This news is 100% true; I’ve witnessed lots of growth recently here in India, especially in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Many south states making it compulsory to use Linux and open source software for government funded project.
Way back in 1999 I switched from Windows to Linux desktop because:
=> Cost
=> Virus issues
=> Reliability & Security
Today I can almost purchase any computer or toy, money is not issue, but I still prefer to use Linux as desktop. Windows Vista has given companies in less-developed markets a reason to consider open source alternatives, especially hardware requirements are high. People in Asia still purchase and use old Celeron based computer with 128 / 256 MB RAM, here is my desktop CPU (I’m using it since last 4 years):
$ grep -i cpu /proc/cpuinfo
Output:
cpu family : 15 model name : Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 1.70GHz cpu MHz : 1716.927 cpuid level : 2
Open source accounts for between 25 and 70 percent of all software in Australian, Chinese, Indian and Korean companies, according to a recent IDC survey.In an interview with ZDNet Australia sister site ZDNet Asia, Wilvin Chee, research director with IDC’s Asia-Pacific software research group, said: “Businesses are using a variety of open source software, ranging from infrastructure software and storage to enterprise applications such as CRM (customer relationship management) and ERM (enterprise resource management).”
Conducted by IDC between February and March this year, the study involved top executives from about 1,000 companies of all sizes.