Q. How did Linuxnepal.com.np start?
Kundan
Khanal:
This
all started 3 years back in May 2000.
It had already been 2 years since
I was engaged in the field of Linux.
At that time, with my friends Utsab
Koirala and Deepak Adhikary, I had
started an IT company Total Quality
Solution &
Research Center. We all had a dream
to do something related to Linux as
it was becoming popular around the
world. So we decided to start a Nepali
site for Linux to generate awareness
about Linux in Nepal. As Linux itself
is an open source and freely distributed
OS we wanted to share the knowledge
we had through this site.
This is totally an interactive
site and would like the interested
personnel to take the benefit of this.
The users are free to interact with
each other. Also the users are free
to post their articles about Linux.
The site encourage the new users to
learn this operating system from the
beginning of installation.
Q. On a personal level, how
were you first introduced, and how
did you first get involved with Linux?
Kundan:
After
the completion of my Engineering,
I came to Nepal and started the hunt
for a job. I was very much interested
in computers so was looking for jobs
related to this field. HTP Communication
was looking for fresh engineers who
could be trained and later be used
in the organization. My friend Deepak
Adhikary called me and insisted me
on doing this job. The next day we
both had an interview with Mr. Ranjan
Koirala and Mr. Muni Sakya of HTP
and were selected. We were told that
the job was related to Linux and we
had a chance to learn and practiceLinux
but by ourselves. We both knew nothing
about Linux at that time.
After playing with Linux
for few months, we were very much
attached to it. The next thing I remember
is that I was appointed in HTP as
a support engineer. Later I was promoted
to an assistant system administrator
under the supervision of Mr. Ranjan
Koirala who was the system administrator
of HTP at that time. He was the one
who always helped me with my Linux
related problems. Since last 3 years
I have been working in Linux Platform
as a system administrator in this
company.
Q. What are the benefits of
using Linux in Nepal? What type of
future do you see for Linux in Nepal?
Kundan:
There
are many benefits of using Linux in
Nepal. The first thing is that Linux
is free. The government and corporate
sector can save a hell lot of money
that they use on buying the Microsoft
products. The other thing is that
Linux is open source. This can be
used by our technical and engineering
institutes for there research purposes.
Since it is open source it can be
moulded as per the requirement of
the user. As the documents and manuals
for Linux are freely available from
the internet, it is easier for the
Linux newbies to learn Linux and the
Linux trainers to train the trainees.
I have seen lots of
young people being interested in Linux
these days esp. in Kathmandu and Pokhara.
The schools and colleges have started
making Linux as one of the OS in their
syllabus.
The certification programs
for Linux have also recently started
in Nepal. These are the plus points
to uplift the Linux usage in Nepal.
There are lots of project being handled
related to Linux in Nepal like Ganesha's
Project. This kind of project are
trying to bring the Linux awareness
in the community where people know
nothing about the computers.
Let's hope, someday
in future, the day might come when
everybody will be looking towards
Nepal for the Linux related solutions.
Q. If you had
to persuade a non-Linux user to use
Linux, how would you do so in a few
sentences?
Kundan:
- Linux is Free.
- Linux is Open Source.
- The support and
help are anytime available through
the internet using various Linux
community based forums and mailing
lists. The documents, FAQ and manual
pages for the programs can be downloaded
free through the internet.
- The security is very
tight. It has many features that
protect your system from intruders.
- Linux is the most
customizable OS as it is highly
configurable. You can make it work
exactly the way you want and can
optimize it for your very own hardware
to make your OS faster.
- The Linux system
is very much stable. One of Linux's
greatest strengths is its tendency
to run for long periods of time
without needing a reboot. If you
compare it to windows, the Linux
system rarely hangs (freezes up).
- Since most of the
viruses are targeted to the windows
based application, the risk of getting
infected with the virus is minimum
in Linux.
- You can fulfill
various networking related task
that you cannot implement with windows.
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