President Of India Advocates OSS 702
cOdEgUru writes "I am sure this is a first. The President of India has urged Indian IT Professionals to develop and specialise in OSS rather than Windows. To be noted is that he made the speech (look for the "Think Different" section) at the famous Indian Institute of Information Technology (India's foremost academic institution equivalent to MIT). Also he reminisces that his meeting with Mr.Gates were difficult due to differing views concerning OSS and Security. What should be noted about him is that he is not a politician, but a scientist and an independent thinker foremost."
Great (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Great (Score:3, Informative)
Has anyone else got difficulties getting used to
Re:Great (Score:4, Funny)
I just found a tool [google.com] that can answer most questions like that... don't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret!
Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's a possible answer [microsoft.com].
Incidentally, the Microsoft India Development Center is located very close to the other International Institute of Information Technology [iiit.net] campus in Hyderabad [cyberabad.com] (Dr Kalam gave the speech in I-squared-IT, Pune [isquareit.com]).
In a way I guess, it wasn't surprising that Dr Kalam delivered a pro-OSS/Software Libre speech at an IIIT; been to the Hyderabad campus last year, and honestly, it was a weird feeling looking at a lab full of people using Emacs in Devanagri script. (They were using/developing Anusaraka [iiit.net])
Yes, that's right trolls, they've successfully resolved two computer-related jehads out there. :-)
Re:Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Neither India nor MS seem to be indesparate need of each other, atleast for the software development. The total no. of emps in MS- India is less than 500, an insignificant fraction of the IT manpower of India.
Except for SFU and now a command-shell with
The only reasons (as I understand) that MS does development in India could be PR and to promote their brand of IP and respect to IP. All in all, this development could affect sales of MSware and ruffle a few diplomatic feathers, but is unlikely to do anything to MS s/w development efforts.
Re:Microsoft (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Sure there are other countries with similar time offsets, but Indians for the most part speak good english and those who study computing are well trained.
Re:Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
The day India's prime minister (who holds all real power) says this, it'll be news.
Re:Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
What do you call Lobbying? Donations? Political Action Committee?
In India (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:In India (Score:5, Informative)
There is a sizeable population in India which earns very well and significantly contributes to the Indian economy.
Re:In India (Score:5, Insightful)
You must remember that you are speaking with an American. In their eyes, if you don't live in the "Good Ol' US of A" then you are living in a gutter and probably a terrorist.
Re:In India (Score:3, Insightful)
Let keep generalizations away from conversations.
OT wanderings (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, come on now, no need to be vicious. Certainly, as Americans we tend to be somewhat elitist, ethnocentric, and globally unaware, but don't confuse the thoughts of the most audible with the thoughts of the less vocal majority.. Most Americans don't think that just because someone is a foreigner that they are a terrorist, up to no good, or are a drag on the economy. Certainly, they have some fear of people of middle-Eastern descent, but you can't really begrudge them that, due to the current state of things. It isn't to say that we should be afraid, but if you get bitten by your neighbor's dog, you're bound to be a bit wary of your neighbor and dogs in general for a while, especially if you see them regularly going after each-other's throats. Not to go on a diatribe here, and I certainly thinkg Americans could stand to be a bit more globally concious, but the time will come when we don't have a choice, and that statement up there just comes across as being bitter. Your posting history doesn't indicate you as being trollish or having a particular appetite for flamebait, so I'll assume you're just having a bad day.. Hope that improves for you.
Re:In India (Score:5, Funny)
India's woes? I was insulting Americans. I guess what they say about Americans is true; you guys really can't detect sarcasm without a laugh track.
Haha, I don't have a second account. I guess there are simply people out there who know what sarcasm is.
Re:In India (Score:3, Funny)
It really detracts from a joke if you have to explain it, but I'm getting hate mail so I guess I'll have to spell this one out.
For all the really slow people out there, I'm using something called
Re:In India (Score:3, Funny)
I've gotten bitten by this before. Using sarcasm on Slashdot without using appropriate sarcasm markup tags can be dangerous. Slashdot readers range in density from fluffy air to depleted uranium, with the distribution weighted heavily to either extreme.
Now I realise that you have a gun-toting monkey for a president...
Please, don't offend the monkey! He's sensitive, you know.
Re:In India (Score:4, Insightful)
For sarcasm to work, the speaker has to be respected. Sarcasm from a total stranger doesn't work if the sarcastic comment is the first thing you've ever read by that person, or remember reading by that person.
So, when sarcasm fails, the fault lies with those dumb enough to say such things and really mean it,
not with the reader who didn't "get it".
Re:In India (Score:3, Insightful)
You should have expressed the joke in terms /.
understands.
Then followed it up with a Apu Quik-E mart joke. If you are realy looking to change those -1 flame to +5 funny then make a step 1..N joke out of the Simpsons quote.
It seems to be too late though, you have so
Re:In India (Score:3, Insightful)
Max
Re:In India (Score:3, Funny)
If you are an American than "huzzah, that's another point for the home team". Pints all 'round! Drinks are on me!
Fix your political system first (Score:3, Interesting)
It's a tough choice, I know, between the ideologically bankrupt and wholly corrupt Congress party and the racists in the BJP and their above-the-law backers like Thackarey and his thugs.
When you guys get that sorted even reasonably well, we'll be willing to listen to criticism from you.
Re:Fix your political system first (Score:4, Interesting)
What amazes me most is that people from other countries see the media representation of this country and assume EVERYONE feels that way. While it may be the majority attitude in some places, it isn't the only attitude or even a very dominate one. Most of the people in this country that don't listen to criticism about our government are the same who's life ambition is to be on the Jerry Springer show. In other words, pretty much the bottom 5%, but also sometimes the most vocal 5%.
Re:Fix your political system first (Score:3, Interesting)
As an example, the Indian parliament rejected a measure requiring MPs to disclose criminal history; they almost passed a disclosure requirement for "serious" crimes like robbery, rape, homicide, but then rejected that too!
The BJP is racist and is openly supported by Hindu nationalists that publicly incite riot and have been responsible for hundreds of deaths of Muslims.
Taking criticism of the US political
It doesn't follow (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Fix your political system first (Score:4, Insightful)
As an American I guess I could respond to this with 'the First Amendment', but then you'd probably claim that basic rights like 'freedom of speech' only apply to U.S. citizens.
And really - talk about cleaning your own house. My government started a war over WMD and terrorism, against a nation which has no WMD and wasn't even remotely involved in 9/11, simply to steal that country's oil while proving that Shrub has a bigger dick than Saddam. You want to talk corrupt? Take a look at who's been awarded the multi-billion 'rebuilding' contracts and control over the oil - note how they're directly connected to both Shrub and mini-Shrub.
I'd say corruption is alive and well here in America, and reaches right up to the top levels of government. What are you going to do now? Claim that *I* don't have the 'moral authority' to criticize the government either?
Max
Re:In India (Score:3, Insightful)
Fine, theres a lot of corruption AND poverty here. But that doesn't mean they dont deserve any credit for the good things they do.
Re:In India (Score:3, Informative)
Re:In India (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:In India (Score:5, Informative)
You assume that
working on OSS == working for nothing.
Take a look at the kernel development list. You will find that nearly everyone working on the kernel is employed by a big IT company.
Similarly with most other successful OSS projects. IBM has lots of people working on open source. Ditto RedHat, Suse, HP, Sun, AOL and others. I think it is time we dropped this idea that OSS programmers all do it for free - it isn't the case.
Re:In India (Score:4, Insightful)
So... I write OSS, and it pays. Not *just* writing OSS -- I do much else as well -- but being able to pick up these codebases and debug or work with them contributes substantially to my value as an employee.
I suspect that folks in a situation such as my own are far more common than you think.
Re:In India (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you underestimate the power of the Open Side. Though I have a nice degree and make good money, for any future employment I will primarily refer to my work on open source projects as proof that I am as qualified as I claim to be. Open source work like this - done in the public eye and peer reviewed - has become the best kind of resume and the best way to a good job.
As the economy picks up I'm sure my department will be hiring new system administrators and programmers. If you get two candidates with similar skills, one who worked at Microsoft and one who is maintainer of some Linux kernel driver, who would you hire?
Re:In India (Score:3, Funny)
If you get two candidates with similar skills, one who worked at Microsoft and one who is maintainer of some Linux kernel driver, who would you hire?
Depends on which one gives the best head.
Re:In India (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, of course I see your point -- hiring someone based on their resume alone is of course a bad idea. But just having somewhere on ones resume as "I worked here" is a much easier thing to have, and far less valuable, than the ongoing maintainership of some portion of the kernel (likewise for most large, high-profile projects with a good number of developers).
Re:In India (Score:5, Insightful)
Exacly. No one ever gets paid to write, fix, or administer opensource code. [sarcasm]
If those programmers in India want to get paid they have to write, fix, and administer Microsoft code. Errr, oops. Only Microsoft can write or fix Microsoft code. The only thing a typical techie in India can do is administer Microsoft software.
Heck, maybe you're right. If Microsoft software becomes expensive enough to administer maybe it will make up for the lack of a job doing anything else.
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Re:In India (Score:5, Informative)
when is a market saturated? (Score:4, Insightful)
Everytime I look at it, it is obvious that microsoft feels the same way, else they wouldn't bother in offering incentives down to zero cost, giving away licenses, etc, because there would be no need if they didn't see it or believe it. They could even INCREASE prices if they didn't feel open source was a threat to their dominance. And also tending to lobby for legislative efforts that would further lock themselves in "legally" somehow, establish clear governmental and corporate ties mandated by law. It's a cliche but that is clearly-fascistic. That's a desperation move on their part, or seems so to me anyway.
IMO, this past year hit the turning point in open source being way good enough for about any use,for any user level. Before still a little clunky and rough around the edges, but now? Naw, plenty good enough to compete with microsoft, propieatry unixes, mac osx, etc for well over 90% of any conceivable use out there, at any level. Even a complete GUI person like moi has little problems with normal non exotic applications with Linux for example. 3 years ago I took a qucik look at it and didn't even bother trying, because I knew I couldn't use it effectively. last yerar I tried again, MUCH MUCH better, the advances were probably more obvious to someone like me than for someone who had been using linux whatever for many many years, because they saw the advances in very small incremental steps. What I "saw" was a decade worth of advancement in a year or two compared to windows or like previous mac classic. That was enough for me to predict eventual open source dominance. Open source went from a V2 rocket level to a Saturn V and moon landing in a few years, so that trend and rapidity of development will continue most likely.
And the price is sure right-on, trebly more important in areas of the planet where the average wage is dismal. The security is right-on. The customize-ability is right-on. The enthusiasm is right-on. The mindshare with younger geeks is right-on. The license choices are right-on. Hardware is getting cheaper and cheaper and now it's just a matter of time where choice of installed OS is just common, not an aberration at any retail level. Once that occurs it's a new wide open market again, and it's *this close* right now.
And as to "jobs", any nation makes more money by trading with itself as much as possible, and keeping the money recycliing as close to home, rather than exporting it. India and china in particular are in a unique position where there populations are simply so gigantic that they can take advantage of that. Sure, expat workers sending money back home helps, but CREATING the wealth and money in the first place at home is an economic force multiplier. An example opf that was when the US primarily did this with a more diversified economy, and vertical integration of the various sub niches of the economy. Since we went to exporting our developed ability to create wealth, we've gone from the worlds largest creditor nation to worlds largest debtor nation. India would be WAY smart to not duplicate that mistake,to listen to the thinkers rather than the high level market skimmers, and to seek to get more independent, not more dependent, in IT or anything else.
Indiafarming (Score:5, Insightful)
Hmm, seems to me that the Indian tech firms are able to make it just fine by getting programming jobs from ... the US.
I know a lot of programmers kind of resent this, but it isn't just about them being able to program cheaper. Most of these programming shops in India are at CMM level 3 or higher. That means a lot to big compaines. Not only is it cheaper, but these places put out good, reliable software with good documentation (code, results, requirements, design, etc). That stuff matters. I am currently on a team at my company that is trying to get processes in place to get us to CMM level 2. It is hard. People don't like following processes, don't like documenting what they do, they don't like being held accountable for their work. Some of the good companies in India are at CMM level 5, which is no small feat.
So instead of people bitching about India, and how they are stealing our jobs, and how they are just clawing their way out of poverty, maybe we should ask WHY they are able to achieve these things when most companies in the US are not. It kind of reminds me of the Japanese car scare, where people would only "buy American" even though American cars completely sucked. The cheaper, more reliable Japanese cars of the late 70's/early 80's sure woke up the US car industry. Maybe it is time the US softare market woke up.
Re:Indiafarming (Score:3, Insightful)
CMM is no panacea. It is an indicator of how mature your software development process is - nothing more. If all else is equal, the CMM certified shop will win out. But there is also that killer factor of price. Combine lower price with mature development process, and it is tough to beat.
All of your other concerns are valid concerns, but only one of them can be addressed in this context:
Is it bug free? (meaning does
Re:In India (Score:3, Troll)
Considering that Indian students are respected the world over, even by His Billness, while presiding over a meeting of IIT alumni in Clifornia recently, one would assume the students would be clever enough to understand the import of the statement.
"A lot of the students who attend IIT attend so that they can be marketable in a big business like Microsoft."
For your info., ALL IIT students run Linux on their
He talked to BillG about opensource.. (Score:2, Redundant)
I would like to narrate an event that took place in Rashtrapati Bhavan a few months back when I met Bill Gates, the CEO of Microsoft. While walking in the Mughal garden, we were discussing the future challenges in Information Technology including the issues related to software security. I made a point that we look for open source codes so that we can easily introduce the users built security algorithms. Our discussions became difficult since our views were different.
Re:He talked to BillG about opensource.. (Score:2)
*choke* lor' lumme,.. I'd love to have been a fly on that wall!
Re:He talked to BillG about opensource.. (Score:3, Informative)
Considering SFU was developed entirely in India, as well as the fact that all top 20 IT and commn giants have a direct presence in India, Microsoft would come rather late in th list of
Re:He talked to BillG about opensource.. (Score:3, Funny)
Indian president is a technocrat.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Indian president is a technocrat.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Indian president is a technocrat.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Indian president is a technocrat.. (Score:3, Interesting)
What the hell is the big deal with getting a pilot's license? Any idiot can get one -- I know, I have (am!) one. But I didn't get a cushy National Guard pilot job instead of being sent to Vietnam; and I didn't follow that up by deserting from -- er, I mean just not being there -- even that si
Re:Indian president is a technocrat.. (Score:3, Insightful)
You will probably say that he worked 40 years in the DRDO, India's main Defense research organization. He was an administrator (i.e. management) for DRDO, not a scientist. And his "doctorate" is an honorary doctorate --- he only holds a Bachelor's degree.
100% politician.
Re:Indian president is a technocrat.. (Score:3, Informative)
He also has a DMIT in Aeospace Engineering from MIT (Madras) which incidentally has 2 nobel laureates which is more than can be said than for several american school including Georgia tech(Jimmy Carter's prize for peace hardly counts) If you really want to learn about this great man and his career read his autobiography "Wings of fire" [amazon.com]
true wisdom. (Score:5, Funny)
Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty.
It's obvious Ghandi would of never used Microsoft.
Mike
Re:true wisdom. (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect he would have something to say about that before getting his shorts in a knot over Microsoft's EULA.
Re:true wisdom. (Score:5, Funny)
Well India needs to some sort of deterrent against Microsoft.
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Re:true wisdom. (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, Gandhi believed in the doctrine of Ahimsa, or non-violence. His brand was a bit different from that of the Jesus "Slap-my-left-cheek-and-I'll-show-you-my-right" brand.
While advocating tolerance to evil, Gandhi also extolled self-defence and defence-preparedness. To sum up, Gandhi would've approved the design of nuclear misiles, but with a rider - to be employed after all other peaceful avenues (Ahimsa - non-violence, satyagraha - The path of Truth) etc. were exhausted.
With reference to MS, this could have meant - If MS lives and lets Open Source live - no worries. If they adopt an either-you-or-me attitude, then it's time to act positively and decisively.
Re:true wisdom. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:true wisdom. (Score:5, Informative)
Or more precisely, on Dr Kalam leading the team which made the nuke bomb.:-)
Two different perspectives on this. Larry Collins and Dominic Lapierre, in their extremely readable book, Freedom at Midnight, had suggested that India's testing of the bomb in 1970's was the final break from Mahatma Gandhi's path of non-violence and ahimsa. Raj Chengappa, in a much later book on Pokhran II, Weapons of Peace, asked the same question to the nuclear team, which, of course, consisted of Dr Kalam. The team apparently had their conscience clear; they were developing nuclear weapons not to increase India's fighting ability, but to increase its deterrent ability. We had, to be sure, "not seeked territory in a thousand years" (or something like that; quoting the words from memory), and that, therefore, Gandhiji would have approved.
I'm sure the team meant well, and personally, I've always admired Dr Kalam and the other team leader, Dr Chidambaram, but with all due respects, the deterrent ability of India's nukes (and indeed our missiles) have long been answered on the snow-capped peaks of Kargil. They are not going to stop terrorists from killing Indian nationals or attacking Indian installations, establishments and everything we hold dear. Not just that, we must also note that large-scale industries are not discouraged, alchohol is not prohibitted (or even if it was, the prohibition has been lifted), or village-level self-governance is not encouraged.
I don't know if Gandhiji would have approved, but let's at least be honest here:- India has left Gandhi a long time back, during the days of our first PM, Nehru itself, when we had established factories, dams and other large scale industries that Gandhiji detested so much.
Contrarily: (was Re: true wisdom) (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:true wisdom. (Score:3, Informative)
A combination of a military and religious extremisim in an undemocratic country is not exactly consucive to peace. China is less of a danger now that at least some eonomic reforms have taken place, which give a form of democracy.
India isn't a particularly agressive country and apart from the expense (when so many remain so poor), I don'
Where Are the Asian Indians WIth JBoss? (Score:2)
It is I2IT not IIT! (Score:5, Informative)
What should be noted... (Score:5, Insightful)
What should be noted about him is that he is not a politician, but a scientist and an independent thinker foremost.
Everyone thinks they are independent thinkers. Someone else is an independent thinker if you agree with him, otherwise he's just being difficult.
Correction! (Score:4, Informative)
There are two things wrong with that: first, you got the name wrong: he made the speech at the "International Institute of Information Technology". Second, you're probably confusing it with IIT, Indian Institute of Technology, which is the one that fits the description of India's foremost academic institution. Two unrelated universities.
end-to-end solutions (Score:5, Insightful)
I think India is to be reckoned with in the future. Take the pharmaceutical industry at the moment, India has big companies manufacturing generic medicines.
That story actually reminded of that: give them the source/ingredients and they will try to make it, but cheaper. Obviously they can't make free software any cheaper, but if they try to make it a complete solution, then why couldn't they have a chance of succeeding?
The major problem they are facing at the moment imho is probably a lack of qualified IT people, but give them time, and they will surely be there.
It makes sense (Score:3, Insightful)
Note for the humour impaired: this is a joke
Bit Slanted.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Any guesses as to what these motives are? How could you say that the leader of the largest democracy in the world is not a politician, first and foremost?
I think the slashdot editors should have stripped that subjective statement from the story. Just because a guy advocates OSS doesn't put him on some new plane of existance.
Anyway, hooray for gov't backed OSS. I'm sure if Bush came out and made the same speech, he'd be crucified on slashdot in some strange way.
30% offtopic, 40% troll, 30% flamebait, 5% funny, 5% love
Re:Bit Slanted.... (Score:5, Informative)
The Indian President, APJ Abdul Kalam, has received the highest civilian award in India, Bharat Ratna, before he was elected President. He is a nuclear Scientist, who headed India's defense laboratories.
Re:Bit Slanted.... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the submitter was trying to hint at he fact that Dr APJ Abdul Kalam isn't a career politician, but was in fact, largely responsible for India's missile, space and nuclear programmes (Pokhran II that is).
He was elected virtually unopposed, with token opposition from a Communist Party nominee, so if the submitter was indeed Dr Kalam's campaign manager, he probably had one of the easiest jobs in the world. :-)
Any case, this isn't quite governmental approval for OSS/Software-Libre; it's more like Dr K
Okay, It's time for another tech boom (Score:5, Insightful)
1 000 000 000 million people worldwide using an Os that isn't Windows..... Now, that would clobber Microsoft's world domination plans.
On a side note, anyone know how I can invest in India's IT stocks?
Re:Okay, It's time for another tech boom (Score:3, Funny)
Fuck I better start impregnating women like crazy if we are going to hit those numbers, but if thats what it takes to beat MS I am prepared to suffer and do it. Girls please form an orderly queue outside my door. Preferably supermodels/fit actresses types to the front.
This is what he said.. (Score:5, Informative)
Pebbles (Score:4, Insightful)
With this announcement following the Munich decision, it will be interesting to see if any further cities/states begin to take a closer look at open-source alternatives. If these increasingly influential parties have some success with this decision, then I would think that this could be quite the spur to others who are getting fed up with being strangluated by the ever-more restrictive licensing and lowest-common-denominator quality of many proprietary products.
Are we perhaps watching the pebble begin to roll?
B
Optimistic (Score:3, Interesting)
Using him as an example (Score:2, Flamebait)
equivalent to MIT? (Score:2)
Not that I care to defend MIT, but how is this university equivalent to MIT? I saw the 60 minutes by Leslie "kiss ass" Stahl a few months ago. They way they measured its competitiveness is by the acceptance rate of an exam that high school students take, which any student can take in hopes of passing. I'm sure its a fantastic university, but there is no way it can have the quality of applicants see
makes sense (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, it should be noted that the president of india is not directly elected by the people unlike united states & does not carry that much of a power. I would like to hear something like this from the prime minister of India - which will not happen because industry lobbyists are effective where there is a need for money to run in elections.
IIT, IIIT and I2IT (Score:4, Informative)
RTFA!
He made the speech at the International Institute of Information Technology (I2IT) not at an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT).
By no stretch of the imagination are any of these India's foremost academic institutions. The submitter perhaps meant one of the Indian Institute of Technologies (IIT) here...
presidentofindia.nic.in runs IIS on Win2k (Score:3, Funny)
Great News (Score:5, Interesting)
Whoa....... (Score:5, Funny)
Whoa. Electing a thinker. What a bizarre concept.
Those whacky Indians. Let's rain some "Freedom" down on their asses.
Re:Whoa....... (Score:3, Funny)
Interesting for India's - and the world's - future (Score:5, Interesting)
It has programmers that may not be paid as much as their US counterparts, but for this very reason are being courted heavily.
So, you're the President of India. You're trying to make your country more money. Which will you do: churn your countries workers into Microsoft developers, or work with Open Source?
Microsoft Advantages:
Open Source Advantages:
I'm sure it wasn't easy for this gentleman to have to explain these ideas to Mr. Gates. I'm not saying that Mr. Gates is a bad person in general - but having a potential 1 billion market right in front of you and told that the competitor has the inside track (especially after all the charitable donations to that country) probably didn't help his appetite very much.
The interesting thing is how this will trickle out. Why did Unix make it big in the business world? Well, students trained on it, and when they entered the Work WorldTM, they said "Hey - I can make a Unix server and solve problem XYZ." This is something that Microsoft has bet on as they help finance education - churning out the folks who "know thier stuff".
If more companies are turning to Linux for their development/help desk needs, odds are, a student with an Open Source education will propose using Open Source tools to solve the problem.
It's very, very interesting. There are cracks appearing in the walls, and I'm wondering how much longer the flood will be held back.
Ah, well - at least Apple isn't going out of business this month. (And they're getting pretty good about supporting Open Source too. Hmmmmm....)
Giving your software away hardly means bankruptcy (Score:5, Insightful)
Where I disagree with you is on piracy. I think the operating system should be free, programming languages should be free and that's it. The point of a free operating system is to foster a competitive environment. Companies still need assurances that they can write software without giving it away.
So you think that all software developed, excepting OS-level stuff, should be proprietary? That seems a little harsh. Would you really like to remove the right of people to give their work away? A vast collection of software is available today because people have chosen to work on something in their spare time and distribute it, mostly because it worked for them and someone else might benefit as well.
And is the point of a free operating system to foster a competitive environment? I view it as a side effect not the reason.
Even if it comes to a point where you can't make money writing software, people are always going to want someone/some company to help them use it, implement it or merely document it. There will always be opportunities for making money with software. You just might find selling it tough. I don't think that hurts the software industry one iota - people will end up paying for the most competitive system implemented in the most effective and useful fashion. Companies who build the expertise to make such installations will be the ones who will stand to make the most money in such an economy. Finally we might see a software economy where the talents and knowledge of the companies employees are the real financial capital rather than the number of patents you hold.
Cheers,
Toby Haynes
Can't afford MS anyway (Score:3, Informative)
From the CIA World Factbook 2002 edition...
India:
GDP per capita: $2,540
Population below poverty line: 25%
Unemployment rate: 8.8%
Internet service providers: 43
Internet users: 7 million
True that there are over a billion people in India but the vast majority are involved in agriculture, are uneducated, and most likely will never be able to afford a computer. Its not like this is a major blow to MS.
From a government standpoint, India is much better off using free software and saving money for public health and other more pressing issues.
No Better (Score:5, Insightful)
A little background on Abdul Kalam (Score:3, Interesting)
When India tested its first nuclear weapons (both fission and fusion), Abdul Kalam crowed with pride about how it was an indigenous effort. And this was largely true: They figured out, based on published materials, and with some Russian help and some reverse-engineering, how to build the facilities to generate weapons-grade uranium and plutonium and make heavy water, and constructed the facilities themselves, the latter with very little outside help. This was because they didn't want to be dependent on anyone else for such a critical national security matter.
It's about India being master of her own destiny.
So, it must really grate on Abdul Kalam that so much of software developmetn work in India is focussed on proprietary, and externally controlled, technologies. For him, the OSS model offers a perfect way out, sharing with the rest of the world, but leaving no chance that the rug can be pulled away without India's acceptance.
That said, all he has is the bully pulpit. Hopefully, he will be able to get some of the relevant people, whether in the universities or in government, to listen and take the issue seriously.
Some facts about our President (Score:5, Informative)
2. Current president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is an exception. While previous presidents were just symbolic heads as dictated by constitution, Dr Kalam has actually taken steps to bridge the communication gaps, meeting publically and raising his opinions on matters... to much discomfort of the dirty politicians.
3. Dr. Kalam meets hundreds of school children daily. His vision is to bring about awareness in current generation and imbibe a scientic vision in them. He encourages them to question the things around them.
4. Dr. Kalam has been very supportive of humanitarian work. His team developed an ultra-light carbon composite for heat shields of ICBM Agni missile. Working with a doctor, Dr Kalam made available that material for making artificial limbs of physically challanged children. An artifical leg for children which used to weigh 3.5 KG (7 pounds) now weights 300 grams (less than 1 pound). Dr Kalam lists this achievement in his 3 life time achievements above all nuclear and missile stuff !!
5. He has written two books which are one of its kind. You have to read them to believe them!
I feel bad now... (Score:3, Funny)
I don't even think our president knows what opensource is.
You ask Bush what he thinks about opensource and I'm sure he'll go into a story of why they're bad and how he got opensource once from kissing a farm animal.
In all seriousness, I think this is a very good thing. Last time I checked, India had a larger population than wyoming. If their tech school starts churning out linux guys, their country will eventually turn to linux, and there will be much rejoicing
that would make me happy.
Not suprising & not significant (Score:3, Interesting)
First, I don't find this speech all that surprising. India since Gandhi and his spinning wheel has had a focus on independnce as a people and a country. Nehru - first prime minister of India - and others pushed for the formation of IIT to help India grow their own crop of engineering professionals. In this they have been extremely successful, but the unexpected consequence is that that engineering talent has been exported to other countries. And well it should, for it is top-notch (here I speak as someone who has two IIT grads in my chain-of-command and work closely with a passel of them and am hiring three to work for me in India).
On the other hand, this speech is not all that significant. Dr Kalam's influence is extremely limited. Remember that in India the president is the head of the state, with little - if any - power or authority. This speech is roughly equivalent to Queen Elizabeth coming out in favor of OSS. Would it make the news? Yes. Would it influence British business or political decisions in a significant way? Probably not. The equivalent in power and authority to the US President in India is the Prime Minister.
Dr Kalam hold the larger ceremonial position of president because of his work as the "rocket man". He is the person that gave India ballistic missiles and his naming to this position by the BJP (the leading, Hindu Nationalist party that runs the current Indian goverment) was at the point where tensions were at their highest with Pakistian last year. It is widely thought it was to send a message to Pakistian that India was serious about Kashmiar and would not back-down.
Bottom line, I don't think that IIT grads will be focusing their energies on OSS work. It is their desire to land a job with a Microsoft, Adobe, InfoSys, Tata Consulting Group, or Wipo. These companies are focuing on building and delivering non-OSS software.
Not the same situation. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Anti-Americanism/Microsoftism (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Anti-Americanism/Microsoftism (Score:2)
The world is really ganging up against Microsoft simply because they're American I think (or perhaps they just act "American"
Sounds like motivation to at least be seen as behaving.
Unfavorable action = unfavorable consequence. Really, this isn't a bad thing; though can't be good for open source here, in the states, when its phrased that way.
Re:Anti-Americanism/Microsoftism (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Anti-Americanism/Microsoftism (Score:5, Insightful)
Rein in MS before you become the only country left beholden to it ...
Re:Problems? (Score:2)
Re:Problems? (Score:2, Offtopic)
It looks like they've been testing a few things as of late. [slashdot.org]
Re:I don't trust India. (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't trust the US (Score:3, Insightful)
The US should abandon nuclear weapons and ICBMs.
The US should stop tolerating pograms (sic) against minorities.
The US should address their grievous repression of "lower castes" (ie, people from poorer backgrounds).
The US should respect the Geneva Convention and other human rights in Camp X-Ray, as specified by most of the world.
Maybe if they addressed these, we could take US policy seriously.
It works both ways doesn't
Stand up and be counted, you hypocritical coward (Score:3, Insightful)
According to you
If you don't fucking see a difference between some of the regimes out there and US then you are fucking sick and need to get out more.
Seriously.
There's a reason why you and the original poster have posted as Anonymous Cowards. It's because you are cowards, because you don't have the guts to stand up and say "this is me, this is my opinion, this is what I truly believe in".
And, please, try and get it right