Dear Frederick Thanks for your mail. I have a few queries for the Indian LUGgers and other experts on open source/free software. Could you kindly circulate this among your friends and ask them to reply to me? Before that, I would request you to answer these queries too. Thanks in advance. 1) Bill Gates is coming to India next week. How do you, as a supporter of open source software, look at this visit? 2) What message, do you think, the Indian and state governments should be giving Gates? 3) Do you think our central and state governments have the nerve or the commitment to encourage open source software risking the wrath of Microsoft and other software multinationals? 4) There has been a recent story, sourced to nobody in particular, saying that India will push into open source in a major way... Your reactions... 5) Can you give me instances of Linux/open source software making a difference in e-governance or projects meant for poor people? Also, can you give me examples of governments talking right on open source, but still depending heavily on Windows? 6) What do you think is the future of Linux in india? how do you rate the progress so far? Thanks. Kindly reply to madraschap(a)yahoo.com. I am looking to wrapping up the story as soon as possible, so I would request you to answer as soon as you see this mail. Thanks for allowing me to make this small demand on your time. S Srinivasan S SRINIVASAN Correspondent THE ASSOCIATED PRESS S-2, Ganga-Cauvery Apartments, Sultanpalya Main Road, Sultanpalya Bangalore - 560 032. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive medley & videos from Greatest Hits CD