Linux has not been able to make any serious challenge to Windows in India in terms of market share until now but things are getting just better for Linux. BusinessWeek has covered this topic in a detailed report titled ‘Linux Spreads Its Wings In India’. South Indian state of Kerala is now playing the pioneering role in the spread of Linux in India. I am quoting from the report:
“The school is one of 2,600 in the state of Kerala making the shift. That means each of the state's 1.5 million high school students will grow accustomed to working not in the Windows environment familiar to computer users worldwide, but in Linux. And over the next two years, computer science based on Linux software will be made mandatory in all of the state's high schools. "As a government that keeps the interest of society over corporations, we are committed to the use and development of free software," says V.S. Achutanandan, Kerala's sarong-clad chief minister.”
The example of Kerala should make Microsoft officials a little bit worried. Well, not really as only 3% of India's PCs run with Linux. However, there is a growing support for open source software in India among the academicians and politicians. IBM’s strong presence in India is also going to help Linux.
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