Average Indian person just gets a copy of pirated Windows instead of a free and legal copy of Linux

I came to India last December, and I have been in India for the last two and a half months or so. Before I came to India, I was expecting that there are a fair number of Linux users in India, but that is not the case at all. It seems that the average Indian person just gets a copy of pirated Windows instead of a free and legal copy of Linux; not many Indian people seem to be interested in Linux. Some may wonder why the average Indian person does not want to get a copy of free, legal and fully functional Linux, but there are good reasons why he/she prefers a copy of pirated Windows. One of the biggest reasons is rather obvious; as far as the average Indian person is concerned, Windows is what he/she knows, and he wants to stick with what he knows. Just like in many other countries, the vast majority of people have been using Windows for the last ten years or so in India, and Windows has the strongest install base. As far as the average Indian person is concerned, Windows is THE OS. He simply does not bother about changing OS all of a sudden. One of Linux's compelling features is the cost; Linux is free. However, as far as the average Indian person is concerned, there is no difference in cost between Linux and Windows, since he gets a copy of pirated Windows instead of an authorized and legal copy of Windows anyway. Also it is not that difficult to get a copy of pirated Windows in India. Most, if not, all computer shops around the country have copies of pirated Windows and they just install Windows free of charge. The fact of the matter is that Linux can be a little more expensive than Windows in India. Since most, if not, all computer shops around India have copies of pirated Windows and they just install Windows free of charge, there is no extra cost to get a copy of pirated Windows for the average Indian person; however, he may need to get a CD from a Linux distributor to get a copy of Linux. Ordering the CD is not free; there is a cost. So, Linux can be a little more expensive than Windows. Critical business applications still only run on Windows, and this is another big reason why the average Indian person prefers a copy of pirated Windows to a free and legal copy of Linux. For example, PhotoShop is a critical business application. Many photo stores use PhotoShop. Business cards are also designed using PhotoShop. PhotoShop is everywhere. However, there is no equivalent of PhotoShop available on Linux. (PhotoShop is available on Macintosh, but Macintosh is clearly more expensive than Windows and Linux. The difference in cost between Macintosh and the other two OSes Windows and Linux is too big). Many of, if not, most of working professionals in India work with those outside of India; they are not necessarily in outsourcing businesses, but their businesses are often set up so that they collaborate with those outside of India. Compatibility is critical, and using Windows makes their life so much easier. They really do not have to think about creating files in different formats or learning differences between Windows and Linux. Business environment in India is different enough and there is no need to add more complexity in their business operations. The government also has not made a lot of effort for poor communities to use Linux based thin clients and full-featured Linux, while they can greatly benefit from the use of Linux. While the government intervention is debatable, the government has not encouraged or forced businesses in India to use Linux. Finally, young people who plan to work in IT are interested in learning more about Windows than Linux. They prefer to get MCSE and other Microsoft certificates than Linux certificates. Even when they study to get other certificates such as CCNA, they think in terms of what those certificates mean in Windows environment. Microsoft certificates generally give more job opportunities than Linux certificates, so they want to have Windows on their computers rather than Linux. This article is not written to criticize Linux in any way; it is simply written to describe the IT environment in India. My guess is that many of those who live outside of India intuitively think that there are a fair number of Linux users in India because Linux is free; that was actually my intuition as well. However, once the role that Windows plays in India, in particular, in India's business environment, it becomes quite clear why Windows has a so much bigger install base in India than Linux.

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