[FilledVoid]

I am totally disappointed by this move.
I always liked FOSS because there was freedom of choice.
There are other ways to balance an unbalanced scale but this method is absolutely blasphemous

I'll give you the fact that the persons freedom is being limited to a certain extent. but considering the financial crisis Kerala is in at the moment. I wouldn't mind the trade off saving that much more money . And please don't say Education Cess. Education Cess is not used for developing the technological standards of a school.

[The Unknown]

Originally Posted by gary4gar

^^^^
well they can't completely avoid windows, so hence no monopoly

In course like Animation,graphics design etc windows is still a must.

But ya this at least People would know what Linux is.

How about GIMP for graphics design ?!

If Linux isn't forced, people don't know what is Linux until circumstances force them. eg. me I was a Win32sux user 1 year ago. I got mad due those idiotic viruses, etc.

I asked dad to get broadband, downloaded Linux and switched to Linux permanently. Though recently I was compelled to install win2k in my system for troubleshooting of my older broadband connection which was later found that the conn. was not supported in Linux due to ISPs configuration problem. After getting VSNL, I don't remember accessing win2k in my system!

[ray|raven]

Dude, FOSS is about Freedom.Not force.
IMO people should be given the right to choose what they want.
As i said, in trying to avoid the monopoly that MS is,
they are becoming another.

[The Unknown]

Originally Posted by rayraven

Dude, FOSS is about Freedom.Not force.
IMO people should be given the right to choose what they want.
As i said, in trying to avoid the monopoly that MS is,
they are becoming another.

Dude, M$ has monopoly. I can say with full guarantee that if someone is given to chose he'd choose win32sux in India (a very few about 10% will choose Linux).

So, does it mean that the remaining 90% should remain illiterate about Linux ?

[ray|raven]

No, I mean to say that people should be given the choice.
Whether he'd chose windows or linux is his personal opinion.
Teach them both in schools.Educate them the positives and negatives.
Let them decide what they want to use.
I still say people have the right to decide what the want,
Not live with the choices governments make for them.

[The Unknown]

Originally Posted by rayraven

No, I mean to say that people should be given the choice.
Whether he'd chose windows or linux is his personal opinion.
Teach them both in schools.Educate them the positives and negatives.
Let them decide what they want to use.
I still say people have the right to decide what the want,
Not live with the choices governments make for them.

that's better.

[ray|raven]

Well, that what I've been trying to say all this time.

[gary4gar]

Originally Posted by The Unknown

How about GIMP for graphics design ?!

If Linux isn't forced, people don't know what is Linux until circumstances force them. eg. me I was a Win32sux user 1 year ago. I got mad due those idiotic viruses, etc.

I asked dad to get broadband, downloaded Linux and switched to Linux permanently. Though recently I was compelled to install win2k in my system for troubleshooting of my older broadband connection which was later found that the conn. was not supported in Linux due to ISPs configuration problem. After getting VSNL, I don't remember accessing win2k in my system!

The industry standards is Adobe Photoshop.
for Animation its Maya

[The Unknown]

Originally Posted by gary4gar

The industry standards is Adobe Photoshop.
for Animation its Maya

GIMP is quite good to fight Adobe Photoshop.

[vaithy]

If kerala actually want to boot out Windows , then they can do this much easily with the following measures:
1) Raid with BSA goons to the shopkeepers premises, resellers locations , and school, colleges where only pirated windows copies used, put them behind bar ( M$ could not complain on this matter)
2)Companies using open sources may be given some tax break, tax concessions etc.,)
3)Tender conditions compulsarily mentioned that the software supplied should be inclusion of sourcecodes with unrestricted rights for the Govt.(EULA has no locus standi with law of the land).
then watch the fireworks!!

vaithy

[sakumar79]

Actually, for image editing, GIMP is pretty good, even though it has a slightly steep learning curve. However, there are also many other free software for image editing that are simple to use... And in animation also, there is Blender which is available for free... Only when you go into professional level development, you will need more powerful features found in Photoshop/3DS Max/Maya, etc...

Arun

[FilledVoid]

I don't think that everyone is getting the point here. Not ALL schools are goign to start implementing Linux systems in it. This article only points mainly to Government schools and the ones who follow the SSLC boards which I believe only account for a small percentage of todays students. I might be wrong but I'm betting that it wouldn't account for more than 50% of the student population in Kerala. I might be wrong here so don't quote me on it .

The remaining percentage will implement whatever they please or whatever is required by the syllabus of the board they come under. If you ask me its more a Political Issue than any poor student benefiting from anything but thats just my stance. if they did it to reduce the expenses incurred by each school then I hope they invest it in gettign some of those schools new hardware which they can use whatever OS they want .

[mehulved]

Originally Posted by FilledVoid

I'll give you the fact that the persons freedom is being limited to a certain extent. but considering the financial crisis Kerala is in at the moment. I wouldn't mind the trade off saving that much more money . And please don't say Education Cess. Education Cess is not used for developing the technological standards of a school.

Well ask for more money from people wanting to pursue MS technologies, since they're way costlier. And then linux isn't free of cost either?

Originally Posted by The Unknown

GIMP is quite good to fight Adobe Photoshop.

Not really when it comes to prinout quality. Major high quality printers have CMYK colour scheme, but very few FOSS softwares use CMYK, most of them are RGB. Yes, it's possible to get equivalent quality of print outs using FOSS tools too but you'll need a very good and indepth understanding of how colours are reproduced on printers, how these softwares work and a lot more. Atleast, a person like me who doesn't know much about these things will struggle a lot.

[gary4gar]

IMO, better move would be curbing Pirated the use of pirated software.
This way Linux user base would increase as Most won't pay for a OS.