On Tuesday 06 April 2010 23:12:24 Krishnakant Mane wrote: > On Tuesday 06 April 2010 08:02 PM, sankarshan wrote: > > Here's a part that I was unable to comprehend in the original > > post. If the software is installed on the infrastructure of an > > institute, it is generally obtained via a procurement process. > > Or, in other words, there is a document trail that involves a > > quote, an invoice and, a receipt of payment. Are the AICTE > > officials indicating that even if such paper trail is acceptable > > by authorities that sign-off financial transactions, they don't > > look at these as proof enough ? > > It is very simple. > If your quotation says that you are "selling " licence copy of a > certain software, it means you are intending to purchase a software > per say not any service. > So it is not that a quotation/ procurement/ receipt is not > considered a proof, what is troubling them is what is being > actually purchased. According to many people FOSS is free so you > can't buy it. Thanks to the mith which is thriving on the concept > of free as in free beer, people don't think foss can be bought and > sold.
I think the inspectors have a perfectly valid point. Why is the institute paying money when they can download the stuff at zero costs? Clearly the scope for malpractice is enormous. Besides there is a separate process for hardware and software AMC. > I and many seniors on this list like Nagarjun have been warning > about this problem time and time again by clearifying the fact that > free is for "freedom " and people must not emphasise a lot of the > cost aspect. > Now since many of us have really not been so serious > about this, the common but unfortunate believe about "free of cost > " is troubling us now. People don't want to except that free > software can be sold and bought. Yes we can download FOSS for no > cost. but that is just a side effect. Side effect or otherwise, the fact remains that you can get FLOSS software free of capital cost. > We have to educate the > concerned authorities about "free as in freedom ". I feel it is > high time we at least now stop talking much on the "cheep " or > "reduction in TOC" kind of aspects. There are enormous complications in using FOSS code as saleable packaged software. It is the job of the groups who do this to make sure that they think about the complications. -- Rgds JTD _______________________________________________ network mailing list [email protected] http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in
