Indian state to ditch Microsoft software
The New York Times reports that the Indian state of Kerala has announced it will attempt to migrate all public offices away from Microsoft software: "Naturally, being a democratic and progressive government, we want to encourage the spread of free software," said Kerala's education minister to the Times. Kerala thus becomes the latest government to go activist on the software front, incongruously following the lead of Massachussets. The news has provoked heated debate on Slashdot. Anticipating the pro-Microsoft response, one open-source advocate comments, tongue-in-cheek: "Remember, when downloading free software, you're downloading communism." To which another -- clearly in the minority -- responds with even more sarcasm: "Let's encourage all schools to not teach with Microsoft products... That way, when you graduate - you won't be prepared for the workforce, where most companies do use Microsoft."

Slashdot wars aside, the trend is obviously a concern for Redmond. But commenting in PC Magazine, John Dvorak is quick to dismiss the notion that Microsoft is in for an early death: "I suspect that in five years I'll be hearing once more how Microsoft Office is doomed! Hah!"
Posted by Oliver Ryan 11:27 AM 4 Comments comment | Add a Comment

I am not surprised. Literacy rates in the state of Kerala are highest in India. In a country where most college students dream of attending either MIT or Harvard they would try to copy Massachusetts.
Besides it might make a good financial sense to use an open source s/w.
Posted By Cru, Boston, MA : 8:52 PM  

I don't think ditching Microsoft Software is as easy as we think.
Posted By Pramod,Sonpur,Bihar : 2:26 AM  

We should do the same. I hate Mircosoft.
Posted By Peter, Morton Grove IL : 12:13 PM  

Can we say "cutting your nose off to spite your face"
Posted By Larry Oyler, Las Vegas, NV : 2:42 PM  

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.