[ Thanks to Vikram
for this link. ]
“in its technology statement, Aadhaar, the massive
Government of India project that seeks to enrol citizens, puts on
record its commitment to using open technological standards.
However, the government of Kerala — the only State that
mandates the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in
governance — recently found that the client enrolment
software used is only compatible with Windows, the proprietary
operating system owned by Microsoft.“The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) mandates
that all ‘middleware’ used in Aadhaar must be vendor neutral.
However, by using software that is only Windows-compliant, UID
applications have already established a clear vendor lock-in. In
Kerala, which has embraced open platforms, this is a vexatious
issue because Virtual Device Managers – that provide an
interface for applications to devices such as biometric devices
– are not Linux-compatible.”