Dr Uday Shankar Mahalanobish, better known as
Dr Bish, is a doctor by profession and qualification,
and a programmer by passion. Perhaps not as celebrated
as many of the other Open Source and Linux gurus in
India, primarily because Dr Bish prefers to keep a
low profile. Dr Bish has been an Open Source
developmer for well over a decade. He is currently
working on a health records system, written
completely in Open Source. Developer IQ
http://www.developeriq.com had a brief chat with
him and here are the excerpts:Do you really think you can make money out of Open Source?
Yes. I am meeting my ends by doing just that. I work as a programmer, and most of my work is done only on Open Source technologies.
There is no difference between Open Source and Closed Source when it comes to services. You ought to get paid if you have put in your effort. The difference is that the customer saves money on the software, which he needs to invest in while buying commercial software.
However a consultant will charge him for installing and configuring a mail server on Microsoft platform, and so will an Open Source specialist do for configuring SendMail. The money you save on initial investment on software can be deployed to hire better people or for other work which is the key to your business.
What are the projects you are working on?
Currently we are developing a web-based health-care records system, which can store patient records. We should be ready with the product in a few months and then can demonstrate to the world what India can do with Open Source. It is quite exciting.
What are the specific advantages, which are there in Open Source?
Open Source is exciting and fun. And you do not have to worry about the worms and other menace associated with the other world.
It is more secure and less buggy as so many people can see the code and if any problem is encoutered, they can be removed. And above all, it is free, not just in terms of price, but in terms of choice and availiability.
What about support?
That is the best thing about Open Source. Everyday I face a new problem, and I just post it on to the user lists, and the next day someone will be there with a solution for you. What better support can you get?
THIS INTERVIEW was carried as part of a cover story on 'How to make money using Open Source' carried in the March 2004 issue of the Indian magazine DeveloperIQ. Dr Bish runs the LOST (GNU/Linux One Stanza Tips) mailing list and can be contacted via email at USM Bish <bish at nde.vsnl.net.in>
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