I can't answer with specific figures, but back before Mac OS/X, barely anyone in Egypt used Mac outside of the graphics shops, the advertising and publishing business. I would imagine this to be still true, due to the cost premium that Macs demand.<br>
<br>For home use, everyone just pirates Windows, since the intellectual property police has no authority to go in homes, only businesses.<br><br>Linux is not widely known nor used still, outside of a minority segment.<br>
<br>Here is an interview with my brother from 2004 on how he switched to Linux and why on the Egyptian LUG web site<br><br><a href="http://www.eglug.org/node/481">http://www.eglug.org/node/481</a><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 11:31 AM, Insurance Squared Inc. <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:gcooke@insurancesquared.com">gcooke@insurancesquared.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I'm curious what the OS makeup looks like in other places around the world, like Africa or South America or the old Russian provinces or Asia. Everyone running MS locally like here? Or are there other things going on.<br>
<br>
Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div class="im">
On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 10:45 AM, Raul Suarez <<a href="mailto:rarsa@yahoo.com" target="_blank">rarsa@yahoo.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:rarsa@yahoo.com" target="_blank">rarsa@yahoo.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
<br>
Savvy business decision.<br>
<br>
I've always been of the idea that all the Word sharing (some may<br>
call it pirating) of the 90's helped solidify Microsoft's<br>
dominance in this area.<br>
<br>
<br>
That is exactly what happened in the 90s. My brother, a small business owner, manufacturing, not tech, switched way before me to Linux because of the pressure of Microsoft. After the initial "sharing" phase, Microsoft (and others) got the government in Egypt to have a special branch for intellectual property, and they were authorized to go to businesses and inspect licenses, or original CDs. They did this for Windows, AutoCAD, Oracle, and Novell.<br>
<br>
So, he switched to Linux rather than buy thousands of pounds worth of licenses.<br>
<br>
Bill Gates is quoted saying "If they were to pirate software, then it better be our software". Because after a while, they came and said : "you have to legalize it" and that meant revenue for Microsoft.<br>
<br>
<br>
Now, instead of leaving it to chance they do the same as the drug<br>
dealers. Give it for free to hook up the client.<br>
<br>
Whoever has built an application knows how difficult it is to<br>
change platforms, both technical and business inertia.<br>
<br>
<br>
The irony here is that the market has changed, with Linux maturing on the desktop more than it was in the 90s. So Microsoft is offering free to compete against "Free", not against other commercial providers.<br>
<br>
So in a way, Free software has forced them to change their tactics.<br>
<br>
Let us see if it gains them market share ...<br>
-- <br>
Khalid M. Baheyeldin<br>
</div><a href="http://2bits.com" target="_blank">2bits.com</a> <<a href="http://2bits.com" target="_blank">http://2bits.com</a>>, Inc.<div class="im"><br>
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