Hi,
Is it a cultural issue? Do we need someone to tell us what to do? What are other reasons for not many Indians in the global FOSS scenery? Or are we shy to talk about what we are doing? See Suparna's example, most of us didn't know we had such an important contributor from India who could take Alan Cox's place at FOSS.IN and Alan Cox recognizing that we made the right choice?
We have started this debate at the FOSS.IN panel discussion on Day 2 and BoF the next day.
http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Challenges This is the page you need to add your comments.
Also there is some discussion going on in ilug-goa now, and you can see the thread here http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa/message/14878
Some comments from Sameer Kelekar, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa/message/14880
1) I think the big IT boom in India gives people jobs easily; and when you do a cosy job, you lose half of the motivation. It is a case of innovation being killed due to complacency.
2) As a society, there is a lot of pressure on people to be successful immediately; and success here means making money. This means that if one were to tread the road not taken, one has to withstand the pressure from friends, family, relatives blah blah blah. What adds to this is the lack of knowledge about FOSS and such things among the common folks (read one's parents, relatives etc).
3) The whole atmosphere around is counterproductive to innovation and risk taking. Those who fail are not looked upon well by the Indian society. What matters to the society in India is success; the means does not matter.
3) We also are not trained to think in a creative manner. Succumbing to authority comes more natural to Indians rather than being free and think freely. Of course there are exceptions, but in general as a rule.
We have a list of the Indian Contributers (just starting to collect all names) here http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Contributors
So if you have contributed please add your name to the list and may be you could explain the motivations that brought to FOSS and the challenges you had to face ... in your page.
Also if you know a person who has contributed please add their name as well.
Regards Praveen