Re: [ILUG-BOM] Importance of Free Software in Democracies.

On 6/11/07, Rony ronbillypop@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

Doesn't this show that some people don't want the public to be empowered with knowledge?

Yes, but there are prerequisites to it. We first need a rational society. That is difficult, in fact bordering on impossible in India because of the size of the population. With such a large population, herd mentality rules rather than rational thought.

Software and knowledge freedom will make a big difference, but do not expect it to change the way our country is. Again, it will affect only a reasonably small section of our population (given the very size of our population, that's quite a feat). For smaller democracies, FOSS has potential to leave a bigger impact.