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OPERATING SYSTEMS
A Quiet Revolution
Linux may not be as popular as Windows, but its users vouch for its efficiency
RAJESH GAJRA
16 Jan 2009
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Indians generally take to free or low-priced stuff. But in the case of operating system (OS) software, Microsoft’s Windows versions such as Vista, Windows 7 and XP still score over Linux-based operating systems such as Ubuntu and Red Hat. “Deterrents are things such as lack of post-sales technical support when you want to replace a Linux-based server with a new one,” says a Linux buff, Ashutosh Bijoor, also founder and advisor of Reach1to1, an application service provider .
Red Hat India’s Managing Director, Nandu Pradhan, disagrees: “We have invested in creating a global engineering and support centre in India. We are also expanding our partner network. For example, Linux Enterprise Server loaders such as HP and Dell have back-to-back support agreements with Red Hat, and offer customers a single window.”
A mid-sized firm can save anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1 crore on its IT expenses if it uses Linux. The maximum saving is on account of upgradation, which is free in the case of Linux, it being an open source application.
Unlike in India, companies are more receptive to Linux in the West. Large Web technology services such as Google, Amazon and Yahoo! use Linux, Apache, MySql and Perl (or PHP or Python). “In 2008, our survey showed that 8 per cent of developers worldwide use Linux as a host OS and 23 per cent use it for secondary development,” says a spokesperson of US-based Evans Data Corporation, which carries out market research work for the software development industry. “India’s usage of Linux is in line with or slightly less.”
A handful of big companies in India also decided not to be part of the Windows-using herd. For instance, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), one of the largest economic and corporate data company, uses Linux in all its computational operations. “We have a lot of applications that are intricately woven with each other, and Linux has adequately suited our requirements as well as saved a lot of costs,” says Shobhana Vyas, head of IT at CMIE. Banks such as UTI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Canara Bank also use the OS along with IBM, Life Insurance Corporation and the National Stock Exchange. Red Hat claims that Airtel handled millions of short text messages sent on television game shows Kaun Banega Crorepati and Indian Model, using its Enterprise Linux OS.
“Linux, as a platform, has been getting better in the past five years, and that is why companies are willing to try it out,” says Krishnan Thyagarajan, managing director of Quest Software. However, he points out that Linux doesn’t have a roadmap for the next three years unlike Windows.
Smaller businesses, internationally, have been wary of using Linux for very different reasons. A Google official, Douwe Osinga, currently based in India, writes in his personal blog, “If you are a small company, doing some in-house development, you will probably stick with some MS Office/VBScript combination. Linux is hard, Windows is easy.”
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Strangely, in India, some small firms do not agree with Osinga. Reach1to1 uses Linux to cut costs and for “superior performance” for its clients that include Rediff.com. “Linux has been designed for bottoms up use, and in all its layers it offers a highly stable architecture,” says Bijoor.
Companies that are using Linux platforms are carrying on regardless of Microsoft’s clout and power to influence Linux users. It is the faith they have shown that Linux is banking on in India.
rajesh(dot)gajra(at)abp(dot)in
(Businessworld Issue 20-26 Jan 2009)
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