Re: Free Software Company

[Sudhakar Chandra <thaths@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Radhakrishnan C V proclaimed:
> Coming to the other side of the reality: Have you ever thought about
> the quantum of presence of or contribution from India in the free
> software movement? Almost negligible or near neglible. Do you think
> the reasons are lack of intelligence or mind set? No, not at all.

India's contribution to non-free commercial software is negligible too. 
Indians have chosen to take up work that is not "sexy" to most other
countries.  Take, for example, main frame programming.  Indians have taken
up the maintenance of code that westerners don't like to touch because it
is, in their opinion, a dying field.  Another such example is the area of
medical transcription.

> Just think about the XSL, there is only one browser (Internet
> Explorer) that functionally supports to a considerable extent if not
> fully compliant with the W3C specifications. We have yet to find one
> in the free world that supports at least to this extent. I long to
> write a module in the Mozilla Project, but as a lower middle class
> Indian, I am unable to do it, because, I have a gut and few more in
> my home that need to be filled in at regular intervals. But if there
> is an outfit that can take care of it, I am all the more balanced to
> do the job and my morale will be high.

Welfare states have proved to be non-sustainable.  Greed and an instinct to
survive, pure and simple, are the foundations of capitalism.  The
middle-class mentality (Don't want to loose what I have.  Want more.  Will
not take risks that might result in loosing what I have) that you allude to
(and so many of us have) is itself an indicator of how we dovetail into the
Grand Scheme of Capitalism. 

When you, your employer, your employers employer, your stock holders, your
state, your MPs, your national government are all leading a hand-to-mouth
existence, they cannot afford the luxury of writing software for free.  I
am reminded of Vivekananda's (who was more of a Socialist than most people
realize) famous quote: "It is a sin to preach to a starving man"



Thaths
-- 
Bart:  I don't want to take drugs.
Homer: Sure you do.  All your favorite stars abuse drugs.  Brett Butler, 
       Tim Allen ...
Sudhakar C13n    http://www.aunet.org/thaths/    Lead Indentured Slave