Hi listers Here is the full text of the news appeared in The Econimic Times dt.09-10= 2002 (Report by Sudha Nagaraj, New Delhi, Oct 8}
quote" Linux turns govt's new 'platform of choice'. THE GOVERNMENT is planning a country wide drive to promote the open sourc= e=20 operating system, Linux as the 'platform of choice' vis-=E0-vis proprieta= ry=20 solutions. Following global trends, Linux is likely to be introduced in=20 education, government and research institutes--with corporate and busines= s=20 use likely to develop alongside. The Department of Information Technology (DIT) is in talk with leading=20 industry players like IBM abd HCL to get a feel of their work in the area= and=20 invite proposals for joint projects. =09Put simply, India being a developing country needs low cost solutions.= =20 Though India has made a name for itself selling solutions, software as a=20 product is costly within the country. And the cost will bite once India=20 starts implementing IPR protection in earnest, as it has committed itself= to. =20 While redistribution of proprietary software is restricted through a lice= nce=20 agreement, the licensing terms for Linux grants the right to obtain and=20 redistribute copies. The only issue is `support and services' which is=20 verymuch India's forte -- entering the Linux environment may prove lucrat= ive. =20 Here too for the consumer, while proprietory support agreements govern on= ly=20 the system purchased (with licences), for free software support is=20 independent of the number of copies owned. =09Having looked into all these advantages, the DIT has already devised a= =20 strategy to introduce Linux and open source softwares as a de facto stand= ard=20 in academic institutions especially in engineering collages through cours= e=20 work that encourages use of such systems. Research establishments would = be=20 advised to use and develop redistributable toolboxesjust as central=20 government departments and state governments would be asked to use Linux=20 based offerings. =09An industry-government-user-developer conference on the subject would = be=20 organised to throw up ideas for specefic initiatives including funding,=20 reliable sources told ET. As for government the DIT would take the lead.= =20 "As a first stem we are persuading all DIT institutions to offer courses = on=20 Linux and programming for Linux environment. We would also setup Linux=20 resource centres in academic institutes. A three-tier mechanism is also=20 proposed to oversee deployment"sources said." unquote I feel the press and the public in general are not aware os the differenc= e=20 between GPL and open source. It sould be rectified. Please suggest HOWTO= s. With regards, M.Balakrishna Pillai
