Article: Linux gains ground in Pakistan

[Warren Togami]

http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=01/12/20/1532225&mode=thread

"Almost all the headlines we see about Pakistan these days focus on
terrorism and violence. But Waseem Akram, who lives there, says, "Pakistan
is (in contrast to western thinking) a developing country, and as far as IT
is concerned, we enjoy almost all levels of Internet connectivity, from
ordinary 56K Dial up connection to 4MB leased line circuits." And Akram,
like a growing number of his countrymen, is a devout Linux user.  Hassan
Khan writes, "Here in Pakistan, Linux is growing fast, I am personally using
Linux Mandrake 7.2, installed on Pantium-III. And the Govt has also included
Linux/Unix in Diploma Courses, so it will grow more than expected."
According to Shiraz, "... the best step that could have been taken ... has
been taken. The government has asked all the departments to shift their
servers from NT to Linux simply because the government cant afford to buy
1k$ licence for each server."