Not only in India but Russian Government is also switching to Linux operating system. They have announced that they will switch to Open source softwares by 2015. Earlier we have seen that supreme court of India has ordered to switch to Ubuntu (A Debian based Linux) instead of using a proprietary OS.
According to a document published in russian at www.cnews.ru, Russian Government has planned to switch to Linux based Operating System. Government departments of Russia will switch one by one and it is expected that they will completely switch to Linux and other open source applications by 2015. The process is likely to be started. A translated version of the notice can be found in the above link.
Where as, a few days ago Supreme Court of India has decided to switch to Ubuntu 10.04. A notice has been issued regarding this. The court has recommended to all its offices to switch to Ubuntu, since the Operating system is more stable and reliable as compared to others.
In the word of the honorable court:
The Ubuntu Linux Operating System can be installed by the Judicial Officer on his own also as the installation process is very easy, intuitive and self-explanatory. In fact, it shall be a welcome change and a desired enablement on the part of the Judicial Officers if they become self-dependent in this aspect also.
I believe these steps will encourage Linux development and the whole open-source community. We may see some more announcements in recent future.
Now the question arises, why we always wait for a Windows, if their are some fabulous Operating systems already present. I also believe these decisions will affect the job requirement. So, if you are looking for a government job in these offices, than you may see their is a change in notices. e.g. The candidates should have “Working knowledge in computing” may be replaced by “Working knowledge on Linux based systems”.
If you are not looking for a job or work in such offices, you also have some good chance to explore the free world. They have unique features and of course, Linux do not need an Antivirus. The OS is more secure in some way and if you will adapt it, than you will never switch to other. I am sure one can fall in love with Linux if he or she really like freedom or want some super fast computing experience.
So, Be prepared for the changes and stop using pirated version (?) of Windows and switch to Linux like Ubuntu or OpenSUSE or at least try. These operating system are user friendly and very easy to install and can be used on any system. Most importantly these are completely free.
Further reading: Ubuntu released official client for Windows OS.
Upcoming News: Ubuntu 11.10 will be launched on September 13th, 2011.
