Stop Using Windows, Use Linux

There's a world food crisis right now, as we all know it. Man's most basic need is low on supply but high in demand. This recent global predicament may not be felt that much in highly developed countries like the US and Japan, but developing country like ours and underdeveloped countries like most of Africa are struggling for survival.

State leaders and legislators have plenty of proposed solutions with the goal of alleviating the current food shortage. But, most of these propositions will almost always be unrealistic and will likely fail in the end. To all our lawmakers, I have a suggestion that may sound radical to some of you --Stop using Windows, use Linux.

This is a fact: Thousands of personal computers courtesy of the government are handed out each year to Philippine public schools. Every PC comes with a genuine copy of Windows XP and some educational CDs --Microsoft Office suite is not included. These computers are aimed to help the students learn the basics of desktop computing.

An original copy of Windows XP will cost around $100. Imagine how much money our government could have saved if they opted for costless alternative like Linux. The money could have been used for other important projects or simply to help the needy. For our less fortunate fellowmen, a hundred dollars is equivalent to two months of hard-earned income.

I don't have to explain why Linux is better than Windows and the many advantages of using Linux and other free and open source software. Just read some of my articles here if you want to know more. You might also want to read this post by a good man entitled: FOSS and Option for the Poor. However, I would like to answer a question that some might ask: How will the computer teachers teach the students if they themselves are not even familiar with Linux? Well let me tell you this; my wife is not technologically proficient but she has easily adapted to using Linux, so there's no doubt that a computer teacher can do the same.

There are actually plenty of ways to make Linux adoption in this country a lot easier without having to spend big. We even have our own Linux distro named Bayanihan Linux that makes technical support and resources within our reach. If only our government leaders know how to make proper use of what we have, things could change.

I know that my recommended solution if implemented cannot instantaneously solve the present crisis that we as well as other poor nations are experiencing. And I believe that there are still a lot of rational methods that could help solve this issue. However, I would like to insist that if we stop using Windows now and start using Linux, we could make a considerable difference for tomorrow.