On 6/6/07, Santhosh Thottingal santhosh00@gmail.com wrote:
The following article was posting at this link http://www.ciol.com/content/search/showarticle1.asp?artid=98103
Red Hat signs MoU with Kerala govt Red Hat to support Kerala's deployment of open source software
Whats wrong with Debian??? What about the IT@School project which is worlds largest debian installation project!!!
NEW DELHI, INDIA: Red Hat has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with the government of Kerala to support the state's deployment of open source software for the benefit of e-governance and e-literacy efforts.
Lots of people are working for Swathanthra Malayalam Computing in order to help people to use Malayalam in their computers which has Debian!!! We conduct meetings regularly to update the status of Swathanthra Malayalam Computing (SMC)project.
As per the MoU, Red Hat will work with the Kerala government to conduct
capacity-building programs around open source software.
Red Hat will train the technical staff of various government organizations on open source applications. Red Hat will also train school teachers in Kerala on Linux desktop skills under a "Train-the-Trainer" program.
Lots of teachers are trained to use Debian. Now why this change???
The Kerala Government's IT Policy draft has identified Free and Open Source
Software (FOSS) as a major strategic component in its efforts to build an inclusive information society.
"Kerala has always been a leader in literacy and now we want to make Kerala a leader in e-literacy," said V. S. Achutanandan, chief minister of Kerala.
"We believe that Free and Open Source Software is an essential component in our drive to democratize information technology and bring its benefits to all sections of society. We are pleased to partner with Red Hat, an open source leader, in bringing e-literacy and e-governance to the people of Kerala."
"The Kerala Government has taken a very progressive step in choosing open source software. The freedom, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of open source helps governments maximize their IT budgets," said Nandkumar Pradhan, president and managing director, Red Hat India.
Is there any advantage for a community project over a social contract???
Red Hat and the Kerala government will also work together to promote Kerala
as a global destination for developing open source software.
This is really a shocking news!!!