WILL Windows 7 from Microsoft kill desktop Linux as some technology pundits predict? The notion seemed so absurd that I initially dismissed it as a gimmick by writers hoping to draw readers to their Web sites.
GOOGLE Maps and Yahoo Local Maps are great for finding US-based locations, but if you’re trying to find your way around Metro Manila, they aren’t very useful. Data is so sparse, in fact, that street-level maps on these sites—if they exist at all—are practically useless. Long frustrated by the paucity of local maps, I was intrigued when reader Jim Morgan told me about what he says is the most complete online map of Manila.
XAVIER School is demonstrating what most of us have long believed: an organization can safely dump Microsoft Windows and save millions of pesos by replacing it with Linux, a free and open source operating system. The shift isn’t only about cost savings for the Jesuit-run school, which has developed a reputation as a high-quality preparatory school for college among affluent Chinese-Filipino families. It’s reflective of the progressive outlook at the 52-year-old school, which began upgrading its computer systems and network at the turn of the century.
This year is a crucial time for Linux if it ever hopes to move beyond 1 percent of the market. Ubuntu, one of the most popular versions of the free operating system, is scheduled for an upgrade in April, and here’s what I hope it will do.
Digital Life is a blog that features a technology column by the same name that appears every Tuesday in Manila Standard Today, a national daily from the Philippines. This blog gives readers easy access to the column, which started in November 2002. Copyright 2009 Chin Wong.
Made the switch to Linux? Tell me about it here and get your own penguin! Click here for a high-resolution image.
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