Hi,
Here are my thoughts on "what government should do to promote Free and Open
Source softwares in India".
The Government in most countries are BIG buyers in IT. Being a BIG
buyers gives them the leverage vis-a-vis the dictating terms on the
vendors. The Indian Government can use this leverage to boost Free and
Open Source software by defining purchase policies of their needs.
The Government purchases can be classified in to two categories - Defense
and Non-Defense IT purchases.
The Government can lay down following buying policy in their tendering
procedures.
Defense Purchases :
The tenders for these purchases should ask for solutions rather
then a specific product from a specific company. This will provide level
playing field to all competing product or service vendors, whether
Free/Open Source or Proprietary.
The tenders for these purchases should accompany the source code
for the products. This needs to be mandatory as it relates to defense and
security of the product should be paramount in nature. The security can
only be ascertained if the source code is available.
Non-Defense Purchases :
As with non-defense purchase, the tenders for purchase should ask
for solutions rather then a specific product.
This tender can have a voluntary clause for providing source code
for the product. However, it should mandate that a product which
accompanies source code will be preferred over non-availability of source
code.
If the above policy guide lines are followed as is or with required
modifications it will lead to
Get superior, robust, scalable and easy to use IT Solution
Lower IT acquisition cost for the Government
Efficient use of "scares" resources
Enhanced SECURITY
Possible savings in nett foreign exchange outflow
More employment opportunities for the people as focus shifts from
products to services.
Providing "level playing field" to all vendors
Reducing governance and leveraging purchase power of the Government
Promotion of Free and Open Source software
The same priority should be there for private sector as well.
HTH
With regards,
--
--Dinesh Shah :-)
Shah Micro System
dinesh(a)indiamail.com
http://dineshah.tripod.com
Mobile: 98213-11906