[Fsf-friends] ECONOMIC TIMES: Is Linux really happening in India, or is it just hype? (fwd)

Frederick Noronha (FN) fred@bytesforall.org
Wed Jun 4 02:36:07 IST 2003


URL  :  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=383

   Is Linux really happening in India, or is it just hype?

   SOBHA MENON


   TIMES NEWS NETWORK [spacer.gif] [ SUNDAY, JUNE 01, 2003 01:35:28 AM ]

   It's being billed as the solution that will deliver the masses from
   computer illiteracy. And so it was hardly surprising when a recent
   MAIT-organised seminar on "Open Source Software: A New Direction for
   India?" drew a larger-than-expected audience that stayed on till the
   very end.

   The seminar did throw up some very pertinent questions on open source
   software (OSS) and helped quite a bit in clearing the myth that the
   immediate adoption of Linux may be the solution to India's problems.
   As V Chandrashekhar, global head of s-governance practice, TCS,
   explains: "Linux use has increased as a result of the economic
   downturn and the decrease in perceived difficulty in using it. Linux
   is the de facto standard in embedded systems and in areas of high-end
   computing -- but it will be some time before it gets popular at the
   desktop level. "

    The low cost Linux advantage is what may make it acceptable to small
   and medium size businesses (SMEs) for accessing web servers, mail
   servers, and other technologies. Open source code, besides makes it
   more acceptable in high-end computing areas such as software
   development, genome unravelling, etc, and in areas where security is
   paramount -- say, the IT operations of the defence forces.

   But the common view that anyone who hasn't been exposed to any
   operating system, for instance Windows, may be a potential user of
   Linux may not be true as of now. D S Pandit, who heads the information
   systems at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is an example. "I got a
   free CD at a conference in Goa on Linux software for desktops. It took
   my IT department 10 days to download it and even after that I didn't
   find it easy to use." For instance, the fact that files created on
   Star Office sometimes cannot be read on Windows is a disadvantage.

   "This is an issue that only Microsoft can deal with," says Sandeep
   Menon, Linux Business Manager, IBM Asean/SA. And it's unlikely that
   Microsoft will deal with it in a hurry. Sanjeev Mathur, who heads
   marketing at Microsoft India, explains that the eco-system that
   Microsoft had created around its products include pre- and post-sales
   services and academic institutions to develop skills around Microsoft
   products. "It's an eco-system that Linux can't match," Mathur says.
   And there's no reason why Microsoft  should include competing Linux
   software in that eco-system.

   A Nasscom report too which talks about the "silent Linux movement" in
   India admits that "while Linux is gaining stature, it is a fact that
   currently, the OS is an add-on to existing platforms within user
   organisations. Analysts also point out that Linux is still largely at
   the departmental and file or print server stage rather than at the
   mission critical database server level." The report also points out
   that Linux deployments are confined predominantly to the server end
   with less action at the desktop level and that "this factor too will
   impede Linux's rapid fire expansion in the Indian market."

   However, speaker after speaker at the conference spoke about a
   revolution of sorts. "It's like the flower power movement of the
   Seventies," said Menon, who exhorted the government to "define open
   standards in public sector procurement as a matter of policy". Menon
   would also like government departments to encourage their staff to
   experiment with Linux, and evaluate Linux as part of the national IT,
   R&D and economic development strategies.

   But it might be some time before that happens. The Nasscom report
   talks about e-governance projects on the anvil in many states such as
   Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra. But the
   fact is that most of these are just pilot projects. According to
   Chandrashekhar, TCS has about 10 e-governance projects in various
   states, but he says only 20 per cent of the solutions used would be
   Linux-based. Linux has its drawbacks, he says. "There is a lack of
   accountability because there are many bunches of developers with all
   kinds of offers. Also there is a reduced set of supporting hardware
   and business applications, a lack of guidelines, limitations regarding
   some high end operations, and limitations of user competence."

   The common refrain at the seminar was that Linux gave one the
   opportunity to work with open source code, until one government
   official piped up: "Why would I need open source code? What do I do
   with it when I don't have the skills to modify it?" Open source code
   does have its uses -- in high security environments where you can
   customise security requirements. For software developers and in areas
   of high-end computing too, there's a lot of  advantage in having open
   source software because it ensures flexibility in using the software.

   So doesn't Linux have much prospects in India? It sure does, but only
   if its introduced at the school level so that future generations can
   grow up working on Linux, a government official felt. Worldwide, there
   are many governments that have adopted a policy of using Linux.
   Germany, Taiwan, China and many other countries in the Asia Pacific
   region are encouraging the use of Linux and have announced many
   initiatives based on open source software.

   In India, it's seen as a slower movement that will grow in size
   gradually. "A host of companies in India have extended support to
   Linux, in line with  global strategies and initiatives undertaken by
   them in the open source space," says Nasscom. Already leading IT
   vendors such as Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Wipro, Integra
   Microsystems and Veritas have developed products for the Linux
   platform. According to Nasscom, many of India's 450,000 to 600,000
   software developers who create solutions for the export market are
   getting onto the Linux bandwagon. All these companies have a separate
   set of Linux strategies for the Indian market.  Red Hat's also working
   overtime to increase Linux's reach in India by working closely with
   government agencies such as NIC, ERDCI, IITs, NCST, MIT, etc , to
   develop applications on Linux. It's  also put in place a network of
   training partners and is now offering courses in over 100 centres in
   India.

   And though government officials are still sceptical and look at it as
   a "hype created by a group of MNCs", it may be just a matter of time
   before the movement picks up.
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