Dear Friends,
This is Srikanth RP from Express Computer, an IT business news magazine from the Indian Express group. As I am planning an article on 'India's contribution to Linux', I would like your views on the same. Please spare some time to answer the following questions.
1. Why do you think Linux is important to India?
2. Have Indians contributed to the growth of Linux? Can you mention some names or examples? Have any Indians contributed to the development of the Kernel?
3. What do you think about the Linux movement in India? What is the current scenario? Why companies like IBM are keen on promoting Linux?
4. Has the Indian government showing a keen interest in Linux ? Can you mention some names and examples?
5. Do you know of any companies in India who have developed applications for the Linux platform?
6. What do you think should be done to promote the growth of Linux in India?
Thanks and regards,
Srikanth RP Reporter Express Computer
Srikanth RP
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On Jul 6, 2001 at 12:48, Srikanth R P wrote:
- Why do you think Linux is important to India?
We don't have to pay Microsoft or any foreign company. Saves forex (I'm sure someone will have evidence negating what I'm saying).
- Have Indians contributed to the growth of Linux? Can you mention
Yes! PCQ, Chip, FreeOS! At least!
some names or examples? Have any Indians contributed to the development of the Kernel?
Looking through CREDITS for the Linux kernel (these names are Indian, but note that they're not *in* India):
N: Krishna Balasubramanian E: balasub@cis.ohio-state.edu D: Wrote SYS V IPC (part of standard kernel since 0.99.10)
N: Arindam Banerji E: axb@cse.nd.edu D: Contributed ESDI driver routines needed to port LINUX to the PS/2 MCA. S: Department of Computer Science & Eng. S: University of Notre Dame S: Notre Dame, Indiana S: USA
This is from kernel 2.2.14.
- What do you think about the Linux movement in India? What is the
It's a good thing. Linux, unlike the more widely-used Windows, gets us closer to the machine in some ways. Good for the colleges.
- Has the Indian government showing a keen interest in Linux ? Can
you mention some names and examples?
No.
- What do you think should be done to promote the growth of Linux in India?
It's going fine. Little more awareness is required.
I need some testimonials, Reports on Linux usage, acceptance & penetration. All Linux lovers are kindly requested to extend help. Send me URLs etc. sandeep
some names or examples? Have any Indians
contributed to the
development of the Kernel?
Looking through CREDITS for the Linux kernel (these names are Indian, but note that they're not *in* India):
N: Krishna Balasubramanian E: balasub@cis.ohio-state.edu D: Wrote SYS V IPC (part of standard kernel since 0.99.10)
N: Arindam Banerji E: axb@cse.nd.edu D: Contributed ESDI driver routines needed to port LINUX to the PS/2 MCA. S: Department of Computer Science & Eng. S: University of Notre Dame S: Notre Dame, Indiana S: USA
Also, though not directly related to Linux, but free software all the same, you have Gurusamy Sarathy of the U. of Michigan, who did the Perl port to Windows.
Rgds,
Krishnan
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--- Srikanth R P linux_india@rediffmail.com wrote:
Dear Friends,
- Why do you think Linux is important to India?
[snip] One could look at this in different perpectives. Talkin about Linux in the Enterprise, there is every reason why one shoule make the right decision to go in for Linux. It's the most robust, reliable, efficient, stable UNIX like OS available for a price u just can't beat......FREE. That apart....Talkin abt Linux@the desktop. Linux has a Learnin curve thats quite steep as compared to other OS'es like windoZe, and it may not hav the click...click...click technology as windoZe, But the most important aspect is, it will help our educational/ governement institution save a lot of dough and increase productivity and reduce downtime on all it's systems.
- Have Indians contributed to the growth of Linux?
Can you mention some names or examples? Have any
[snip] i hav aldready lost count of the nos....but most of the indian contributors may not be ny longer on their home ground...'-)
Indians contributed to the development of the Kernel?
[snip] I think satya has aldready answered the ?.
- What do you think about the Linux movement in
India?
[snip] Somethin really major to write home abt. Many large MNC's and corporates r takin to this new revolution. But for most it's not abt reliability, security or price but whether it can be as easily configured as windoZe...and thanks to all the geeks around. Things r changin.
What is the current scenario? Why companies like IBM are keen on promoting Linux?
[snip] This time around....IBM doesn't want to miss the turn on the road. Like it did sometime ago loosin out to Bill Gates and the wintel world. It's interest is in nature totally commercial, but watever it is it's realy helpin promote Linux. Havin come a long way ...from somethin by the geeks...for the geeks.....'-)
- Has the Indian government showing a keen interest
in Linux ? Can you mention some names and examples?
[snip] government........'-). Nothin that i know of.. But the IISc@banglore has a cewl project called simputer(www.simputer.org). A cheap handheld on Linux for the masses usin the concept of Open Hardware. As far as companies r concerned....PCQ....
- Do you know of any companies in India who have
developed applications for the Linux platform?
[snip] many....ton's of them.... Even my co has many of them....'-)
- What do you think should be done to promote the
growth of Linux in India?
[snip] introduce the concept of GNU philosophy and the Open Source concept in schools havin the young generation get hands on Linux ASAP and as early in life as possible.
Trevor Warren trevor@freeos.com
Thanks and regards,
Srikanth RP Reporter Express Computer
Srikanth RP
===== ( >- LINUX, It's all about CHOICE -< ) /~\ __ http://www.trevorwarren.com __ /~\ | ) / mailto: trevorwarren@yahoo.com \ (/ | |_|_ \ Urgent ->9820349221@maxtouch.co.in / / _|_| ___________________________________/
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On 6 Jul 2001, Srikanth R P wrote:
[cc'ed to original poster]
- Why do you think Linux is important to India?
Linux is `free software'. Free as in the four freedoms provided by the GPL, not necessarily free of cost. These freedoms allow us primarily, to see the source, and more importantly to modify it. What does all this mean to India?
- First off, having access to the source means we can perform our own security audits on it. This is the main reason why most security oriented organisations use open source software. This is also the reason why certain other governments (Germany and China in particular) have chosen to use free software rather than proprietary software.
- We could also customise the source for specific needs. Building an OS from scratch is a huge task. Having a ready made base to build up from cuts a few years off the development time. This is a great advantage for Indian software houses. Apart from the OS kernel, there are innumerable commercial quality packages to perform almost all other tasks.
- In education, linux is probably the ideal place for students to learn about operating systems and networks. Linux as a networking system is most excellent because it has support for almost every network around. Apart from the default TCP/IP and NFS servers that are common on Unix, linux can be used as a Windows NT file server using SaMBa, as a Novell Netware server using Mars-nwe, as an Appletalk peer, and many more. In many cases, the linux versions of these servers are actually faster than the original on the same hardware.
- Works on cheaper hardware than most other popular software. This makes it possible for us to still use old hardware with linux. I personally still use a Pentium 133 Mhz machine that gives me very good performance. With a powerful server exporting applications to less powerful clients with only an X server, we can run heavy applications like StarOffice on even a 386. This has been done by some of the luggers at HBCSE.
- Amazing support for development tools. The linux community has a very large number of development tools - the community being made up mostly of developers. Compilers for virtually every language around exist (C# is an exception). There is even a limited VB interpreter. Support for all existing protocols is introduced almost immediately after the protocol is developed. And the best unix editors with built in language support. Regex support in everything is what makes it so cool.
The shell has amazing tools that make everything easier. After having used the unix shell, one wonders how one ever did without it.
- Have Indians contributed to the growth of Linux? Can you mention
some names or examples? Have any Indians contributed to the development of the Kernel?
- Do you know of any companies in India who have developed
applications for the Linux platform?
Well, the various lugs in India contribute a lot by way of advocacy and support. Several people also work on applications for linux. As far as kernel development goes, others have already answered this question, so I won't. What is really needed though, are linux based applications, and many Indians do work on these as has already been mentioned by others.
I have personally developed a few applications, most notably my program called `httptype' that has received over 2000 downloads from freshmeat. Although most of my programs were developed for and under linux, they are cross-platform, and work on any system where the required compilers/interpreters run.
I have also worked on a few other GPL'ed products, having submitted patches for the namazu search engine (http://www.namazu.org/) and a minor bug fix in squishdot (http://www.squishdot.org/ BSD Licence)
- What do you think about the Linux movement in India? What is the
current scenario? Why companies like IBM are keen on promoting Linux?
- What do you think should be done to promote the growth of Linux
in India?
It's going along pretty well. Needs more awareness though, but then, we've also got to educate people about the difference between hackers and crackers. You can read my article on the topic at http://www.ncst.ernet.in/~philip/writings/hackers-not-crackers.html, but that's a different topic.
What is really needed is to tell people why open source software is good for them and why proprietary software is bad. We need to tell people that linux is really easy to use (it is now), and that it solves many of the problems that they've had with windows. We should also get linux into schools, cybercafes, and companies.
Explaining how linux will be beneficial and cost effective to schools, will convince the administrators. We can look to the K12 and Mexico projects to see how they've done it and how successful they've been.
- Has the Indian government showing a keen interest in Linux ? Can
you mention some names and examples?
There was mention of the BJP trying to push linux, (http://tumtumonline.tripod.com/), but since this is a tripod site, I have certain doubts about that. You could check it out and decide for yourself.
Hope this will help with your article.
Philip
In case I forgot to mention it earlier, NCST is working on the Indianisation of linux. Most of you may not know it, but we developed the Indian language support that is in Office and Windows 2000. We are now developing it for linux and X.
Philip
On Friday 06 July 2001 18:18, Srikanth wrote:
Dear Friends,
This is Srikanth RP from Express Computer, an IT business news magazine from the Indian Express group. As I am planning an article on 'India's contribution to Linux', I would like your views on the same. Please spare some time to answer the following questions.
- Why do you think Linux is important to India?
The biggest stumbling block to development is lack of information, which is the CAPITAL of the information society. Place restrictions in the form of patents and licensing on the flow of information and you are are in essence creating monopolies and preventing development. (Microsoft uses huge chunks of BSD code in it's win2000 and XP suites. These form the core of it's .NET strategy. Yet it chooses to place draconian restrictions on usage and blackmouth the very same opensource movement from which it is trying to build a future). Added to this is the high cost of traditional proprietary software and it's anglo centric nature. The GNU foundation recognises this draconian restriction and choooses to fight this by providing tools of the information age free of cost and encumberances in the form operting system, development tools, and application software. A typical Linux distro consists of the linux kernel and thousands of applications and tools without cost and encumberances.
The Linux kernel and most of the accompanying software is provided with source code and is essentially free of cost. Thus it is possible to customise and reuse all of the code.
These are the prime reason why India must adopt opensource - freedom to innovate and adapt.
Our technical educational institutions lag behind their western counterparts mainly due to the very high cost of development tools. A typical linux distro comes with software tools worth several hundred dollars and do not require any royalty payments on products developed using them. Further sophisticated hardware development tools like VHDL compilers, simulators, VLSI design tools, and the cores of sophisticated microprocessors costing upwards of USD25,000/- is avaiable for free.
- Have Indians contributed to the growth of Linux? Can you
mention some names or examples? Have any Indians contributed to the development of the Kernel?
- What do you think about the Linux movement in India? What is
the current scenario? Why companies like IBM are keen on promoting Linux?
The major cost of software is in development, a major chunk of this is testing and debugging. Development depends on a continuos flow of ideas.
The opensource development model scales linearly on both counts since thousands of developers are contributing to both areas. Thus commercial companies like IBM find that they can reduce their development cost to zero and at the same time have development on a scale that would bankrupt most companies. (witness Microsoft crying hoarse ;-)).
- Has the Indian government showing a keen interest in Linux ?
Can you mention some names and examples?
http://www.gnu-india.org A project known as sarai has been started in Delhi for providing computing resources using opensource to slum dwellers.
- Do you know of any companies in India who have developed
applications for the Linux platform?
- What do you think should be done to promote the growth of
Linux in India?
Accurate verification of PR stuff dished out by the proprietary software companies before publishing.
Looking forward to your article.
Sometime today, jtdyahoo wrote:
[snip] (Microsoft uses huge chunks of BSD code in it's win2000 and XP suites. These form the core of it's .NET strategy. Yet it chooses to place draconian restrictions on usage and blackmouth the very same opensource movement from which it is trying to build a future).
MS has no problems with *BSD and their licenses. They have a problem with the GNU GPL, and they don't use GPLed code. (At least you can't prove they do.)
Added to this is the high cost of traditional proprietary software and it's anglo centric nature. The GNU foundation recognises this draconian restriction and choooses to fight this by providing tools of the information age free of cost and encumberances in the form [snip]
^^^^^^^^^^^^ That's NOT why GNU chooses to offer stuff free of cost. In fact, it doesn't offer free of cost, unless you download from FTP or go and beg them for a CD or other medium. The cost at which you can obtain the stuff is reasonable, and worth it.
The Linux kernel and most of the accompanying software is provided with source code and is essentially free of cost. Thus it is possible to customise and reuse all of the code.
It is possible and legal to customise and re-use NOT because it is free of cost, but because of the way the programs are licensed. They offer you some 4 freedoms, which Philip has mentioned in an earlier post. Please do not confuse the cost factor with the freedom to customise.
These are the prime reason why India must adopt opensource - freedom to innovate and adapt.
I think open source end-user software will turn out to be a lot cheaper for Indian user. At best, you can get it free of cost by borrowing a CD from your neighbour. You cannot do that with proprietary software because that amounts to piracy and illegal use. It will help businesses cut costs by employing software that does not require per-cpu licenses and useless farcical support.
Manish
On Wednesday 11 July 2001 12:08, Manish wrote:
Sometime today, jtdyahoo wrote:
Added to this is the high cost of traditional proprietary software and it's anglo centric nature. The GNU foundation recognises this draconian restriction and choooses to fight this by providing tools of the information age free of cost and encumberances in the form [snip]
^^^^^^^^^^^^That's NOT why GNU chooses to offer stuff free of cost. In fact, it doesn't offer free of cost, unless you download from FTP or go and beg them for a CD or other medium. The cost at which you can obtain the stuff is reasonable, and worth it.
Downloading - not counting your phone/pipe/cable bills - or borrowing (both of which are permitted by the GNU licences) is free of cost. Beg?? you dont even have to register for a download.
The Linux kernel and most of the accompanying software is provided with source code and is essentially free of cost. Thus it is possible to customise and reuse all of the code.
It is possible and legal to customise and re-use NOT because it is free of cost, but because of the way the programs are licensed.
Yes. Must improve the english.
They offer you some 4 freedoms, which Philip has mentioned in an earlier post. Please do not confuse the cost factor with the freedom to customise.
Nope. But in India (and most underceveloped regions) both are equally important (IMHO), more so in a capital constrained country like India. The cost factor is particularly important for educational and public institutions. Even if software were made available with all the other freedoms (re Philip's mail) but priced at current commercial prices (Caldera??) these institutions would never be able to use them. While code availability and reusability is a prime reason for the hacks, cost is the sole motivating factor for the vast majority.
I think open source end-user software will turn out to be a lot cheaper for Indian user. At best, you can get it free of cost by borrowing a CD from your neighbour. You cannot do that with proprietary software because that amounts to piracy and illegal
^^^^^^^
use.
Hardly a factor in most underdeveloped places. (A friend found out during the course of a survey in 2nd tier cities of Maha and MP 100% piracy). A cursory check of DTP shops in the city will produce very similiar results (now you know why corel is so sick ;-)).
It will help businesses cut costs by employing software that does not require per-cpu licenses and useless farcical support.
Most software product companies have an unsustainable economic model and are relying on unjust laws to survive. This is not very different from our very own license-permit raj.
--- jtdyahoo jtdesouza@yahoo.com wrote:
this by providing tools of the information age free of cost and encumberances in the form [snip]
^^^^^^^^^^^^That's NOT why GNU chooses to offer stuff free of cost. In fact, it doesn't offer free of cost, unless you download from FTP or go and beg them for a CD or other medium. The cost at which you can obtain the stuff is reasonable, and worth it.
Downloading - not counting your phone/pipe/cable bills - or borrowing (both of which are permitted by the GNU licences) is free of cost. Beg?? you dont even have to register for a download.
How do you download a CD? I was talking about CDs, and you don't expect them to give you one for free! They're obviously going to charge you!
The Linux kernel and most of the accompanying software is provided with source code and is essentially free of cost. Thus it is possible to customise and reuse all of the code.
It is possible and legal to customise and re-use NOT because it is free of cost, but because of the way the programs are licensed.
Yes. Must improve the english.
You don't need to clarify now. Your English is okay, just that you shouldn't be using _free_of_cost_ too often.
They offer you some 4 freedoms, which Philip has mentioned in an earlier post. Please do not confuse the cost factor with the freedom to customise.
Nope. But in India (and most underceveloped regions) both are equally important (IMHO), more so in a capital constrained country like India. The cost factor is particularly important for
My idea is to (try to) _sell_ Free Software. I won't confuse poor people.
I think open source end-user software will turn
out to be a lot
cheaper for Indian user. At best, you can get it
Hardly a factor in most underdeveloped places. (A [snip] Maha and MP 100% piracy). A cursory check of DTP shops in the
With GNU/Linux, you don't have to live with guilt.
Manish
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How do you download a CD? I was talking about CDs,
CD images can be downloaded, in the iso format (.raw, .nrg...etc.) & burned on a cd. This way your new cd is also bootable.
Navin --------------------------------- For every problem there is a brilliant solution. You said, "But how do I solve the problem.?"
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How do you download a CD? I was talking about CDs,
CD images can be downloaded, in the iso format (.raw, .nrg...etc.) & burned on a cd. This way your new cd is also bootable.
Navin --------------------------------- For every problem there is a brilliant solution.
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On Jul 11, 2001 at 11:13, jtdyahoo wrote:
Our technical educational institutions lag behind their western counterparts mainly due to the very high cost of development tools.
I am happy to report that some of the computers in TSEC now run Linux -- mostly dual-boot, but it's there. Our Comps HOD is pro-*nix. He was against the library catalogue project until I told him it was to be on Linux.
developed using them. Further sophisticated hardware development tools like VHDL compilers, simulators, VLSI design tools, and the cores of sophisticated microprocessors costing upwards of USD25,000/- is avaiable for free.
Yep, we're using a few of those for M.E. The profs are very happy!
-
jtdyahoo -
linux＠ramshyam.com -
Manish Jethani -
Navin -
Philip S Tellis -
S. Krishnan -
Satya -
Srikanth R P -
Trevor Warren