[FSF India] Re: WB Govt ties up with MSFT

[Khuzaima A. Lakdawala]

Raju Mathur <raju@linux-delhi.org> writes:

> Here's a prototype letter which can be sent to any State government
> which plans to tie-up with MS for e-governance.  I am making it as
> general-purpose as possible so that more people are willing to sign
> it: this is not a time for family squabbles.  I'd appreciate any
> additions/enhancements which can be made to this letter.

This otherwise well-crafted draft letter is incomplete if it does not
mention the most important point about Free Software, namely
FREEDOM. After all, it is being written to a democratically elected
State Government and the "Right to Freedom" is a fundamental right
enshrined in our Constitution; in particular, article 19, Freedom of
Speech and Expression.

The letter must impress upon the Government how proprietary software takes
away our freedom. It must also advise the Government to ask its legal
department to go through the notorious MS "End User License Agreement"
to see if it is legal for a democratically elected Government to
accept such a horrendous agreement on behalf of its people!

As for the rest of the points which lucidly explain all the technical
and monetary benefits of Free Software, let us not be naive and forget
that we are up against a huge corporation which has a well-oiled and
highly efficient marketing machine at its disposal. They can
effectively come up with a point-by-point rebuttal of all these points
which might look very convincing to a non-tech-savvy civil servant.

However, when we talk about FREEDOM, they have no answer! Even their
Head Honcho, who may be otherwise a very intelligent man, starts
blabbering childishly and incoherently (words like "pacman,"
"un-American" etc come to mind) when confronted with the freedom
argument.

Without stressing on Freedom, we have very little chance. The first
point of the letter should be Freedom.

-- 
Khuzaima A. Lakdawala