From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
I ain’t a super Linux user, but I find it crazy that so many governments aren’t scared to put their data in the hands of US corporations like Microsoft of Apple.
I work for the state in Geneva, Switzerland, and my employers gives me an iPhone and forces me to use Windows at work.
I know that developing your own Linux distribution or any other solution is difficult but my country is even using a foreign cloud service instead of a swiss one😨
People are so shortsighted about this. Spend billions on Microsoft products to prevent spending millions on a safe solution that will never be suddenly deprecated.
you're ignoring the very large elephant in the room known as "maintenance". r&d is only the first hurdle.
This way you outsource the fault.
The article says this will be “based on Ubuntu” but it will probably actually just be Ubuntu with custom defaults, pre-installed software, and maybe repositories.
This just makes sense in my view. The cost relative to the number of machines they must deploy will be miniscule. If they do not mess with the core system too much, they can outsource almost all the admin and expertise to Canonical in terms of security and packaging. People saying this will blow up. Why? It does not sound like they are really creating a full distro from scratch. Is Ubuntu not viable?
In terms of why crating a custom version instead of just using actual Ubuntu. Again, the cost of customizing a distro can be dramatically less than making even simple configurations on every system after the fact. They can standardize what the desktop will look like and set key defaults. They can choose what applications are installed by default. They can remove applications from the repository that they do not want to be installed. The can ensure that localization is done well, etc.
I remember when Ubuntu was just Debian with custom defaults, pre-installed software, and their own repositories. Basically what every new distro is in the beginning.
And yeah creating dpkg packages isn't really all that difficult. Don't know why people are saying this will be a disaster. There's a lot of technically proficient people in India that could handle doing QA, and putting a dpkg on a server that gets automatically picked up by all the various systems that need it. Hell, they could develop their own applications and package them up and distribute them around much easier on a Linux system than a Windows system.
As an Indian... You mean we can outsource stuff to others? :D
"home grown" Ubuntu spin, got it
Chalega, it's a step in the right direction
It's certainly a step in some direction, I'll check back in a few years and see if it was the right one, or if it's just a publicity stunt.
Even if it is, this is an instant attitude switch for uncles who go "open source is not acceptable in the industry" or "open source is not sustainable"
Only if it actually succeeds. If the Indian gov't gives up on it after a year or two, then maybe it'll have the opposite impact.
I work with some Indians, so I'm going to ask them their thoughts. I'm genuinely interested in whether there's a will in India to actually make this a thing. I know it wouldn't fly in my area (US), but it has worked to some extent in other regions.
'home-grown'
Well, it was the headline in a National newspaper and I just quoted it.
'home-grown' like that Miley Cyrus distro.
Very cool! Always good to see more countries get closer to embracing FOSS. Really helps with the collaborative benefits that FOSS can have, plus allows for organizations to have more control in their digital destinies instead of simply being customers.
Hope the best for the project!
This is 100% a nationalism thing. They want to be able to say we make our own operating system. That's it. It's going to be a disaster when they inevitably fuck up because they are doing g it for the wrong reasons.
How is controlling the package repo for your gov a bad thing?
Because they aren't doing it to control the package repo, they are doing it to score nationalism points.
Guess what, nationalism and security go together for all the right reasons.
Finally something done right by India (just my rough impression, I remember them like banning VLC and then encrypted apps, idk exactly what they do.)
Yeah, they banned encrypted apps thinking that only terrorists require encrypted messaging.
I think they are just stupid lol
Hopefully they pull it off for real and it will not get bogged down by bureaucracy and red tapes.
Another fríggin' Ubuntu distro. Can't somebody just commit to Debian instead... please?
Meanwhile, in NixOS land:
I don't think NixOS "hates" Docker, in fact Nix has its own tools to build Docker images. There are some examples at https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/build-support/docker/examples.nix
Ultra based India
They're not that based, they're banning encryption
Not based anymore 😔👊
My main concern is support and delay b/w security patches the OS will introduce. I'm making a wild guess, but I think they should have lot older hardware devices and from performance pov, they should benefit given latest Windows are not that great on older devices and older win versions have already reached EOL.
If they do get it right, they probably need to retrain their staff to be able to use other apps like Libre Office and more.
A lot of schools and colleges in Kerala (Indian State) use Ubuntu. Kids are taught how to use software like GIMP and Audacity in schools. It has become part of the syllabus in public schools.
12 th standard students have to do maths practical in GeoGebra.
Interesting because to airlines, using a Linux-based RTOS is a major security issue to the point where most airlines use homegrown RTOS solutions. But this isn't the first national government switching to Linux for operations I'd argue are equally if not much more sensitive.
Can they do it? Yes. Can they do it with a reasonable level of support for many different desktop hardware so it’s cheap to implement? Probably, though it won’t be as comprehensive as windows. Can they get a 1:1 replacement for windows that has the same level of security as windows? No, because many national governments collaborate on windows security. But! They’ll be safe-ish from NSA back doors in windows (if you think there are any)
The likelihood that windows doesn’t have a back door for the US government is irrelevant.
No windows user can guarantee every part of their OS is clean.
Linux users have the advantage of Open Source.
If you run Linux, you can audit the code. Can’t do that for windows.
For governments, big businesses, etc windows is already open source
Nice... So anyone with any dignity won't tolerate being spied on. Only cattle and sheep get subjected to this abuse. Checks out.
Switched to Linux due to being treated like cattle by windows.
Many national governments collaborate on Linux security as well.
Haven't there been issues with other governments maintaining their own distribution? Why not just maintain a repo thats added with a script or something.
Apologies - my memory doesn't always serve me well. But didn't Micro$oft bring a copyright lawsuit against a Linux distro... was it Canonical?