"India has a diverse range of interest groups promoting
the adoption of open source software. Major motivators for these
groups include politics and special interests, government programs,
outsourcing service requirements, and education as well as skills
training. Global issues such as software patents vs. freedom of
knowledge and adoption of open standards have also become pivots
around which local organizations and activists promote free and
open source software.
"An example where the national government has acted as a key
motivator is its initiative to setup a National Resource Centre for
Free and Open Source Software (NRCFOSS)[1] in April 2005. NRCFOSS
is a joint venture between an university-based research lab (AU-KBC
Centre) and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
(C-DAC). This step recognizes the fact that free and open source
software is here to stay and it represents a paradigm shift in
computing that is poised to change the Indian IT industry."