Why is the Third World Running Windows?
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@mario-jakovina said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
I am from Croatia, and would like to dump Windows and move to Linux. But situation here is like this:
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My company use WIndows because our bookkeeping app does not run on Linux (also does not run reliably with WIne). We also have cash-desk app for our 21 retail stores that also works on Windows only :-((
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MS Excel is important in our daily work. We have some in-house Excel VBA macros that automate some important tasks. So, on most PCs we have LibreOffice, but we still need MS Excel on some PCs because of VBA macros. I personally wrote those macros, but I have not found time to learn macro programming with LibreOffice Calc to fully leave MS Excel. And for MS Office we need MS WIndows :-((
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Microsoft's software is in our schools and I hate that. My daughter is in 5th grade (11 years old) and they get tasks to prepare presentaions in PowerPoint :-((
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For private use, most people use pirated WIndows and MS Office (or OEM WIndows preinstalled). So they do not care about price.
This way everyone is used to WIndows OS, no matter how basic their needs are.
I agree Microsoft office is much better than Libre office if you do advance tasks. I use office online daily
from my Fedora PC, and it has full functionality. -
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@mario-jakovina said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
I am from Croatia, and would like to dump Windows and move to Linux. But situation here is like this:
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My company use WIndows because our bookkeeping app does not run on Linux (also does not run reliably with WIne). We also have cash-desk app for our 21 retail stores that also works on Windows only :-((
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MS Excel is important in our daily work. We have some in-house Excel VBA macros that automate some important tasks. So, on most PCs we have LibreOffice, but we still need MS Excel on some PCs because of VBA macros. I personally wrote those macros, but I have not found time to learn macro programming with LibreOffice Calc to fully leave MS Excel. And for MS Office we need MS WIndows :-((
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Microsoft's software is in our schools and I hate that. My daughter is in 5th grade (11 years old) and they get tasks to prepare presentaions in PowerPoint :-((
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For private use, most people use pirated WIndows and MS Office (or OEM WIndows preinstalled). So they do not care about price.
This way everyone is used to WIndows OS, no matter how basic their needs are.
I usually have my Windows 10 VM turned off but I have to keep running because a Macro enabled excel document. There might be an opportunity to use SnipeIT to manage laptops from a accountant point of view.
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To be honest in the Dominican Republic for Example, they run Microsoft because that's what they have been trying to copy from the US a lot. But the majority of bank systems, big companies are running in Linux Servers but Windows Desktops. That being said, there is also no a lot of enforcement of Microsoft Licensing which can be tricky as well.
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Perhaps another reason would be that many third-world countries provide tech support for Windows-heavy countries, therefore are forced into using the same systems either because they have to, or because that's what they are forced to get used to.
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@obsolesce said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Perhaps another reason would be that many third-world countries provide tech support for Windows-heavy countries, therefore are forced into using the same systems either because they have to, or because that's what they are forced to get used to.
This is likely true for many, or several. But for most of the third world, exporting IT is not a thing.
Example... no third world North American country is an IT exporter, they are IT importers. Central America, even Panama, imports IT from Colombia and Mexico, rather than doing it themselves, let alone exporting it to the first world.
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@dbeato said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
To be honest in the Dominican Republic for Example, they run Microsoft because that's what they have been trying to copy from the US a lot. But the majority of bank systems, big companies are running in Linux Servers but Windows Desktops. That being said, there is also no a lot of enforcement of Microsoft Licensing which can be tricky as well.
Yeah, the feeling that they get it for "free" when it's costly here makes people think "well, if Americans PAY for it, and we get it for free, it MUST be a good deal." Ugh.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@dbeato said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
To be honest in the Dominican Republic for Example, they run Microsoft because that's what they have been trying to copy from the US a lot. But the majority of bank systems, big companies are running in Linux Servers but Windows Desktops. That being said, there is also no a lot of enforcement of Microsoft Licensing which can be tricky as well.
Yeah, the feeling that they get it for "free" when it's costly here makes people think "well, if Americans PAY for it, and we get it for free, it MUST be a good deal." Ugh.
Which bothers me a lot...
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@dbeato said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@dbeato said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
To be honest in the Dominican Republic for Example, they run Microsoft because that's what they have been trying to copy from the US a lot. But the majority of bank systems, big companies are running in Linux Servers but Windows Desktops. That being said, there is also no a lot of enforcement of Microsoft Licensing which can be tricky as well.
Yeah, the feeling that they get it for "free" when it's costly here makes people think "well, if Americans PAY for it, and we get it for free, it MUST be a good deal." Ugh.
Which bothers me a lot...
Yeah, not good logic in the US, not good logic elsewhere. Too much "high cost equals value" along with too much "Americans must know what they are doing."
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@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Yeah, the feeling that they get it for "free" when it's costly here makes people think "well, if Americans PAY for it, and we get it for free, it MUST be a good deal." Ugh.
Slightly different: "If it's legaly free, it's probably not that good"
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@mario-jakovina said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Yeah, the feeling that they get it for "free" when it's costly here makes people think "well, if Americans PAY for it, and we get it for free, it MUST be a good deal." Ugh.
Slightly different: "If it's legaly free, it's probably not that good"
That's EVER WORSE. Of all three logical mistakes, that one is far worse than the other too.
That's like saying that sex with someone you love has to be worse than even the cheapest prostitute.
Not that there aren't nice prostitutes, but you know, on average....
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@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Not that there aren't nice prostitutes
I can't imagine anyone choosing that "career" path being nice in anything.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Personally I feel that Linux on ARM, which can easily include Chromebook devices, is the ideal for most of the third world. Low cost to acquire, low cost to maintain, free to keep updated forever, high longevity of devices, low cost to operate, low impact on the environment and the power infrastructure.
Haswell i5 or Boadcom Intel NUC draws 9 watts watching youtube. x86 isn't all Xeon power sucking beasts.
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@mario-jakovina said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Slightly different: "If it's legaly free, it's probably not that good"
Microsoft gave away Windows 10 in China. In other countries, the OEM price they charge for embedded is a pack of cigarettes.
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@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
This is likely true for many, or several. But for most of the third world, exporting IT is not a thing.
Example... no third world North American country is an IT exporter, they are IT importers. Central America, even Panama, imports IT from Colombia and Mexico, rather than doing it themselves, let alone exporting it to the first world.Costa Rica exports IT services. Services are a huge part of their economy (We run back office, and some GSS operations there).
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@jmoore said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@coliver I believe that's right. Lenovo does the consumer stuff and IBM still makes servers and a lot of software.
IBM exited the x86 server market as well as the PC (business and consumer) by selling these to Lenovo. IBM has shifted x86 to selling cloud (IBM Cloud formerly bluemix, softlayer etc) and Z and i Series PPC based systems.
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@storageninja Got it thankyou
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@storageninja said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@mario-jakovina said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Slightly different: "If it's legaly free, it's probably not that good"
Microsoft gave away Windows 10 in China. In other countries, the OEM price they charge for embedded is a pack of cigarettes.
Even if you get an elephant on your shoulders for free... you'll still have an elephant on your shoulders.
There's a big cost to having Windows, not just potential costs for obtaining it.
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@obsolesce said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Not that there aren't nice prostitutes
I can't imagine anyone choosing that "career" path being nice in anything.
Outside of the US, it's often a respectable or at least acceptable option. In the US where it is illegal and stigmatized, the impression becomes very different.
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@storageninja said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
Personally I feel that Linux on ARM, which can easily include Chromebook devices, is the ideal for most of the third world. Low cost to acquire, low cost to maintain, free to keep updated forever, high longevity of devices, low cost to operate, low impact on the environment and the power infrastructure.
Haswell i5 or Boadcom Intel NUC draws 9 watts watching youtube. x86 isn't all Xeon power sucking beasts.
But there is a reason literally no one is making a decent AMD64 powered laptop for low power usage. Look at the Chromebook space, all the AMD64s cost more, last much less time, are bigger, heavier, and don't really perform, for most tasks, noticeably better. If the AMD64s are so decent, why is no one making decent gear with them?
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@storageninja said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
@scottalanmiller said in Why is the Third World Running Windows?:
This is likely true for many, or several. But for most of the third world, exporting IT is not a thing.
Example... no third world North American country is an IT exporter, they are IT importers. Central America, even Panama, imports IT from Colombia and Mexico, rather than doing it themselves, let alone exporting it to the first world.Costa Rica exports IT services. Services are a huge part of their economy (We run back office, and some GSS operations there).
That's true, sorry, forgot CR. They do IT and manufacturing.
