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Public Software for the Public Sector
Comments on the statements made by Microsoft India Group Director (Public Sector) Karan Bajwa
Microsoft India Group Director (Public Sector) Karan Bajwa in an interview with Pravin Prashant made several contestable statements from which I will pick a couple. Read Full Interview
His statement that "Anything free is not sustainable and there is something behind which will hit you and one cannot get out of the pitfall" has been contradicted by Microsoft on the same day! See news item that Microsoft has decided to discontinue its Encarta (encyclopaedia) product. See: http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Apr12009/cyberspace20090331127359.asp.
This is because it could not compete or measure up against Wikipedia which is based on the collaborative and free sharing principles like free software is. So his own company has accepted the superiority of the free and collaborative models that are very possible in the digital world, over proprietary models. The same realisation is yet to hit them in the case of MS Windows and MS Office, but the growing popularity of Ubuntu GNU/Linux operating system and Open Office to name couple of free software applications is a writing on the wall.
Basically the simple question to our Indian Governments is: Should we purchase proprietary software on a 'pay per user' model when comparable free software alternatives are available and are already being used by millions all over the world? Why should a poor country enrich the richest company in the world and get locked into their proprietary model, when instead the Government can adopt free software and support large number of small enterprises and the community of free software developers across the country and the world?
In India, Kerala is already successfully doing this and saving hundreds of crores of scarce public funds. The freedom to share the software is essential for the equitable spread of the IT revolution in India.
Thus it is not a 'technology battle between proprietary model and free software' as Mr Bajwa claims. Rather the commercial interests of Microsoft and that of the Government and Indian society in this case are in conflict and hopefully Governments will decide in favor of the Public interest and adopt and promote free software. No wonder the election documents of both the left (CPM) and right (BJP) endorse free software as being in the public interest. (see www.Public-Software.in for these manifestos and also for other reasons why FOSS should be adopted).
Specially in the case of education, Microsoft Academies prohibit the teaching of Free Software applications which is against basic pedagogical principles and enslaves Indian students to single software platform whereas free software is far superior since the learner has the freedom to study,modify and distribute the software. Hence education departments should clearly reject proprietary software and give their students meaningful learning options.
His statement that "Anything free is not sustainable and there is something behind which will hit you and one cannot get out of the pitfall" has been contradicted by Microsoft on the same day! See news item that Microsoft has decided to discontinue its Encarta (encyclopaedia) product. See: http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Apr12009/cyberspace20090331127359.asp.
This is because it could not compete or measure up against Wikipedia which is based on the collaborative and free sharing principles like free software is. So his own company has accepted the superiority of the free and collaborative models that are very possible in the digital world, over proprietary models. The same realisation is yet to hit them in the case of MS Windows and MS Office, but the growing popularity of Ubuntu GNU/Linux operating system and Open Office to name couple of free software applications is a writing on the wall.
Basically the simple question to our Indian Governments is: Should we purchase proprietary software on a 'pay per user' model when comparable free software alternatives are available and are already being used by millions all over the world? Why should a poor country enrich the richest company in the world and get locked into their proprietary model, when instead the Government can adopt free software and support large number of small enterprises and the community of free software developers across the country and the world?
In India, Kerala is already successfully doing this and saving hundreds of crores of scarce public funds. The freedom to share the software is essential for the equitable spread of the IT revolution in India.
Thus it is not a 'technology battle between proprietary model and free software' as Mr Bajwa claims. Rather the commercial interests of Microsoft and that of the Government and Indian society in this case are in conflict and hopefully Governments will decide in favor of the Public interest and adopt and promote free software. No wonder the election documents of both the left (CPM) and right (BJP) endorse free software as being in the public interest. (see www.Public-Software.in for these manifestos and also for other reasons why FOSS should be adopted).
Specially in the case of education, Microsoft Academies prohibit the teaching of Free Software applications which is against basic pedagogical principles and enslaves Indian students to single software platform whereas free software is far superior since the learner has the freedom to study,modify and distribute the software. Hence education departments should clearly reject proprietary software and give their students meaningful learning options.