“Linux is emerging as a viable alternative operating system for
businesses all over the world. Recently, it’s caught on in the
Middle East with major universities in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain and other countries adopting Linux. Also in business, oil
and gas companies in the Gulf, some banks and other companies are
adopting it.“The Arabization of Linux will drive this growth. IBM recently
finished Arabizing the major components required to run Linux on
the client side and is also working on Arabic support for Motiff
and X-term, the Word component of Open Office and the web browser,
called Mozilla.“Among Linux fans there have also been Arabization efforts. A
grass-root development group, called Arabeyes, has been developing
Arabic support for KDE and users can already read/write in Arabic.
So, apart from Arabization, what are the factors that make Linux
attractive…?”
Related Story:
Linux and Main: Hancom Linux Targets Middle Eastern Market with New
Distro, Productivity Suite (Apr 24, 2002)