Hi,

After the left in Kerala. TN also adopts gnu/linux in schools.

Will the outsourcing capital - bangalore also do so

cheers senthil

Tamil Nadu schools go for SUSE Linux The exodus is to eliminate numerous proprietary software licenses and reduce hardware costs MUMBAI, INDIA: The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) is rolling out SUSE Linux http://www.ciol.com/content/developer/Linux/2006/106071801.asp Enterprise across 30,000 desktops and 1,880 servers in Tamil Nadu's schools. Earlier, ELCOT had migrated its entire IT infrastructure from Microsoft Windows to the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop from Novell.

"The open source software in SUSE Linux Enterprise is superb," said C. Umashankar, managing director of ELCOT. "In addition, we estimate that moving to Linux has reduced our general hardware costs by nearly 25 percent. In case of high-end servers http://www.ciol.com/content/860797344.aspx , the savings could be as much as 80 percent. What's more important is the benefits that the Tamil Nadu's students will get from this. There is a growing trend towards the corporate adoption of Linux, both in India and elsewhere. So it will be a real advantage in the job market to have experience working with open source software. It gives us tremendous freedom and choice," he added.

ELCOT has been procuring hardware and software for the various departments of the Government of Tamil Nadu, which serves a population of more than 70 million, since 1977. ELCOT's main objective is to offer the best possible IT solutions at the lowest price, thus maximizing the return on investment of public money, says a release from the company. ELCOT is also involved in consulting, implementation, support and training to help meet the state's ambitious e-governance objectives.

Before the rollout of SUSE Linux Enterprise to the schools and government offices across Tamil Nadu, ELCOT first migrated its own in-house IT systems to Linux for its user-friendly, cost-effective and security reasons, says the release. The organization then worked with teachers to design a pre-loaded set of applications which could be delivered to the 30,000 new PCs along with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. ELCOT also rolled out SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to the schools' 1,880 servers, which are now 100 percent Linux-based.

Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions, Novell, said, "ELCOT was able to eliminate tens of thousands of proprietary software licenses by moving to open source software http://www.ciol.com/content/developer/Linux/2007/107041801.asp , in addition to their tremendous savings from making better use of hardware resources. The decision to move to a new platform rests not only on immediate pricing considerations, but also on the potential long-term hardware, software and infrastructure costs. Based on these criteria, SUSE Linux Enterprise is proving its value to customers around the world."

The next-generation platform for the open enterprise, SUSE Linux Enterprise is the best-engineered, lowest-cost and most interoperable platform for enterprise computing, from the desktop to the data center, according to the release.