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Somebody in India thinks they'll "Wrest Leadership in Open-Source Computing"
India Set to Wrest Leadership in Open-Source Computing Sharp rise in affordable desktops and widespread availability of regional language applications will drive market New Delhi, February 7: India is emerging as the hottest Asian market for Open Source (OS) with rapid strides being made in OS adoption in many sectors of industry, education, enterprise and government, as well as in the development of Open Source applications. The Rs 600 crore market of open source software is now growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 35-40 percent and presents an exciting scenario for all important stakeholders. According to Robert Adkins, co-founder of Technetra, the Silicon Valley based technology consulting company that develops and promotes open source software and solutions for government, education, IT, telecom, banking and finance, and the organising force behing LinuxAsia 2006 that opens in New Delhi on February 8 says, “Indian business enterprises are expected to spend $25.12 billion on information technology in 2006, that is more than 23.7 percent over the past year. And of this, the Open Source market can look for at least a 40-50 per cent share as the opportunity.” The three major paradigms of future growth of Open Source in India are expected to be - The Open Source movement made its breakthrough felt by demonstrating the scope and power of local language computing in India, taking away the elitist sheen associated with computing through English, used by just 5 percent of the population. The main drivers spearheading adoption of OS are industry, enterprises and large verticals and educational institutes who are enamoured by the tremendous cost savings and hassle free environment in the Open Source platforms. The benefits flowing to the OS customers are lower costs, stability and user comfort vis-à-vis proprietary software. For a country like India, where less than 5% population are comfortable with English, open source has made a breakthrough by demonstrating the scope and power of local language computing as enabler for percolation of benefits of IT to the grassroots The growth in India is as much indicative of the global growth now recognized by the entry of once sceptical venture capitalists in Open Source space. In year 2005, there were $400 million worth of investments committed in open source startups- of which the majority was in application and service companies. Technology research firm Gartner Inc. forecasts that OS computing holds great promise in India. Gartner notes that India’s technology adoption is gaining super momentum and expects a growth of 20.8 percent for the next four years in business spending on computer hardware, software and communication products. Trade associations including NASSCOM and MAIT believe that Linux and Open Source products can play an important role in spreading e-governance in India, with low-cost local-language applications. Deployment of OS is also considered critical in IT education at school level where low cost software is to be the real impetus. According to Adkins of Technetra, “Among the more visible OS planks, desktops are emerging as a core area of adoption. Organisations are expected to make large scale switch over to adopt Linux on desktops to drastically reduce their costs with out compromising on user productivity. For verticals, OS or Linux provides strategic advantages for adoption across the segment. Government, IT & ITeS, Education, Banking & Finance are appear to be more active in Linux adoption in the coming years.” According to Gartner, by 2008, 95 percent of Global 2000 organizations will have formal open-source acquisition and management strategies. By then, Open Source applications will directly compete with closed-source products in every software infrastructure market, and by 2010, Global 2000 IT organizations will have to consider open-source products in 80 percent of their infrastructure-focused software investments and 25 percent of business software investments. The LinuxAsia 2006 convention beginning in Delhi aims to bring the issues, opportunities and areas of concern to the fore. Global luminaries and leading lights from government and academic institutions are expected at the conference. They will meet to deliberate on the imperatives for India in adoption of Open Source computing in an “IT for all” scenario. Speakers from Telecom, Government, Education, Small and Medium Enterprise, Financial Services, IT & ITES, and media will form the various discussion panels at the different sessions. IT products and services majors like Oracle, Dell, Intel, HP, IBM, RedHat, CDAC and several others will be showing their Linux-based solutions and service platforms. About LinuxAsia 2006 Being held for the third consecutive year, LinuxAsia is the premier open source conference and expo in the region. It attracts the Linux community, serious users, government policy makers and industry across the board. The last edition of the event attracted over 2500 visitors. |
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Comments (40)
Caste System
The biggest obstacle to Open Source in India is the Caste System, which has been in place since the beginning of Indian culture. It is much more complex than the class system in the U.S. for example. The people of a higher class will not share with or help the people of a lower class, its just not done. Combine that with rampant corruption and you get what Tom describes. It makes it impossible to get to the people who could really use and benefit from it.
Scott, I was once fluent in Hindi. I still know enough to speak with natives.
Very recently, one of my closest family members had a discussion with a co-worker from Bharatdesh in the health care field. She said that in India, she places a different premium on human life. She was bothered by the fact that our health care workers go out of their way to save the lives of these poor indigent people. That would never happen in India, she said.
So, the lady's cat dies. She went to pieces. her family had a funeral ceremony for the cat and cremated it. Here is the US. Then she took time off for a mourning period. Caste system? It's more like bigotry. And you should her what she thinks of Americans.
Very recently, one of my closest family members had a discussion with a co-worker from Bharatdesh in the health care field. She said that in India, she places a different premium on human life. She was bothered by the fact that our health care workers go out of their way to save the lives of these poor indigent people. That would never happen in India, she said.
So, the lady's cat dies. She went to pieces. her family had a funeral ceremony for the cat and cremated it. Here is the US. Then she took time off for a mourning period. Caste system? It's more like bigotry. And you should her what she thinks of Americans.
Please be careful. The whole world saw what "rich White America" did to the poor black folks in New Orleans during and after the hurricanes. Prejudice and class snobbery exist everywhere.
Sal: Living in Dallas, I saw remarkable outpouring of kindness to the people of New Orleans. You can't play the race card on that one.
> The whole world saw what "rich White America" did to the poor black folks in New Orleans during and after the hurricanes.
What? The free housing, food, and supplies. The billions of dollars in aid that flowed to New Orleans and its citizens? Or are you perhaps referring the absolute fiasco during the hurricanes approach, when the mayor failed to follow an existing evacuation plan and the governor failed to request federal assistance? Those two things can hardly be laid at the feet of "rich White America".
What? The free housing, food, and supplies. The billions of dollars in aid that flowed to New Orleans and its citizens? Or are you perhaps referring the absolute fiasco during the hurricanes approach, when the mayor failed to follow an existing evacuation plan and the governor failed to request federal assistance? Those two things can hardly be laid at the feet of "rich White America".
Sal: My intent was only to state and explain(a little) why Open Source Software would not succeed in India. The problem is with the culture, not the race of the people in the culture. They are all of the same race, it is the social divides they have created that makes it impossible to help the people who really need it.
New Orleans was supposed to sink, all of it. But it did not, I personally think that it should be moved so that it is above sea level. I studied Geology for several years and if it was up to me I would move the city 10 miles to the east and negate the entire problem of flooding once and for all. But even my friends and family think I am nuts on that one. Then again, many companies are going to make a fortune re-buliding New Orleans.
I call it, Disaster Recovery - The American Way.
New Orleans was supposed to sink, all of it. But it did not, I personally think that it should be moved so that it is above sea level. I studied Geology for several years and if it was up to me I would move the city 10 miles to the east and negate the entire problem of flooding once and for all. But even my friends and family think I am nuts on that one. Then again, many companies are going to make a fortune re-buliding New Orleans.
I call it, Disaster Recovery - The American Way.
Yes, broad generalisations are mostly useless (I have to admit to being concerned with my own choice of words. This post brought to you by the salparadise gets himself into hot water again dept'.) and I don't mean to play any race card, just to point out that none of us can really claim the moral high ground unless we live in countries where there is no corruption in the administrative process.
In the West it's called "greasing the wheels" - corporate lunches, enhanced stock options, tip offs, access to the corporate yacht, junketts, is it really any different from a "backhander to the right official"?
You go sal. Not to mention the billions provided by companies like M$ to congressional representatives and Presidential candidates in order that they do their bidding. Sounds a lot like US institutional corruption to me...
Quote: (I have to admit to being concerned with my own choice of words. This post brought to you by the salparadise gets himself into hot water again dept'.)
Sal: I'll jump in with you, it is going to be "Rich White America" who profits from it, but only the ultra rich. You know, the ones who own stock in all the big companies that have gotten fat while Bush Jr. has been in office. All you had to do was be more specific about which part of RWA and you would have been fine man.
How's that for not leaving you all by yourself? :-)
Sal: I'll jump in with you, it is going to be "Rich White America" who profits from it, but only the ultra rich. You know, the ones who own stock in all the big companies that have gotten fat while Bush Jr. has been in office. All you had to do was be more specific about which part of RWA and you would have been fine man.
How's that for not leaving you all by yourself? :-)
Sal:
My point could also have been stated more diplomaticly. :)
> just to point out that none of us can really claim the moral high ground unless we live in countries where there is no corruption in the administrative process.
Well, that's still a bit over generalized for my taste. There are differences between governments, and some are objectively better than others. However, that's a fine point, and your point is generally correct.
> In the West it's called "greasing the wheels" - corporate lunches, enhanced stock options, tip offs, access to the corporate yacht, junketts, is it really any different from a "backhander to the right official"?
No, though I don't believe it's quite as widespread, and it's not "socially acceptable" the way it is in India. It India, this is normal. Here, it's looked down on. A difference of degree, not kind, admittedly. Again, your general point is valid.
Sharkscott:
> I'll jump in with you, it is going to be "Rich White America" who profits from it, but only the ultra rich. You know, the ones who own stock in all the big companies that have gotten fat while Bush Jr. has been in office.
As long as you're willing to admit that this has almost always been true, as much under the Democrats as the Republicans, I'll concede the point. :)
My point could also have been stated more diplomaticly. :)
> just to point out that none of us can really claim the moral high ground unless we live in countries where there is no corruption in the administrative process.
Well, that's still a bit over generalized for my taste. There are differences between governments, and some are objectively better than others. However, that's a fine point, and your point is generally correct.
> In the West it's called "greasing the wheels" - corporate lunches, enhanced stock options, tip offs, access to the corporate yacht, junketts, is it really any different from a "backhander to the right official"?
No, though I don't believe it's quite as widespread, and it's not "socially acceptable" the way it is in India. It India, this is normal. Here, it's looked down on. A difference of degree, not kind, admittedly. Again, your general point is valid.
Sharkscott:
> I'll jump in with you, it is going to be "Rich White America" who profits from it, but only the ultra rich. You know, the ones who own stock in all the big companies that have gotten fat while Bush Jr. has been in office.
As long as you're willing to admit that this has almost always been true, as much under the Democrats as the Republicans, I'll concede the point. :)
You bet I'll admit to that.
Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
The Stock Market went from 8,000 to 10,000 under Clinton. The same people made money then.
Democrat and Republican are only used to divide us, not them.
Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
The Stock Market went from 8,000 to 10,000 under Clinton. The same people made money then.
Democrat and Republican are only used to divide us, not them.
From the "in your dreams" department
Who would have dreamed that communist China would become the manufacturing capital of the world?
Who would have dreamed that the only country bombed by an Atomic weapon (Japan) would be leaders in the electronic and automobile industry ?
So, is you logic: everything is the same as everyting else only different?
No,
My logic is this:
The U.S. seems (to me) to be the engine of the modern world, the Internet and open source software has and is continuing to break down physical boundaries at a pace unseen in human history. Economics and foreign policy (of the U.S business and politicians) tend to ultimately decide the shape of things to come. Cheap hands made China the preferred manufacturer for the majority of US businesses. This made China the manufacturing capital of the world. Is it possible that even with the corruption and bad business practices that may exist in India , that cheap IT brains could conceivably lay the groundwork for them (India) to affect the open source industry. If US business continue to invest in foreign (Indian) IT, and the Indian Government then pumps money into the educational structure that support it, add to that the EU businesses that normally follow , this seems to be leading only one place.
Finally it only makes sense that if a country (IT wise) whats to differentiate itself, it should invest not in MCSEs but in open source professionals.
My logic is this:
The U.S. seems (to me) to be the engine of the modern world, the Internet and open source software has and is continuing to break down physical boundaries at a pace unseen in human history. Economics and foreign policy (of the U.S business and politicians) tend to ultimately decide the shape of things to come. Cheap hands made China the preferred manufacturer for the majority of US businesses. This made China the manufacturing capital of the world. Is it possible that even with the corruption and bad business practices that may exist in India , that cheap IT brains could conceivably lay the groundwork for them (India) to affect the open source industry. If US business continue to invest in foreign (Indian) IT, and the Indian Government then pumps money into the educational structure that support it, add to that the EU businesses that normally follow , this seems to be leading only one place.
Finally it only makes sense that if a country (IT wise) whats to differentiate itself, it should invest not in MCSEs but in open source professionals.
In China and Japan you will find more homogeneous populations. You'll find common standards for doing things. You have two languages in China and one in Japan. But in India, you'll find hundreds of languages, populations, etc.
As a nation, China pulled itself up. We know the story of the miracle of Japan. But, you won't find that in India. "As a nation" doesn't exist in India. The regions hate one another. They have contempt for one another. The fit the classical definition of a country devoted to self destruction. Everyone is out for him or herself.
India has no chance of becoming a manufacturing giant. It's not in their culture. They won't take steps to control their population or emerge from their status as a third world country.
Don't expect India to become anything like Japan, Germany or China. The most you can expect is for them to come here and become part of our culture and then I can see them contributing. In India, though, it's everyman man/woman for him/herself.
As a nation, China pulled itself up. We know the story of the miracle of Japan. But, you won't find that in India. "As a nation" doesn't exist in India. The regions hate one another. They have contempt for one another. The fit the classical definition of a country devoted to self destruction. Everyone is out for him or herself.
India has no chance of becoming a manufacturing giant. It's not in their culture. They won't take steps to control their population or emerge from their status as a third world country.
Don't expect India to become anything like Japan, Germany or China. The most you can expect is for them to come here and become part of our culture and then I can see them contributing. In India, though, it's everyman man/woman for him/herself.
To come to think about it, did India have an empire, civilization, culture or contribution to humanity of any kind? These take leadership. They might produce a lot of Open Source code or anything else for that matter, but to play a leadership role is a totally different matter. Like Tom said, cheap labor in vast numbers is what is going for them.
Leadership in Open Source computing will go to the best minds and the best ideas and the best programmers.
If India earns itself those particular titles then it deserves that "leadership".
tadelste diatribed
"In China and Japan you will find more homogeneous populations. You'll find common standards for doing things. You have two languages in China and one in Japan. But in India, you'll find hundreds of languages, populations, etc.
As a nation, China pulled itself up. We know the story of the miracle of Japan. But, you won't find that in India. "As a nation" doesn't exist in India. The regions hate one another. They have contempt for one another. The fit the classical definition of a country devoted to self destruction. Everyone is out for him or herself."
In Windows, you will find more homogeneous populations. You'll find common standards for doing things. You have two languages in Microsoft (C++ and C#). But in the linux world, you'll find hundreds of languages, distributions, etc.
As an operating system, Windows pulled itself up. We know the story of the miracle of Windows. But you won't find that in linux. "As a single operating system" doesn't exist in linux. The distributions hate one another. They have contempt for one another. They fit the classical definition of an operating system devoted to self destruction. Every distribution is out for itself.
"In China and Japan you will find more homogeneous populations. You'll find common standards for doing things. You have two languages in China and one in Japan. But in India, you'll find hundreds of languages, populations, etc.
As a nation, China pulled itself up. We know the story of the miracle of Japan. But, you won't find that in India. "As a nation" doesn't exist in India. The regions hate one another. They have contempt for one another. The fit the classical definition of a country devoted to self destruction. Everyone is out for him or herself."
In Windows, you will find more homogeneous populations. You'll find common standards for doing things. You have two languages in Microsoft (C++ and C#). But in the linux world, you'll find hundreds of languages, distributions, etc.
As an operating system, Windows pulled itself up. We know the story of the miracle of Windows. But you won't find that in linux. "As a single operating system" doesn't exist in linux. The distributions hate one another. They have contempt for one another. They fit the classical definition of an operating system devoted to self destruction. Every distribution is out for itself.
I couldnt agree more with Anandrajan
anandrajan: good point -- India may be a house divided against itself, but that house has a billion residents. If as many as a quarter of them align, they rival the USA.
Quoting:Leadership in Open Source computing will go to the best minds and the best ideas and the best programmers.
Sal: I couldn't agree more, but, the question is, best minds for what? If there is no commitment to participate and share, what good are they as leaders in FOSS?
MS and other IT companies have great and some of the best minds, what good are they to FOSS?
I hope India adopts FOSS and prove me wrong, but who can guarantee they will play by the rules? All current Indication doesn't show it.
anandrajan: Your are cherry-picking/nitt-picking.
Quoting:But you won't find that in linux. "As a single operating system" doesn't exist in linux.Hog Wash, Linux as a kernel is single OS maintained and released by its maintainers (OSDL, Linus, & Andrew). Enhancements and changes by many all feedback for approval and inclusion. Any layered applications developed and maintained by one distro will also run on other distros. They might have cosmetic differences but the guts are the same.
Quoting:The distributions hate one another. They have contempt for one another.I would say it differently, they take from each other but they compete under the same rules. Think of it as a large group who are doing research ending up with the same results, some better than others because they used different approaches. What is wrong with that? I don't see anything wrong with it and has proven to be the best and most effective evolutionary process. I don't agree with your notion of "self destruction", FOSS is being adopted by more and more organizations once the try it and find a way to get out of MS Lock-in.
Leadership qualities
They bow to the powerful and abuse when powerful. Those are not leadership qualities.
Excellent points.
Quoting: They bow to the powerful and abuse when powerful. Those are not leadership qualities.
This describes more or less every country and corporation on earth.
/ME agrees with salparadise and throws in most large religious organisations (including the Atheists -- digression: one of whom murdered Robin Murray O'Hair halfway through a Fidonet conversation I was having with her, in order to frame her, her aunt and grandmother for the disappearance of USD$500,000 -- but most notably the Roman Catholic Church).
Quoting:This describes more or less every country and corporation on earth.
True, but the subject matter here is snatching the role of FOSS leadership.
Hints of bias.
The press release regarding India taking leadership in the Open Source field should taken as what it is, a PR exercise. I am surprised however by the vitriolic responses to the hyperbole in the press release. I think that something other than reason and logic is driving the responses.
India as a nation in the current form is young. It obtained its independence from colonial rule in 1947 after it went through a traumatic partition and emerged as country with a democracy strong enough to hold the country together and yet flexible enough for the diverse groups to live together as one country.
I certainly agree that India has a lot of problems. The huge population and India's inability to control it stem from the fact that India is a democracy and coercive population control methods like (forced sterilization and abortion) cannot be used against the will of the people.
Evey nation has gone through a phase, where of groups of people are marginalized based on often a trivial a reason as their colour and yet eventually the marginalization comes to an end. As I have said India is a young nation, yet right from its birth it has recognized that a country cannot progress if a large sections of its people are marginalized. Hence, it has laws and constitutional provisions that provide for protection of the socially and economically weaker sections and these are gradually bringing a change for the better.
The other problems can be attributed either directly or indirectly to the burden of the 3 times of the population of US in a country 1/3 the size of it.
avasaralak: I'm not sure that we made vitriolic responses to the hyperbole in the press release. But, that's open to interpretation. You say that "Every nation has gone through a phase, where groups of people are marginalized based on often a trivial a reason as their colour and yet eventually the marginalization comes to an end". I'm not sure every nation has gone through that phase.
In fact, India may be the oldest civilization on the planet. Certainly, Sanscrit is still the most advanced alphabet. You say the nation is only 58 years old, but the culture is quite ancient and the culture has marginalized people for thousands of years.
I'm glad you want to start with a clean slate, but even you must know that with your laws against segregation that it persists so openly that no one walking the streets of Delhi would ever believe such laws exist.
You can use any excuse that you find convenient, but India's social institutions have no commitment to helping the poor.
In fact, India may be the oldest civilization on the planet. Certainly, Sanscrit is still the most advanced alphabet. You say the nation is only 58 years old, but the culture is quite ancient and the culture has marginalized people for thousands of years.
I'm glad you want to start with a clean slate, but even you must know that with your laws against segregation that it persists so openly that no one walking the streets of Delhi would ever believe such laws exist.
You can use any excuse that you find convenient, but India's social institutions have no commitment to helping the poor.
I do accept that I do not know about every country on the planet. I was implying to the countries that I knew had gone through that phase and which now are beacons are democracy, freedom and liberty.
Every culture has marginalized sections of populations based on class, religion, branch of religion etc. However, I do not want to give specific names as those chapters are sensitive and could be offensive to other members of of this forum.
The effectiveness of laws and constitutional provisions against segregation can be measured from the representation in the Indian parliament and the political power these sections are now beginning to enjoy.
The last time I have been to Delhi I could not find any segregated roads, trains, buses or other areas, maybe things have changed and you know better. In fact the urban areas of India are one place where the segregation on caste lines has ceased to exist. Whatever segregation that exists is strictly based on economics and class.
I certainly am not making excuses for the imperfect state of institutions in India. However, I would like to point that India does try to take care of its weaker sections with whatever resources it has, for example it has a scheme where the economically weaker sections are provided subsidized food staples and kerosene for cooking. Also, every citizen has a right to free primary education and the marginalized sections are provided with 50% of seats in institutions of higher education (both government and private) along with a subsidy.
Now I would be the first person to agree that these are not perfect. However the root cause of the imperfections can largely be traced to the large population that has to be supported and the insufficient resources at disposal of the government a few years back (due a closed and socialistic economic model).
I would to point out that I am not wary of facing the past since the lessons the past teaches us will certainly be useful in facing the future. Also, I would like to commend you for your humanitarian concern towards the poor and marginalized in India.
Indus valley is the only area that managed to loose completely the ability to read and write once discovered. Sanskrit is by the way fairly recent and of Indo European decent. .
Candidates for oldest writing is Hieroglyphs in Egypt, Cuneiform in Mesopotamia and the defunct Harappa in India.
Hello again tadelste ... and abe,
It is interesting that my firefox browser is set to open lxer.com on startup, and your (tadelste) writings is one of the main reasons for this. However I must agree with avasaralak on the following point "I am surprised however by the vitriolic responses to the hyperbole in the press release." I was taken aback and yes according to you it is open to interpretation, and my interpretation is that it was vitrolic and hints at bias. I am prepared to be proven wrong . In fact it was your response that got me on this track. Note that I am not Indian, not born in India but I would suggest that abe visit the following sites to find out more about India:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_india http://www.indiaonestop.com/economy-macro-nuclear.htm http://www.indiaonestop.com/economy-link.htm
It is interesting that my firefox browser is set to open lxer.com on startup, and your (tadelste) writings is one of the main reasons for this. However I must agree with avasaralak on the following point "I am surprised however by the vitriolic responses to the hyperbole in the press release." I was taken aback and yes according to you it is open to interpretation, and my interpretation is that it was vitrolic and hints at bias. I am prepared to be proven wrong . In fact it was your response that got me on this track. Note that I am not Indian, not born in India but I would suggest that abe visit the following sites to find out more about India:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_india http://www.indiaonestop.com/economy-macro-nuclear.htm http://www.indiaonestop.com/economy-link.htm
Quoting:Wrest - To obtain by or as if by pulling with violent twisting movements wrester - someone who obtains something by pulling it violently with twisting movements
May be who ever used the word didn't know its meaning. To me it sounded like FOSS is there to be grabed/snatched, well it is not. It is available to everyone to share, take from, and give back. When the Indian elites, the ones who seem to be the "wrester", don't care about their own people, how do we expect them to give back to the FOSS Community? FOSS is a global effort for humanity not to be snatched by anyone. Using this word showed the Indian elites' business mentality. Few Personal experience proves it. My point is, before they make any snatching, they should understand its purpose better and be willing to participate and contribute. For those who live in India, look around you, do you see some caring for the poor or anyone trying to do something about the suffering?
Well it was fun (not),
I must bid this thread farewell, this thread will do me no good, I am in the process of putting together a Point Of Sale system using Openoffice (frontend),Postgresql(backend) on my Fedora Core 4 box.
Later.
I must bid this thread farewell, this thread will do me no good, I am in the process of putting together a Point Of Sale system using Openoffice (frontend),Postgresql(backend) on my Fedora Core 4 box.
Later.
Could you have put this another way?
The Indian Press focuses on the Indian part of any international phenomenon/event. The significance of the contribution is immaterial. They are given to hyperbole.
Let's keep that aside. You could simply have asked your readers to take the article with a pinch of salt.
---
Firstly, I am rather disappointed with the content and tone of your editorial. I held you to higher standards than this.
I trust that your opinions regarding India, FLOSS and Indians (in general) are not immutable. That would be a pity.
---
Here are a few glimpses of the FLOSS effort in India (or by Indians):
President Abdul Kalam on proprietary technology (during a visit by Gates) http://www.comminit.com/trends/ctrends2003/trends-136.html
Richard Stallman well received by President Abdul Kalam: http://www.gnu.org.in/node/25
RedHat India- Case Studies http://www.in.redhat.com/casestudies/
Localizing free software, for a free country http://indlinux.org/blog/
Reknowned Indian Technologist- Atul Chitnis http://atulchitnis.net/bio/
KDE Developer- Sirtaj Singh Kang http://sirtaj.net/projects/
Numerous such instances- One just has to want to find it.
---
Lastly, a minor correction: The first time the general public became aware of Linux (FLOSS) was in 1996 (earlier in the case of academic institutions). Not 1999 as you incorrectly state. PC Quest (An Indian Computer Trade Magazine) distributed Linux in 1996. http://dxm.org/techonomist/01apr96.html
(And yes, we managed to get Linux running on our modest PCs back in 1996)
---
Regards, Pandu
Let's keep that aside. You could simply have asked your readers to take the article with a pinch of salt.
---
Firstly, I am rather disappointed with the content and tone of your editorial. I held you to higher standards than this.
I trust that your opinions regarding India, FLOSS and Indians (in general) are not immutable. That would be a pity.
---
Here are a few glimpses of the FLOSS effort in India (or by Indians):
President Abdul Kalam on proprietary technology (during a visit by Gates) http://www.comminit.com/trends/ctrends2003/trends-136.html
Richard Stallman well received by President Abdul Kalam: http://www.gnu.org.in/node/25
RedHat India- Case Studies http://www.in.redhat.com/casestudies/
Localizing free software, for a free country http://indlinux.org/blog/
Reknowned Indian Technologist- Atul Chitnis http://atulchitnis.net/bio/
KDE Developer- Sirtaj Singh Kang http://sirtaj.net/projects/
Numerous such instances- One just has to want to find it.
---
Lastly, a minor correction: The first time the general public became aware of Linux (FLOSS) was in 1996 (earlier in the case of academic institutions). Not 1999 as you incorrectly state. PC Quest (An Indian Computer Trade Magazine) distributed Linux in 1996. http://dxm.org/techonomist/01apr96.html
(And yes, we managed to get Linux running on our modest PCs back in 1996)
---
Regards, Pandu
Pandu: Hindsight is 20-20 and generalizations never work except when it comes to how the foreign press writes about Americans. Now, everything written about the imperialistic Americans is absolutely true. You shouldn't be disappointed with me, I'm an American and you know how we are.
But, I agree with you I could have taken another slant. The conventional approach to editorial writing says reflect the tone of the article you refute.
Does any of this change my love of India? No. Since the original article was absolute flame bait, I wanted to get you involved in the exchange. Silence about injustice is not the way to correct it.
But, I agree with you I could have taken another slant. The conventional approach to editorial writing says reflect the tone of the article you refute.
Does any of this change my love of India? No. Since the original article was absolute flame bait, I wanted to get you involved in the exchange. Silence about injustice is not the way to correct it.
Comments on the comments
Did india hav an empire??? Heard about the Indus Valley, the Mughals, the list goes on mate? And if it werent for the nonsensical and selfish exploitations of us Indians during those crucial 200 years, no doubt India would hav become one of the richest countries in the world and why is US an engine for the internet? ever wondered how many Indians work in IBM, Oracle or even Micro$oft for that matter, who is gaining due to this braindrain...
And did I mention my state alone produces around 35000 IT engineers a year, the future is changing pals,
And please, what you see in your satellite televisions in your countries is not true India, India has been and will be a united country, The instances of violence that hav occured in the past is because of those b*****d politicians, and thats all set to change...and for one, what does population, corruption .etc has to do with open source , Please understand that they are separate entities in our country
And did I mention our country's president Abdul Kalam (what a man) endorses Open Source..People in the villages are slowly but steadily getting accustomed to technology, and I myselves have taken part in few of those projects, The thing is these initiatives hav been driven by both volunteer groups and the government themselves, frankly lets see in 20 years who gets the last laugh...by then I'll be 37 and I'll be laughing my head off at sorry judgement of you guys
no offence but I find this article too offending not only for India but also for other developing countries. I am extremely shocked since Ive been getting lxer feeds for 8 months and suddenly this piece which clearly lacks research and somehow find biased. This editorial piece is a crap..
Sadly, it's been "set to change" for centuries now.
sudharsh: On a serious note, I hoped to get you involved in the conversation that wouldn't make this about me. Have you ever coached anyone? If so, perhaps you've notice two types of responses: attacking the coach because "he does the same thing" or reflecting on the feedback.
It's easy for an elite athlete to call his coach "fat" for example. It's harder to say, "let me reflect and either respond or work on the issue."
Messing with me doesn't help. I once had a boss that told me I knew more about the history of India than any one he knew in India. He hailed from New Delhi. He also helped me keep my Hindi up to speed, bhai sahab.
It's easy for an elite athlete to call his coach "fat" for example. It's harder to say, "let me reflect and either respond or work on the issue."
Messing with me doesn't help. I once had a boss that told me I knew more about the history of India than any one he knew in India. He hailed from New Delhi. He also helped me keep my Hindi up to speed, bhai sahab.
Quoting:The instances of violence that hav occured in the past is because of those b*****d politicians, and thats all set to change
I sure hope it does. Changing the status quo of the world is what FOSS is all about. For that to happen, the culture has to change and that is not an easy task. India is not unique in its situation, it is the same in the Arab world and in Africa.
Quoting:no offence but I find this article too offending not only for India but also for other developing countries.
Don't take the article as an offensive notion, take it as an awakening assessment trying to set things in the right direction. You yourself acknowledge how bad the current situation is. So don't be too emotional and accept some constructive critisim.
The keynote speaker at Linux Asia
Well, vitriolic or not you have to love what the keynote speaker for Linux Asia has to say. Linux isn't user-friendly and the kernel people should freely distribute it.
Now, this is the KEYNOTE speaker for heaven's sake. And, India will wrest the leadership of OSS from the world. Hyperbole no less.
Cool.
Now, this is the KEYNOTE speaker for heaven's sake. And, India will wrest the leadership of OSS from the world. Hyperbole no less.
Cool.
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