The Hindu: Is Linux Finally ‘Open for Business’?
[ Thanks to Bhola De
for this link. ]
“‘Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it!’
If American humourist, Mark Twain, were alive today his quip would
be about the ‘free and open’ software Linux, rather than about the
weather.“But suddenly it seems in the first half of December, the
weather in the World Wide Web has changed–and after a decade of
hype Linux is finally ‘out in the open’ and ready to enter the mass
consumer desktop. An unrelated series of global events in recent
days may end up providing the final push for the operating system
software that was touted as the only challenger to big brand name
players who were perceived as triple P’s: pricey, proprietary and
predatory…”
The Financial Express: The Unknown Finn And The Indian Babu’s
MS Revolt
“While redistribution of proprietary software like Microsoft’s
is restricted through a licence agreement, the licensing terms for
Linux grant the right to obtain and redistribute copies. The babus
have quickly realised that if India is to put a computer in every
government office–to issue licences, compile land records, ration
cards, whatever–Microsoft and its costly marketing machine is
clearly beyond the government’s limited means.“So they’re doing what China did: encouraging government
nationwide to promote open platforms (read, Linux) instead of
proprietary solutions (read, Microsoft). The Department of
Information Technology is already introducing open-source software
as a de-facto standard in academic institutions, especially in
engineering colleges. Research establishments and governments too
are being urged to latch onto Linux. The result is that Microsoft
is now considering what would be until lately considered heresy: a
plan to share Microsoft source code with a designated government
institution. The details are still being worked out and Microsoft
India will only say they are evaluating the idea…”