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Re: Members [LONGISH POSTING]
Shimon has started an interesting thread. At the risk of sounding boring,
permit me to post a longish post of an article I had written many months
back. I'm not promising the answers to what he raised, but there are some
interesting issues raised here... thanks to those who's brains I picked for
it. -Frederick.
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LINUX-INDIA | From Frederick Noronha
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OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE LURES TALENT-RICH, RESOURCE-POOR SOUTH ASIANS
"The most fundamental way of helping
other people is to teach people how to do
things better, to tell people things that
you know that will enable them to better
their lives. For people who use
computers, this means sharing the recipes
you use on your computer, in other words
the programs you run." -- Richard
Stallman, Free Software Foundation.
Welcome to South Asia. This talent-rich, resource-poor powerhouse
of immense software skills, finds its abilities recognised across
the globe. But it also finds itself ironically unable to afford
the prices of 'legal' software that it very badly needs for itself.
How does one get out of such a bind? Piracy is no long-term
solution. Young Indian engineers and computer scientists are
looking deeply at an unusual solution. It traces its origins to
distant Finland, and is an operating system called Linux, part of
the Open Source Software campaign globally.
Linux is a developers heaven," says G.Sagar (24), a software
developer and web-designer from New Bombay.
Unlike the software products of Bill Gates and other computing
majors globally, this software does not come with an
unreastically hard price. You can buy it legally for a few
rupees, as low as Rs 100 or less even. Then, you can legally copy
the same software across dozens or hundreds of computers. You
could also pick it off free from the Internet -- time, patience,
and Internet connectivity provided.
But many who are opting for it, are chosing it not because of its
low (almost no) costs. Linux is a very high-quality product, it
gives you the chance to go into its innards and work on it. And
above all it allows older computers to get a new lease of life
since it runs effectively even on slower systems like 386s.
The free software movement as we know it was founded in 1985 by
Richard M. Stallman. The basic tenets of free software are --
freedom to study, freedom to change, freedom to share or
distribute, the right to sell free software, and the principle
that the software 'source' has always to accompany binaries.
FOR INDIA
---------
What does all this mean to India, or the countries of South Asia?
Dr V. Vinay is assistant professor of computer science and
automation at the prestigious Bangalore-based Indian Institute of
Science. He sees many important fallouts. Foremost is its impact
on education. Free software allows teachers and students to look
into the software and not just treat it as a mystical black box.
"Children like to play with things, tear them apart and -- if we
are lucky -- put things back. Free software encourages such
exploration, allows interaction with other children, and learn
to understand large complex programs. Without inducing any guilt
of being a 'pirate'! Dexterity in creation and not in usage is
crucial if a developing country like India has to create its own
niche. Or else, we will merely be followers," he explains.
Eventually, if computing for all has to be realized, even a
conservative estimate of about one million servers at Rs 100,000
per server, will result in an expenditure of about ten thousand
crores rupees on software alone. Using free software will spare
the country of a huge financial burden, says Prof Vinay.
The other major impact of free software which Dr Vinay sees is
on the security of the country. "Free software is software that
can be trusted as we have the source code," he explains.
Linux is not important only from the free point of view. It is
powerful and robust. It is also flexible and gives you the power
to modify. This is important to some; since most commercial
software are US-based. "We need something that can be customised
to our taste and requirements," says executive editor of the
Bombay-based IT Vision publication Prakash Advani.
In addition, Linux has a very low cost of ownership, Advani
points out. You don't pay per client licence, you don't pay for
every upgrade, addon or features. Once you set it up it requires
very little maintenance. As if this were not enough, it's free.
"People associate free with low quality. That has to change,"
says Advani.
Linux, apart from being almost free in terms of price, supports a
wide range of what would otherwise be deemed redundant hardware.
"In fact I know cases where a 486 is used in networks as proxy,
gateway, mail server", explains Sagar, the software developer
from New Bombay.
So far, computers in India have been widening the gap between the
haves and the have nots, says Sudhakar "Thaths" Chandrashekharan.
Something like Linux could change things. Because it can breathe
new life into old hardware and help bridge the gap. Since Linux
does a great job of supporting old hardware, one can get a decent
386/486 machine and have Linux running on it in India for about
Rs. 10,000 to 20,000, argues 'Thaths'.
26-year-old 'Thaths' is himself an engineer with Netscape
Communications Corporation in Silicon Valley. Yet he admits:
"Software copyrights are unfair to resource-poor nations like
India". He is eager to see a Linux distribution specific to South
Asia. "A localized Linux distribution will go a long way in
making Linux popular in the various government departments," says he.
Ramakrishnan M (23) argues that Linux is "very, very relevant" to
India because we have low purchasing power. "Imagine buying a
state of the art C, C++, Perl compiler for any other platform.
Not only that, the bug tracking system, the quality of software
that you are getting is great," says he.
For example, Ramakrishnan works in signal processing. His field
has much commercial software available, including the famous
Matlab costing about Rs 80,000. "A person like me cannot simply
think of buying it. Now I have the option of working in a package
called Scilab which is free (not only for Linux but for all
platforms)," says he.
PIRACY NOT NEEDED
-----------------
"You need not have to work with pirated software anymore. The
support is available for Linux in abundance in the Internet
through mailing lists," says Ramakrishnan. Apart from that, Linux
can work with can even work with 4 MB Ram or even 2 MB. Imagine
running Windows NT on a 486/630 MB HDD/4MB Ram!" says he.
Vivekananda L. Baindoor, 37, is a computer professional working
at Bangalore. Part of the Applied Technology Group of TATA
Infotech, their job is to look at new technologies, get into
them, study them, use them, develop something in them.
Baindoor believes there is a lot of still-untapped software
talent in India. "The right way to tap the talent and get
benefits for everyone is do what 'techies' do. So far we Indians
have provided 'IT coolies' to the developed world," says he.
"We found that Linux was promising. We needed to develop
something which needs tinkering with the TCP/IP itself. Linux
provides the source code for this and hence we got into Linux,"
says he.
Bangalore-based IISc assistant professor Dr Vinay says: "Linux
has an important role... the very fact that it is free software
is a good enough reason for me. Deployed a large scale, Linux
will save India a large amount of foreign exchange." But for it
to grow, he stresses the need of local language integration.
This is single most important development that needs to be
undertaken, says he.
Russell McOrmond (31), an Internet consultant from Ottawa-Canada
and one of those enthusiastically backing Linux in India, sees
free software as a sovereignty issue. "Proprietary licences
restrict the use of computing and can be used in a trade war
against a country. Most proprietary software originates out of
the USA, and India needs more control over its policy by the USA
like it needs a hole in the head," says McOrmond.
Piracy, says he, is not an appropriate solution. "Piracy is not a
valid form of civil disobedience as long as CopyLeft (a system
which challenges the restrictions of copyright) is available, and
I have no sympathy or respect for people who pirate software for
any reason."
"By using Linux, one is safe and his/her conscience is clear that
he/she is not using pirated software. It is an excellent tool to
enable one to study the theory and implementations of Operating
Systems," says Sachin Garg (26) of the Centre for Development of
Advanced Computing (C-DAC) of Bangalore.
Garg informs that currently the Indian C-DAC has proposed to
develop a SuperComputer based on cluster computing with PCs using
Linux as a starting point. The combination of Linux and the PC
will enable these clusters to be available readily and cheaply.
Indian government agencies such as the C-DAC -- though lacking the
publicity of the private sector -- have a larger agenda of
popularising localised solutions such as Indian language
computing. These could be effectively involved with the Linux
venture, its supporters argue.
VaibhaV Sharma(21), a computer engineer from Indore, says Linux
would "definitely play" an important role in the life of future
computer professionals.
Computer educational institutions should take to teaching Linux,
and government-run institutions should also focus on it as part
of their master's and bachelor's degree. "Once any one of this
happens, Linux would be powered with atleast 10 more rocket
boosters," says he. Linux, he says, is now available merely
available at a cost of Rs 95, along with popular computer
magazines like PC-Quest.
IN EDUCATION
------------
Linux users have already been promoting this operating system
from various -- big and small -- engineering colleges and
institutions across India. "Regional Engineering College Surat
also had the first Indian linux mailing list called "BLuG (Bharat
Linux Users Group)," recalls Suman Saraf (23) of New Delhi. Today
he is at Hughes Software Systems, where close to 500 persons use
Linux as their desktops.
"Low pricing certainly helps the students and other freelance
hackers. Indians and South Asians have a good understanding of
computers in general and the open source helps them in
understanding the working of the computer better," says Saraf.
"I love to see the look of amazement when a person sees a PC,
Mac, Alpha, UltraSparc, and maybe even a PalmPilot all sitting in
a row, running Linux. Hmm.. I know a guy who has tons of those
scrumptious SGI workstations too," says Nikk, pointing to the
versatility of Linux to work on a wide range of systems.
"It's time to show people why Linux is actually easier to use --
without any screwy GUI's (graphical-user interface, or the
Windows-like systems which seem to make a computer easier to
operate," says he.
At the heart of this drive towards Linux is a seemingly-simple
mechanism called the mailing-list. Mailing-lists like people on
the Internet, using email. This way, one could keep on discussing
issues and sharing information, as if one were in a perpetual
conference on a particular subject.
Linux-India, as the list is known, has done much to push Linux in
various corners of this country. But, along the way, the Linux-
India's success has also become a drawback. By now, it has become
a huge and active mailing list, with some 400 members. Each day,
you can expect at least 70+ messages to come your way, as Linux
fans across India head home for the evening and another tryst
with their favourite Operating System. Some are put off by the
heavy load, and also the infighting that sometimes comes up, as
it expected on any such diverse group.
There are many questions coming up on the Linux-India mailing-
list, and helpful list-members are quick to come up with replies.
Doctor Y L Narayana recently asked Linux-India whether there were
any statistical programs available for Linux. "You know, the kind
used to do things like analysis of variance and others," said he.
"Linux India is just a seed which is going to grow into a huge
banyan tree. It needs to get more serious people and
businesspeople involved," says IT Vision's Prakash Advani.
Much of the credit for promoting Linux in India should also go to
huge computing magazines, like PC-Quest, which have been bringing
out low-cost CDs to tens of thousands of readers across this
country.
In Bangalore, former Indian Navy navigation officer U Taranath
(40) is an amateur radio operator, who's gone into selling Linux
CDs and other products in a big way. "The demand for slackware so
so good that we started looking out for other Linux developers,"
says he.
"Computerisation is important for any country, company or
organisation. And it should happen within its own financial
resources," argues Ph.D. student Vinod G.Kulkarni (31) of Pune.
Linux is different. Apart from significant gains in not having to
pay for software, they benefit from the fact that the same old
computers remain productive for many years even with relatively
more complex software. This can be a major competitive advantage
for any company, argues Kulkarni. His desire is "to see Linux
proliferate", and is working on some Source software products.
BEST IS FREE?
-------------
It can be tough convincing someone that the best things in life
can, indeed, be free.
Interestingly, at Netscape -- the firm behind one of the world's
most popular Internet browsers -- Thaths' own installation of
Linux was what he terms a "guerilla operation". As he explains:
"I installed Linux when my boss went on a week's vacation. By
the time he got back things were running flawlessly and he could
not complain."
Others have had different experiences.
Says 23-year-old Prabhu Ramachandran of Chennai (Madras): "I had
been using linux at college and was impressed by the fact that I
could do my work on it for free." More so, he points out,
because shelling out $100 is pretty big (for us poor Third
Worlders) for really buggy software which doesn't even give you
one-thousandth of the facilities a simple $2 CD containing
linux can give you.
Indians, and South Asians generally, Ramachandran argues, are
also a very intelligent people and hence would certainly like
software that doesn't assume a "brain dead user".
Prof Gurunandan Bhat of Goa University's physics department
played a key role in setting up Internet facilities here. In
1995, when getting access to the Internet, they decided to go in
for a UNIX-like operating system.
Says he: "In those days, the only place where Linux was installed
at least in a production environment was the National Centre for
Software Technology in Juhu, Bombay. So we borrowed a backup of
their Linux installation (the Kernel version was 1.0.2, I think)
on tape! It might now sound funny if I told you that it took us
more than two weeks to get it running."
Till now, Goa Univ's 486 computer has been working for four years
without a break, though number of users has gone up four-fold.
Arup Bhanja of Calcutta recommends a four fold-strategy to boost
Linux in India -- showcasing Linux technologies available,
stressing the lower cost of ownership, informing users about the
pitfalls of using pirated software, and extending Linux to
schools and colleges.
HIGH PRICES, PIRACY
-------------------
In India, increasingly computer users are getting aware of how
they are squeezed between astronomical software prices, the
falling value of the rupee, and allegations that those who cannot
afford to pay are 'pirates'.
Vinay (34) questions the fairness of copyright laws. "Fairness
and copyright is an oxymoron. They are meant to protect the
haves. Seen within the context of other haves, the laws are fine.
The problem is when the same laws are applied to the have-nots as
well. The recognition that software is different from other
manufactured goods and therefore requires different laws has not
yet sunk into the US government!" Vinay is a researcher in
theoretical aspects of computing.
Localisation of Linux in major Indian languages like Hindi,
Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu is needed, Baindoor feels.
"Software copyright laws are fair only to the software companies
which try to enforce them. Not to the users. The degree of
unfairness increases as we think of the 'developing' countries,"
says Vivekanand Baindoor in Bangalore.
"Legal" software can also prove costly in more than one ways.
Users have to pay high costs whenever they upgrade.
If legal software becomes mandatory, most people would cease to
use computers and usage would go down harming us more. On the
other hand, if India continues to pirate software, the country
gets a bad name in the intellectual property corridors worldwide,
argues Arup Bhanja (28), who worked on various software projects
in India and abroad before settling down in Calcutta with his
Internet consulting business offering low-cost value-added
services in the Internet media.
"When software is developed in India at lower costs (offshore
development) and sold all over the world at high price who is
benefitting more?," asks Arup Bhanja.
"My belief in copyrights has been influenced heavily by Richard
Stallman, who says that a book or a piece of software is a global
resource, and if you prevent people from using it you're reducing
global wealth," adds Raj Mathur of Delhi.
Raj Mathur puts the argument this way -- just one C compiler for
Windows may cost me the equivalent of one months' salary in
India, while in the US I could get it for, say, one-fifty of my
one months salary. "So the problem is with the buying power that
we have," says Mathur. If Coke can sell itself at far lower
prices in the Third World than it does in the West, and the same
holds true for books, why don't software companies lower their
prices in this poorer part of the globe, he asks.
NOT JUST COSTS
--------------
But, with a product like Linux, it's often not just a question of
costs alone.
Mukund who manufactures industrial electronic products from
Nagpur does not think that the 'free' tag on Linux will make any
difference. After all "in India, 90% PCs run on pirated
software," he argues. But Linux will be accepted for its
stability and compatibility. India's rich software talent could
also give a boost to Linux, he feels.
"We are all poor people and believe in piracy only (look at
China). So whether the software is copyright, copyleft or open
source does not matter to South Asians," Mukund argues bluntly.
K.Arun, a 19 year old biochemistry undergraduate from Madras
says Linux interests him "primarily because I'm a neophile, and
love tinkering with stuff." He also points out that there is a
huge amount of scientific software available for UNIX/Linux.
Some Indians, like Ramakrishnan, find the idea of Open Source
software to be the "most revolutionary idea of the decade".
Everyone interested in Linux should read about The GNU Project,
as outlined on the web-site www.gnu.org "I have read it several
times," says Ramakrishnan. He is doing his MS in Communication
Systems from the IIT in Madras. "In future I want to contribute
something for Linux software. I would also like to contribute
monetarily towards FSF as and when I get a decent job," says he.
"The community spirit must be fostered by tapping the young
computer users in schools and colleges," says 32-year-old Bhyrava
Prasad, country manager for Insight Solutions' India office in
Hyderabad. He is gushing in his praise for Linux: "The future
Linux in the world is brighter than a thousand suns." (ENDS)
Separate box please...
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LINUX -- WHAT, FROM WHERE, WHY?
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People want to believe they get what they pay for. Whether it's a
new car or TV set, it's easy to believe that you get quality if
your pay a bigger price. Not so in the world of software. The
Linux operating system may prove that, sometimes, the best things
in life are free.
Linux is an operating system that runs on Intel-based (and other)
computers and that works a lot like proprietary versions of UNIX
operating systems and Windows NT. It was invented some eight
years ago by Linus Torvalds, a student at the University of
Helsinki in Finland.
Linux's origins itself are strange: Dissatisfied with his choice
of operating systems, Torvalds wrote one that he liked. After he
had made the source code publicly available on the Internet, a
community of developers arose that has built on, improved and
expanded his work.
Current estimates of Linux users worldwide put the numbers of
users at between 8 to 10 million. Linux source code (the internal
instructions that make up the software) is publicly accessible.
This means that there are thousands of developers -- around the
globe -- working often voluntarily on developing Linux. (END#BOX)
Separate box item please...
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WHY NOT IN INDIA?
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Are Indians contributing to the Linux kitty? Or are we only
dipping into the common global pool currently? If so, why?
The widespread view here is that the latter's the case.
Swapan "Swaps" Sarkar an engineer from the prestigious IIT
Kharagpur, is 26 and is located near Chicago. He argues that
countries with high telecom and Internet penetration have
contributed the most to the free software/Linux movement.
Says he: "We in India lack this medium to be able to contribute
meaningfully. Contrast this with the Indians and South Asians who
have gone abroad to universities and companies and are
contributing to projects as varied as Mozilla and Icecast."
Says Kulkarni: "Already at many institutions, the students do
projects in Linux. However they lack technical guidance. This can
change drastically when the Internet proliferates in India. We can
then expect contributions to be made to the Linux kitty."
"Indians are definitely contributing to the growth of Linux. In
fact there are a few how-to's written by Indians which come as
part of distributions. But am not too sure if its by expatriate
Indians in the US or generic Indians," argues software developer
G. Sagar from New Bombay.
Regions like South Asia could surely support the global Linux
effort. They could do so by developing applications, putting
money into Linux-related ventures, support Linux (either for free
or for a fee), and advocating the use of this unusual operating
system.
"Putting money into Linux-related ventures has started to happen.
Look at firms like Pacific Hitech and G T Enterprises in India.
But this is still on a small scale, possibly because of the
local economic situation and the general low-capita incomes,"
says Raj Mathur (38) of Delhi, who has been in the IT industry
for the past decade and half.
Indian firms like HCL have announced it's Linux support
initiative. Bangalore-based C & B Consulting of Bangalore is
already doing it, Mathur points out.
Linux-India's list-maintainer Arun has published a few utilities
for the popular Linux application, called KDE, says Chetan Kumar
(23), a software engineer in an infotech company in Bangalore.
Currently, no Asian country -- apart from Australia, Japan and
Korea -- really contribute to the development of Linux. Many
current developers though may be of Asian origins. But, given
time, it is hoped that software experts in South Asia itself will
begin contributing, says Philippe Kouao(23), a Linux network
administrator from Bangalore.
"With the kind of Internet services available in India, it might
take some time before a programmer base develops in India," says
Goa University's Gurunandan Bhat. He feels that since most
universities and colleges have yet to get even a decent Internet
link, it is no surprise that our biggest potential developer base
is lost to us even before we get started.
In the view of Netscape's Sudhakar Chandrashekharan, people of
Indian origin (NRIs) have made significant contributions to the
Linux effort. But people in India, in general, have been
consumers of the efforts of others.
"Not that there is anything wrong with that. In the Open Source
mode of development a large group of savvy users is as important
as a group of developers," 'Thaths' Chandrashekharan argues. And
as the internet connectivity in schools and colleges improves,
more and more students -- who are the primary source of
innovation in the rest of world -- would start contributing to
the Linux effort in India. (ENDS#BOX2)