--- Keyur Shroff keyur@konark.ncst.ernet.in wrote:

Hi Friends, A good news is that our central government is also taking deep interest in promoting Linux in all area. Government Linux. They have sent a draft to NCST also.

[snip] This sounds damn interesting.......nd i think we shouldnt let the stone gather moss ny longer.

Lets probably meetup.......Lemee take this oppurtunity to invite all like minded gnu-luggers together so that we get this proposal in motion and are formally able to present a decent argument towards helpin the technology starved governement institutions drive down costs and increase productivity(lol...dont know if the last thing is possible..;))

I think this mailing list is the best place where I can post the questions and get answers so that I can forward the information to our government. Please give as much input as you can.

[snip] i personally will make all attempts to give u as much as possible.......and would also make an appeal to all the white hairs of the ilug-bom to donate some amount of their precious time on this.

Last but not the least Mr.Keyur ...........we would love to give u all the info u want. But......lemme stress BUT.......

If u want us to really help, do put the ilug-bom in touch with the actual decision makers as we personally would like to voice our concern towards the increasin deployment of gnu-linux for all our government institutions nationwide.

If u need nythin u r welcom to get in touch with me off the list. I could arange for some of the white hairs of the ilug-bom to meet nd go ahead with full steam.

Trevor Warren

I am directing the revised information/feedback format on "Linux India Initiatives" for your kind consideration and input. The format is as follows :

"Linux India Initiatives"

Information may kindly be furnised under the following heads :

1. Linux - The need;

Kindly send your views/comments as soon as possible.

Thanks, Keyur

===== ( >- GNU/LINUX, It's all about CHOICE -< ) /~\ __ http://www.qmailtheeasyway.com __ /~\ | ) / mailto: trevorwarren@yahoo.com \ (/ | |_|_ \ Urgent ->9820349221@maxtouch.co.in / _|_| ___________________________________/

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--- Keyur Shroff keyur@konark.ncst.ernet.in wrote:

Hi Friends,

[snip] Following below is my contribution to Mr. Keyur requests.

Dear luggers u'll r free to debate and change them asap and also point out and correct the various errors and ommisions in the doc.

Alll but not the least...dont spam or flame me....i am trying to help out. Meet me face-2-face nd we can slug it out.....:))..lol

Mr. Keyur....there 2 some points that i still havent addressed......cause it'll take some more time, nd i cant afford that today. I'll finish that by tonite and have them emailed to this list and to you for further debate and action.

Trevor Warren

The format is as follows :

"Linux India Initiatives"

Information may kindly be furnised under the following heads :

1. Linux - The need;

[snip]

!!! All my references to Linux henceforth are pay symbolic respect to the Efforts of GNU which some of my dear brethren would insist to term Gnu-Linux. !!!

Open source software is different from traditional software in that it holds no secrets -- the software's 'source code' is free for the end user to examine, modify, or build on. With traditional proprietary software (the kind you buy in the shrink-wrapped box at stores), the source code is never released and the inner-workings of the software are secret, not that it matters to all users.

As admitted in an internal Microsoft memo "the intrinsic parallelism and free idea exchange in OSS [Open Source Software] has benefits that are not replicable with our [Microsoft's] current licensing model and therefore present a long term developer mindshare threat [to Microsoft]."

"The ability of the OSS process to collect and harness the collective IQ of thousands of individuals across the Internet is simply amazing," the Microsoft memo continues. "More importantly, OSS evangelization scales with the size of the Internet much faster than our own evangelization efforts."

Linux is one of the most open of any system to date. It not only benefits from the almost thirty years of development of Unix OSs, but extends the Unix model in new ways. Some mistakenly believe that Linux's main strength is that it is Unix, or that it is a free version of Unix. In fact, Linux's main strength is that it is developed with an intrinsically better development model that debatably has the best track record of any system yet devised.

The Internet itself is Open Source Software's poster child, since it was constructed of components built almost exclusively under the Open Source model. Many, in fact, have likened Linux today to the Internet in 1990 (used only by the technically savvy, seeing yearly exponential growth, completely open, and perhaps poised to take over the world).

Open Source is doing what God, government, and market have failed to do. It is putting powerful technology within the reach of cash-poor but idea-rich people. Analysts could quibble about whether that is creating or merely releasing value, but we could do with a bit of either. And yes, that is revolutionary.

The need for Gnu-Linux is expressed no less than in the Government's requirements for the underprivelaged to have computer access at school. The need is there. The hardware is there. But, the money for Microsoft software is not. Linux is, and will continue to rapidly bridge the gap through its high ROI (Return On Investment) as compared to any other Commercially available N.O.S(Network Operating System) and Desktop Operating System avaiilable today.

This movement with the right solution standing in front of the floodgates of a technological revolution will survive the currents of change. Change brings uncertainty and uncertainity brings chaos, but also a ray of hope figures through them all, hope that rekindles the fire of freedom. Freedom to SHARE, freedom to INNOVATE, freedom to ENHANCE and above all freedom to LEARN .....

--> Richard M. Stallman on Free Software making sense for India......

Free software is not only a matter of freedom, but for developing countries such as India, the issue may be price too." In candid acknowledgement of rampant unauthorised copying of software in India, Stallman suggested Free Software as a solution. "If India had to pay for all the licenses of Windows used in the country, it could run into billions of dollars. India can save a tremendous amount of money by not using Windows and other proprietary software packages. India can take massive advantage of Free Software by making an active campaign to discourage the use of proprietary software, and actively involving any free software that is necessary to replace proprietary software, which at the moment might seem to some people as essential.

"You should be able to do every job with your computer without giving up your freedom. You shouldn't be faced with a situation where you want to do a certain job with your computer but the only way to do it is with some non-free program that doesn't respect your freedom."

2. Demand profile segments - such as Home,

Education, Research, Govt, Defence, Business, Embedded systems etc.

[snip]

There is no question of debate about Gnu-Linux being suited for the server front which has been won by us aldready.

--> The netcraft survey for Apache(Another Freely avaialable Webserver that runs on Linux)

http://www.netcraft.com/survey/

Top Developers

Developer February2002 Percent March2002 Percent Change

Apache 22462777 58.43 20492088 53.76 -4.67 Microsoft 11198727 29.13 12968860 34.02 4.89 iPlanet 1123701 2.92 889857 2.33 -0.59 Zeus 837968 2.18 855103 2.24 0.0

What remains to be seen is how far is Gnu-Linux able to deliver on the Desktop front. As of now there are numerous gnu-Linux distributions that cater to the desktop segment which are easier to install and use than any Operating from M$icrosoft itself...... and in most cases and doesnt require a honcho techie to install and get running.

A very simple example....just today i tried the Mandrake 8.2 install which took 25 mins flat without a single reboot & during the whole process installed all the goodies that would put any Microsoft user at comfort. Ofcourse, the learning curve is still there, but what the heck there is always a first time, so why not Linux..........

There aldready is a huge persence of Free Software (like Linux) in the various IIT's and IIS'es ,DRDO and major research institutions all over India being made use of for various research and educational purposes.

3. Present scenario (International) vs competing

products

[snip] Worldwide it has been a trend that Educational and Research institutions have been the first to take up to Linux and various other Free Software initiatives both in terms of deploying them internally and spurring their growth. Introduction of Free Software linux Linux in various avenues of Governance has been slow to folow and is still trying to keep up pace. Any of my fellow brethren from the various Educational/Research institutions will vouch for the fact.

With the issues of corporate governance and e-governance taking pole position among the various other initiatives being spear headedby various governments all over the country it makes all the more sense for us to be making it mandatory for the Politburo and our Policy makers to make it mandatory to make use of Free Software as much as possible and WHEREEVER there are alternatives available to commercially available software.....

4. Issues to resolve : (i) Indian Language Support (ii) Security (iii) Awareness/education (iv) Certification (v) Standardisation (vi) Service Model vs product model (vii) Identification of minimal set of

application

5. Transition strategy - Unix to Linux, legacy port

[snip]

6. Consortium for linux based collaborative

Development? The Li18nux, OSDL, LSB...?

[snip]

7. Action Plan

[snip]

Kindly send your views/comments as soon as possible.

Thanks, Keyur

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On Fri, 12 Apr 2002, Keyur Shroff wrote:

"Linux India Initiatives"

Information may kindly be furnised under the following heads :

1. Linux - The need;
2. Demand profile segments - such as Home, Education, Research, Govt, Defence, Business, Embedded systems etc.

India is a developing country, and as such, we should look to finding low cost solutions while not compromising on quality. While our software industry has been successful world-wide in providing solutions for business consumers, software as a product remains too costly within our own country. We must also realise that much of the software in use within our country comes from outside. This in turn translates to a large sum of Indian Rupees flowing into foreign companies.

Most proprietary software comes with a licence agreement that restricts the redistribution of the software. Persons who do redistribute the software, in violation of the licence, are labelled as software pirates. While it is accpeted that software piracy is a problem and must be curtailed, it is also possible that we aren't striking at the cause of the problem.

What most software consumers fail to realise, is that software is not a product that one buys off the shelf like a tube of toothpaste. The reproduction costs of software are negligible and there are no raw materials involved. The software industry is therefore falls into the services sector rather than the manufacturing sector. More time is spent in providing support for software than is spent in developing it.

Once this is understood, it becomes clear that the software itself should not be priced highly, but after sales service and support should be charged for.

This is where the GNU/Linux system fits in. The licencing terms of this system state clearly that anyone has the right to obtain and redistribute copies of the system. The software is provided free of cost.

This immediately affects the business of software pirates, as there is no way for them to sell at a lower price that which is already free. Further more, it translates into greater cost effectiveness for the consumer.

There then arises the question of support and services, which is what this sector is all about. As mentioned earlier, software falls in the services sector, and therefore, the primary business for linux vendors is in providing services.

This is one area in which India can play a big role, and provide these services to the rest of the world.

As consumers too, one must realise the difference between support contracts for proprietary software and free software. Proprietary support agreements give you support only for the systems that you have purchased support for. In other words, if you own ten systems, but only have licences for five of them, you will get support for those five only.

With free software, this is not the case. Any software contract that you sign with your vendor is independent of the number of copies of the software that you own. Most vendors will most likely just require that the distribution that you use was one published by them.

There are several segments in which linux can play a major role, and is ready to do so at present.

Linux and other free Unixen like *BSD have been very popular as servers. These systems are robust and have average uptimes that run into years. Add to this the ability of linux to emulate legacy file servers like Windows NT and Novell Netware (using samba and mars-nwe), and you have a system that can do well to replace any server running these systems.

Businesses could do well to adopt it if only on the server side. The reduction in costs would be tremendous, and uptime would increase.

One also needs to consider that a well set up linux system needs almost no system administration or maintenance.

When considering client side applications of linux, we would need to divide the business sector into those that develop software, and those that use it. Software developers may need to use systems for which they develop, ie, someone developing for Windows would have to test his software on Windows.

For persons who simply use software, it is much easier to use a linux based system. All software needed can be installed centrally, with client machines acting as simple X displays. This can significantly reduce the hardware requirements of the company, while also ensuring that a sysadmin needs to maintain only a single machine rather than the fifty machines that the company has.

Most office productivity tools are available for linux. Word processors, spread sheets, and presentation utilities exist with several variants avaialable depending on your preferences. Legacy applications written for DOS or Windows can be run in emulated environments like dosemu or Wine.

For research institutes, the main appeal of linux would have to be the large community that uses it and the spirit of sharing ideas between groups. In many ways, the development of the GNU/Linux system has proceeded in much the same way as science has progressed over the last two centuries. There is open collaboration between groups at distant locations with everyone benefitting.

With large numbers of universities around the world using some variant of unix or linux as their base systems, persons in India could benefit from the existing knowledge and experiences of these.

This large community of scientific users has resulted in a plethora of software written specifically to aid in research, and built to run on linux based systems.

Educational institutes, at least those running courses on engineering and computers benefit for the same reasons. Additionally, students of computer science and engineering benefit from having the source code of a working operating system to look at and experiment with. Regardless of the field of computer science that they specialise in, having access to the source code for the tools they use and possibly try to develop will help them eventually.

Another place where educational institutes can benefit is from the ready availability of projects that can be given to students as classroom assignments or semester projects. By working on an existing project, possibly collaborating with other developers around the world, the student gets a good idea of what it is like to work in a team and develop quality software, rather than writing the same old ten line assignments every year. Building a working software that is actually used by people, and then providing support to them builds in the student a sense of achievement and responsibility.

This can only work towards producing a much more capable work force graduating from college every year.

School education can also benefit from the use of linux. Cost reduction would be the primary reason. Schools would however benefit from the large amount of educational software available for linux. Students of higher classes can even be recruited to write software for students of lower classes. Computers are already taught in school at all levels, but what is taught leaves a lot to be desired.

At present students learn to use specific software, as a result of which, they are none the wiser when confronted with a new system. Giving students some variety in what they learn, or even allowing them to learn how to get the job done rather than how to use a tool would leave them better off later in life.

There is of course a lot more that I could write about this topic, but right now my eyes are closing and I can't stay focussed any longer.

Will try and write something about why developers benefit from developing for free software.

Ciao,

Philip