Dinesh Joshi wrote:
Now, I'm aware that he has the following alternatives:
- Open office
- Firefox
- Tally ( Linux version )
Tally does not have a Linux version.
But the problem with Open Office:
- With average machines, it performs slow
- The documents it generates are not 100% compatible with Ms.Office
- Advanced features are not completely compatible
Generally advanced features are not used. I tried out OO for a client who needs to edit excel files with different colours for different cells and to his surprise and mine, it showed colours in OO too.
But they need to inter-operate with the rest of the world which means a good compatibility is important.
Should not be a major problem for general offices. The problem starts with pro softwares and their file formats like AutoCad, Photoshop, Corel Draw.
Another problems that one generally faces is that Linux doesn't always work out of the box. When it does, it works wonderfully well but when it comes down to tweaking it to get it to work, its like performing a brain surgery ( for a newbie ).
Bad BIOSes are a pain in the arse.
One more issue that I perceive is that distros don't always have good hardware compatibility. Let me explain it in more detail. Ubuntu 6.06 worked well on my friend's machine. No issues. But Ubuntu 7.04 refuses to work on the same machine. Some driver compatibility issues.
I noticed that where Debian clones did not work, RPM based distros worked quite well and they have full distributions.
The other issue that people in India generally face is of bandwidth. Ubuntu installs well. It impresses them. But then it runs up HUGE bills downloading softwares.
Again use full distros.
What are your thoughts on this? How can we work with these people to effective push Linux into homes and offices? This definitely is one of the best ways of boosting Linux user base :)
Some time back I had posted a link to TurboCash ( as an alternative to Tally ) which has now become libre and has VAT too. However It is currently on the Windows platform and is meant for US and UK. I had put up a suggestion about modifying it for India but no one is interested in contributing their time and effort for the same.
We also need some work done on AutoCad alternatives. That will push many architects towards Linux.