Big Blue counters Gates' offer for Indian software
IANS
Thursday, December 12, 2002
BANGALORE: After Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' lavish offerings for health, education and proprietary software, his company's biggest competitor IBM has offered to transform India into a software industry hub if it adopts the open source standard.
The world's second largest software company that is also known as the Big Blue is offering to build "enablement centres" for India to shift from being a mere software services powerhouse to a full-fledged software industry hub.
"We are willing to invest heavily in the enablement centres based on what decision the government takes. It should standardise on open source and we will create centres for the software industry to flourish," Amuj Goyal, vice president, solutions and strategy, IBM software group, told IANS.
Source: siliconindia.com
=================================================================
N.S. Soundara Rajan, freelance IT journalist and Knowledge networker, based at Mysore, India
...connecting people to people, and people to knowledge
'Akshaya' project
-----------------
Reports in the mainstream press say India's 'Akshaya' project plans to set
up some 9,000 community information centres across Kerala as part of a
campaign to bridge the digital divide.
These centres are to be established through private initiative, with the
objective of having one centre within two km of each household. The project
would commence in Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram in January 2003 and the
entire State is proposed to be covered by May 2004.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/11/17/stories/2002111704810400.htm
[Note, please read GNU/Linux instead of Linux below... since this refers
to more than just the kernel. -FN]
---------- Forwarded message ----------
GNU/LINUX IN INDIAN LANGUAGES * Call for participation
We are a group of people who passionately believe that the benefits of
information technology must be widely and freely available to the Indian
masses. Our group consists of people who combine skills in written scripts,
free/open source technologies, language experts and technology journalism to
make this happen.
Why Indian languages ?
Today, almost all software and operating systems and websites in India are
in the English language. Since English is a language spoken by less than 10
percent of India's population (generally considered to be the language of
the affluent) language is a significant barrier for the other 90 percent of
India.
This is creating a new class of people who live in what can be called as
"Information Poverty" even as technology becomes cheaper and cheaper. To
destroy this barrier we need to create a national-level, collaborative
effort to localise Linux to Indian languages.
Why Linux ?
The openness of Linux allows local linguistic groups to customise user
interfaces in ways that are far more culturally sensitive than any centrally
controlled approach. Linguistic groups that may be considered too small a
market by vendors can also take their destiny in their own hands by
customising the Linux interface to their own needs. We therefore believe
that Linux is a very attractive long-term solution to India's computing
needs.
We believe that information technology in India in general and Linux in
particular has been confined to the 3 % of the Indian population who feel
comfortable reading, speaking and writing English. Given that there are 1
billion Indian citizens, this is a scandal. Linux and its ecology encompass
almost all areas of computing today from small embedded devices and clusters
with thousands of nodes. We believe that Linux technology should be
accessible to all Indians, regardless of linguistic background.
How can I participate ?
Localising the user interface of Linux to all the 18 official Indian
languages will involve changing the menus and help-text to Indian languages
and creating a whole stack of applications and tools (word processors,
browsers, spell-checkers etc.) to enable computing in Indian languages.
To achieve this goal we are looking for people with either of the two skills
(if you have both these skills, that's fantastic!):
Technical skills: The project needs a variety of technical skills in variety
of programming languages (C/C++/Java/Perl) and platforms such as X-Windows
GNOME,KDE, font development, application development , locale support etc.
Language skills: You must be fluent with the script of at least one Indian
language and be willing to contribute to the task of Indianising the menus
and help text of Linux. We request linguistic user groups and patriotic
individuals to come forward and help us in this task.
Join in at www.indlinux.org
- - - - - - - - - -
Ongoing Indianisation Projects
Indian Linux Project , IndLinux.org - http://www.indlinux.org
Project page on SourceForge - http://www.sf.net/projects/indlinux
Main Focus : Complete language enablement at all levels, building a fully
Indian language supported Linux distribution (
http://www.indlinux.org/distro ).
Indic Computing Project - http://indic-computing.sourceforge.net
Project page at SF - http://www.sf.net/projects/indic-computing
The Indic-Computing project is a central resource for the Indian language
developer community, featuring information on Indian language computing
issues and providing a forum where standards can be discussed and evolved.
The project intends to serve the community by collecting information on the
various aspects of Indian language text processing in one place, and
publishing this in the form of a freely accessible handbook.
http://indic-computing.sf.net/handbook/index.html
Linux Localisation Initiative - http://lli.linux-bangalore.org
Project page of SF - http://www.sf.net/projects/lli
Main Focus : Translation of LDP documentation , esp HOWTOs in all Indian languages
Language Teams
Bengali
http://www.bengalinux.org
Gujarati
http://www.indlinux.org/gujarati
Hindi
http://www.indlinux.org/hindi
Kannada
http://kannada.sourceforge.net/
Malayalam
https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/smc
Marathi
http://www.indlinux.org/marathi
Oriya
http://www.indlinux.org/oriya
Punjabi
http://punjabi-linux.sf.net/, http://www.indlinux.org/punjabi/
Tamil
http://www.tamillinux.org/
Telugu
http://www.indlinux.org/telugu
Others (add you mother tongue)
http://www.indlinux.org/otherlang.php
Other Projects
NCST Indix
http://rohini.ncst.ernet.in/indix
BharateeyaOO - OpenOffice in Indian Languages
http://www.ncb.ernet.in/bharateeyaoo
IITM IndLinux
http://www.tenet.res.in/Donlab/Indlinux/
[If you know anyone who can be a potential contributor, please pass on
this message.]
Big Blue counters Gates' offer for Indian software
By Imran Qureshi, Indo-Asian News Service
Bangalore, Dec 12 (IANS) After Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' lavish
offerings for health, education and proprietary software, his company's
biggest competitor IBM has offered to transform India into a software
industry hub if it adopts the open source standard.
The world's second largest software company that is also known as the Big
Blue is offering to build "enablement centres" for India to shift from being
a mere software services powerhouse to a full-fledged software industry hub.
"We are willing to invest heavily in the enablement centres based on what
decision the government takes. It should standardise on open source and we
will create centres for the software industry to flourish," Amuj Goyal, vice
president, solutions and strategy, IBM software group, told IANS.
"Innovation on the Microsoft platform has moved out. VCs (venture
capitalists) are not investing any more on the MSN platform. Gates' visit
was only to carry the message of proprietary software that will not benefit
the customers," he said.
Goyal, the highest ranking Indian in IBM worldwide, has helped drive the
growth of the hardware leader's foray into the software business and made it
a $13 billion group in just seven years, displacing Oracle from the position
of the world's number two software company.
"IBM was on proprietary technology in the early 1990s. We could not see
outside that. We were trying to look after ourselves, not the customers,
until we started the software business in 1995. Today Microsoft is on the
wrong side," said Goyal, an alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT), Kanpur.
"We will put up enablement centres (like e-governance or e-business centres)
for software centres. Our strategy is different. Customers need to have
control and that can come only through open standards. Microsoft's strategy
is to get in their proprietary technology. That's a big trap," he added.
"Today you can use database from IBM or any other vendor on open standard.
The reason why customers like us is because our systems are robust and
scalable and for support services. If you are caught in the proprietary
trap, the software business cannot be built. Those are hooks and lures he
(Gates) is investing in. Customers don't want that," Goyal said.
He quoted examples of the governments of Britain, Germany and Singapore that
have adopted open source standards. "India does not have a software
business. We want to build the future SAP or a BEA in India by focusing on
open standards."
IBM is leveraging India not only for its "tremendous skills in software and
services" but also because it sees the country as an important market. It
has set up five software research and development centres and a solution
partnership centre in India.
The company has committed $100 million until 2003 for the India software
laboratory in Bangalore, which is being scaled up from a headcount of 500 to
about 600.
"But the skills in India can be applied far beyond the Indian market,
primarily the English-speaking countries in the Asia-Pacific unlike China or
Japan, which are country-focussed labs," Goyal said.
So, was the shift in focus from hardware to software during the downturn
coincidental? "No, it was not coincidental. We have been on this strategy
for the last 10 years. We have recorded growth for 21 consecutive quarters,"
Goyal said.
The software group drives about 30 percent of IBM's profits. It is the
largest supplier of Internet infrastructure software, called middleware,
which accounts for about 80 percent of IBM's software revenue of over $10
billion.
"We are young -- just seven years old -- and growing, and we will continue
to grow. Given the current economic situation, if an opportunity exists, we
will go in for acquisition, as we did with Rational Software (the world's
leading supplier of software tools for $2.1 billion). It makes sense because
it is open standard. We have completed seven acquisitions in 18 months."
--Indo-Asian News Service
URL : http://www.theopencd.org/about.php
The OpenCD is a collection of high-quality Open Source Software. All
of the programs on the disc run under Windows; the disc is intended to
be an Open Source showcase. New users can try out Open Source software
in the comfort of their own, familiar operating system, rather than
having to take the drastic step of reformatting their hard drive to
install Linux.
Currently, the disc is aimed solidly at non-techies. The primary
audience is expected to consist mostly of people who use computers
regularly for their work, but are not power users. This might be, for
example, Jane from Accounting, who spends a lot of time working on
spreadsheets and checking her email. She can find her way around the
computer without too much trouble, but wouldn't know a kernel from a
TCP/IP stack. By showing the benefits of Open Source Software to users
such as these, we hope to encourage its adoption -- in the workplace,
in schools, and by individuals.
The OpenCD features a CD browser application that allows for easy
browsing of the programs on the CD. It also includes a selection of
essays about Open Source philosophy, and links to other programs that
might be of interest.
The OpenCD
The following programs are on the OpenCD. Click a program name to see
a full description, with screenshots and a link to the program's own
home page.
* [1]OpenOffice.org 1.0.1
* [2]DictInstall 0.9.3.2
* [3]AbiWord 1.0.1
* [4]Beonex Communicator 0.8.1
* [5]FileZilla 2.1.1
* [6]Putty 0.52
* [7]WinVNC 3.3.3r9
* [8]XChat 1.8.10a
* [9]Audacity 1.0
* [10]CDex 1.40
* [11]7-Zip 2.24
* [12]NetTime 2.0b6
* [13]Win Privacy Tray 0.5.5
* [14]Sokoban YASC 1.53
* [15]Celestia 1.2.4
* [16]More OSS Programs
These are candidate programs, most of which are not currently on
the CD.
http://www.theopencd.org/programs/MorePrograms.html
Hello
if fact I am using SM56 speaker phone modem and is working(with
RH7.1). But the problem is that it will not work with RH
versions
higher than 7.2. The kernal will not support. I reccoment to use
"Connexant modem". As they provide source code we can use for
any
disto , any version. this should be popularised
sreekumar
On Sun, 08 Dec 2002 Mahesh T. Pai wrote :
>N S Srikanth wrote:
>>But to make internal modem work, it was no way. I installed
>>sm56 rpm,
>
>
>If you use Motorola's SM 56 SpeakerPhone modem, there is no way
>it
will work with GNU/Linux.
>
>I have tried, and resigned.
>
>SM 56 data/fax and data only modems may work, not the SM56
speakerphone modems.
>
>With much sympathies,
>
>Regards,
>Mahesh T. Pai.
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Fsf-friends mailing list
>Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in
>http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends
Microsoft will offer Linux software, predicts META
REUTERS[ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2002 10:01:45 AM ]
SEATTLE: In a major strategy shift, Microsoft will introduce software based on the Linux open source operating system in 2004 for Web services and server software, market researcher META Group predicted on Monday.
Microsoft, which denied that it had any plans to develop software for Linux, is facing a growing threat from the open source software standard as it gains share in the corporate server market used to manage networks and data.
META Group predicted that Linux will be used on nearly half of new servers by 2007, up from its current share of 15 to 20 per cent, making it difficult for Microsoft to ignore Linux as a platform for its database, Web hosting and e-mail server applications.
"We believe that, beginning in late 2004, Microsoft (and its partners) will begin moving some of its (to-date) proprietary application enablers (eg, .Net components) to the Linux environment; this will gradually include the major Microsoft back-office products, such as SQL Server, IIS, and Exchange," META Group said.
In a further shift, META Group said that Microsoft will also re-price or separate its Windows server operating system "so that it can be favourably compared against 'free' Linux."
"I'm unaware of any efforts at this time to move any products onto Linux," said Peter Houston, senior director at Microsoft's server group, adding that there were no plans to detach or re-price its Windows server operating system.
"We have made a bet on Windows, and we believe that customers are getting value from the bet we made," said Houston, "and we're going to continue doing what we've been doing for customers."
Linux advocates argue that Linux offers better security, flexibility and innovation because its underlying code, or blueprint, for programs remains open to evaluation and scrutiny.
Microsoft, which has grown into the world's largest software maker by selling proprietary software that cannot be copied or modified freely, said it is not opposed to open-source software, and points out that its source code is available to approved partners and educational institutions on a limited basis.
Cost A Non-Issue
Microsoft faced a similar situation a decade ago when its nascent server software was competing head-to-head with market leader Sun Microsystems, but Microsoft did not choose at the time to write software for Sun's proprietary version of Unix.
Now Linux, essentially a free version of Unix, is eating away at Sun's share of the business server market.
Sun, a hardware and software maker, is now selling computers running Linux, a strategy that was also embraced by International Business Machines.
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has toned down its criticism of Linux recently, after an internal strategy document said that some of its arguments against open source software has "backfired."
Instead, Microsoft has stressed that its software is more affordable when considering the total cost of using Linux, including ongoing personnel and administration costs.
A recent Microsoft-sponsored study by researcher IDC concluded that servers based on Microsoft's Windows 2000 were cheaper to own and operate when used for networking, storing and sharing files, printing and security, while Linux servers were cheaper to operate when used for Web hosting.
"The IDC study shows that the upfront cost is a small part of the total cost to the customer," said Microsoft's Houston.
META Group's report also came to the same conclusion, saying that Linux's total costs of ownership were likely to be higher for mainstream server applications.
"IT organisations must evaluate platform costs from a total-cost-of-ownership perspective," META Group's report said.
Source: "Economic Times" dt 10th Dec '02
=================================================================
N.S. Soundara Rajan, freelance IT journalist and Knowledge networker, based at Mysore, India
...connecting people to people, and people to knowledge
Hi Listers
I am trying to install GNU/Linux on some of my friends' PC's here at
Trivandrum. The trouble is that all of them have only internal modems. They
would very much like to try Any distro.
Having heard that it works with PCQ Linux 7.1, I installed it at a friend's
PC (dual boot). But to make internal modem work, it was no way. I installed
sm56 rpm, set it up and ran it . Setup was okay , but the modem will not
work. Either " it is unable to find the modem" or " modem is busy"(I made
the sym link, changed the device pointer /dev/modem, /dev/ttyS01, 02 etc .,
"n" number of times). But no way. I posted this query earlier. I am at my
wits end.
Now apart from RH7.3, I have MDK9.0, Slackware 8.1 and Debian Woody (3 CD
set) with me. Will the internal modem (Motorola SM 56) work in any of these
distros without any hassle ?At least 5 of my friends have internal modem
only.
I would like to install GNU/Linux in as many PC's here in Trivandrum, but
only if this problem is resolved .
Any pointers or hints to help solve this problem ?
N S Srikanth
Trivandrum