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Follow UsBANGALORE: Mozilla Firefox users may often come across the problem of landing on a blank page while using some Indian websites such as Air Deccan or MTNL.
The reason: these websites lock in users into using proprietary technologies and software.
To bring to notice these seemingly Linux-unfriendly Indian websites of enterprises, ISPs and also academic institutions, the Delhi Linux User Group (LUG) has come up with an initiative.
It has created a Hall of Shame site featuring the websites in question at http://www.lug-delhi.org/wiki/HallOfShame
Sandip Bhattacharya, a Yahoo employee, who kicked off the movement two years ago, spoke to CyberMedia News about the purpose of the initiative.
“Users come across problems while using alternatives to proprietary technologies like Windows and Internet Explorer. This is due to the carelessness of people developing the sites.”
Given the spread of Linux, and the fact that more than 10 per cent of netizens use Mozilla Firefox, vendor lock-ins are a major irritant.
He feels that it is easy to make websites work with every browser and compatible with open source. Linux User Group volunteers have compiled the list that makes up the Hall of Shame.
The list includes big names like Reliance, Tata Steel, BSNL, Ministry of Company Affairs, Indian Airlines and IIT Guwahati.
Sites that specify the use of Internet Explorer have also made it to the list.
Bhattacharya insists that the objective is not to list out any other website but highlight genuinely important websites that impact users.
In one instance, a volunteer brought the issue of IE specification to the notice of ICICI Direct, which has assured the group that it would make the changes.
In the next two-three months, he plans to make the project more proactive by informing the companies or the concerned parties on the Hall of Shame, follow up on a case-to-case basis and also provide them the solution.
The Hall of Shame would also soon expand to include hardware vendors who do not support Linux.
© CyberMedia News