Europe's Microsoft Alternative

Washington Post ^ | 11/03/2002 | Ariana Eunjung Cha

[Pokey78]

Region in Spain Abandons Windows, Embraces Linux

MERIDA, Spain -- Luis Millan Vazquez de Miguel, a college professor turned politician, is succeeding where multibillion-dollar, multinational corporations have failed. He is managing to unseat Microsoft Corp. as the dominant player in the software industry, at least in his little part of the world.

Vazquez de Miguel is the minister of education, science and technology in a western region of Spain called Extremadura, a mostly rural expanse of olive trees and tiny towns with 1.1 million inhabitants. In April, the government launched an unorthodox campaign to convert all the area's computer systems, in government offices, businesses and homes, from the Windows operating system to Linux, a free alternative.

[The Great Satan]

He is managing to unseat Microsoft Corp. as the dominant player in the software industry, at least in his little part of the world.

And it will stay little, and we know why.

[rdb3]

The Penguin Ping.

Wanna be Penguified? Just holla!

Got root?

[Ken522]

What's with the penguin?

[rdb3]

What's with the penguin?

The penguin? That's Tux, the Linux mascot. He may be a chubby flightless, featherless bird, but he's still my dog.

Ya heard?

;-)

No mercy.
Coming soon: Tha SYNDICATE.

[Jeff Chandler]

I've got to find the time to try out Linux one of these days. Perhaps I'll pull one of my older computers out of storage, dust it off, and set it up as a Linux machine.

[for-q-clinton]

If you plan to use it as a desktop PC, don't plan to use it very much. If you need a server, it's a decent choice (especially if you know what you're doing).

Of course if you just want to play with it...have fun.

[TheEngineer]

In April, the government launched an unorthodox campaign to convert all the area's computer systems, in government offices, businesses and homes, from the Windows operating system to Linux, a free alternative.

Why does this "Minister of Education, Science and Technology" think that the government should have any say about which operating system people use in their businesses and homes? It's simply not the government's business... or at least it shouldn't be.

[SamAdams76]

What a dopey headline by the Washington ComPost. We're only talking a small corner of Spain and the headline makes it seem like all of Europe is dumping Microsoft in favor of Linux. And Linux is available all over the world. Not just in Spain.

[Jeff Chandler]

Just for fun. It does work well for servers. My future son-in-law has a server running one of the unix flavors which ran for almost a year without a reboot.

As for desktop/laptop use, I like XP.

[Paul_B]

Good luck to them. But I've tried Linux for desktop use and found it lacking. Too bad, I really wanted a MS alternative.

[TechJunkYard]

I really wanted a MS alternative.

No, you want a MS replacement, and it's not there yet. The alternative is to get used to non-MS protocols and standards which are out there in the world already. Once you get locked into a single-source supplier like MS, you're trapped.

[Bush2000]

Once you get locked into a single-source supplier like MS, you're trapped.

Trapped? Ridiculous. The fundamental premise of this article is that you're not trapped. And it proves it.

[TechJunkYard]

The fundamental premise of this article is that you're not trapped. And it proves it.

For now, many denizens of Extremadura find themselves having to use both operating systems, if for no other reason than to deal with an outside world that still relies heavily on Microsoft.

If you have to keep a Microsoft partition around just to deal with the other people caught in the single-source trap, then you too are still trapped.

[gore3000]

Why does this "Minister of Education, Science and Technology" think that the government should have any say about which operating system people use in their businesses and homes?

It is the business of Education departments to pick what system to use in schools. That is what he is doing. It is the business of government to pick what they will use in government. They are just making these systems available to who wants them. Since they used public money to set them up, they are giving it to the public that paid for it.

Nothing wrong with that - except to MicroSofties that are not used to competition from any field.

[UFMace]

I'm not sure about Linux, but I've been using Mac OS X for a few weeks now, and it seems to work pretty well. You get the power of Unix/Linux with the ease of use of Macintosh, plus a good selection of programs that you don't have to compile yourself.

That said, while the Government can tell their schools and offices what to use, they don't really have any business telling people what to use at home.

[TechJunkYard]

.. while the Government can tell their schools and offices what to use, they don't really have any business telling people what to use at home.

Ah, so you think users should have a choice of which software they want to use?

Or do you prefer the computer manufacturers to make that choice for you by having propietary software already installed?

[TheEngineer]

Work out your reading comprehension problem, and then re-read my post. I didn't mention anything about school or govt computers. I was talking only about this guy's interest in converting computers in businesses and homes.

Do you think it's the proper role of foreign governments to coerce ordinary non-govt computer users to not buy American software products? I'm sure it violates the terms of their WTO membership. Maybe they should have named their homegrown linux distro "Airbus Linux".

[SpaceBar]

"I've got to find the time to try out Linux one of these days. Perhaps I'll pull one of my older computers out of storage, dust it off, and set it up as a Linux machine.

If you are serious and motivated, here's an excellent place to start. You know what they say: "A long journey begins with a single step."

[gore3000]

Work out your reading comprehension problem, and then re-read my post. I didn't mention anything about school or govt computers. I was talking only about this guy's interest in converting computers in businesses and homes.

I read your post and I understood it also. The work was started for schools and government. He is doing the right thing by giving away the work to the public that wants it and paid for it. He is not forcing the public to take up Lynux.