inbabble.com

FON the community WiFi operator recently announced it will no longer use Microsoft for it’s operating system requirements and has instead decided on Linux derived Ubuntu.

This move as expected has been received with mixed responses. However FON is quick to point out that this won’t affect the average FON User and is more relevant to the company and its employees.

Many reasons are touted for this switchover, one of them being time efficiency. According to FON, Ubuntu is much faster than Microsoft and is also prone to less crashes. Another crucial reason is that both FON and Ubuntu are Open Source making them well suited. You can download Ubuntu for free and then follow the instructions on the website.

FON already uses open source products in the form of Zimbra, the software that comes with the Fon web mail, which seeks to be an alternative to Gmail.

FON founder and CEO, Martin Varsavsky in a memo to his employees asks them to make the switchover soon and this is what he says: “now it’s the perfect time to change because Ubuntu has made Linux easy and fast to use and because Microsoft has made Vista so complicated and expensive to upgrade to. If somehow you find you need help in this process please contact the local chapter of your Microsoft Anonymous organization”.

FON is backed by Google amongst others, it is interesting to note that Google is actively developing Microsoft Office replacements for PowerPoint, in addition to Word and Excel!

Google CEO Eric Schmidt was seen giving sound bytes like: “We don’t think it’s a competitor to Microsoft Office,” Schmidt said. “It’s casual and sharing, and a better fit to how people use the Web. My guess is many companies in the audience are building products like this or other variants of this using the emerging architecture.”