[FSF India] FEATURE: You've got mail... WAPpop proves helpful...

[Frederick Noronha]

INDIA-MOBILE-SOFTWARE

YOU'VE GOT MAIL... WAPpop PROVES HELPFUL TO MOBILE PHONE USERS

by Frederick Noronha

MUMBAI -- Mobile phone users are facing an easier task to download their
e-mail, thanks to the efforts of a Indian medico from the city of Nagpur who
has written a freely-distributable software program called WAPpop.

It is drawing hundreds of downloads each day after an upgrade to the
software program which was done some weeks back.

Mobile phone users have access to phone services while on move, but they
need a computer in order to have a look at their e-mail. "WAPpop was written
keeping the above problem in mind. So that they can have access, to have a
glance on their e-mail while on move," says Dr Tarique Sani.

He told this correspondent that by using a WAP (wireless-access protocol)
enabled device, like a phone, PDA, or palmtops, the software he wrote --
which is called WAPpop -- can read mail from an Internet server, reply or
forward mail, even delete mail and send new messages.

The paedetrician-turned-software guru says he WAPpop still remains the only
OpenSource software of its kind in India. It was also the first OpenSource
software doing its job listed on prestigious international website
Freshmeat.net when the first version was released in July 2000. Some weeks
back, the software was upgraded.

OpenSource is a type of specially-licensed software code that offers its
users freedom to use and adapt.  This form of collaboratively writing
software through the efforts of volunteers worldwide has been making news,
because of some excellent products it has generated.

WAPpop is an WAP based email client. "Just as Hotmail is an Web based email
client and can be accessed through a web browser (by going to the web site),
WAPpop can be acccessed thru a WAP device accessing a WAP site which is
running WAPpop. 
 
WAPpop need not be downloaded to PDAs (personal digital assistants) or other
such hand-held devices. This software program is written using PHP, which is
a platform-independant server-side scripting language. The OS (operating
system) used by the wireless device does not come into the picture except
for display.

Due to this, WAPpop is best suited for the service provider for giving
value-added services from their WAPsites.

Recent upgrades have also been attracting attention of computer users
worldwide.

Says Sani: "The response has by far surpassed expectations. Before the
release of second version the downloads (by persons seeking a copy of the
software) had tapered down to an average of 1000 per month. The downloads
for second version have been an average of 500 per day (soon after it was
upgraded in end-June this year)."

Sani believes that this WAP-based software could have a lot more potential
if the use of WAP devices increases. Presently, he concedes, the
tiny-screen and cumbersome typing procedures are a "major hurdle" for anyone
wanting to use such wireless devices to access the Internet. 

There is also limited bandwidth available for WAP. But this could change in
the near future.

What prompted the paedetrician-forensic medico to take up this unusual
project? Says Sani: "When we started this project WAP was a hot technology
around the world. Unfortunately most of the WAP development was centered
around Microsoft's ASP."

But Sani himself "loves PHP", which is the OpenSource's answer to ASP and
the most popular web-scripting language around the world. "I felt that I
could make a mark for PHP, OpenSource and in turn myself in the WAP world
and to that extent I feel this project has been a success," says he.

Sani, a doctor by education having done his post graduation in Pediatrics
and Forensic Medicine, opted for becoming the CTO (chief technical officer)
of his own web-engineering company called SANIsoft <http://www.sanisoft.com>
based in the Central Indian city of Nagpur.

This small firm specialise in web development using Open Source
technologies mainly PHP, MySQL/PostgreSQL, Apache running on Linux and more
recently running on Windows servers.

Sani says modestly that he is not the "lone author of WAPpop", but two other
programmers in SANIsoft, Girish Nair and Vinay Kumar, have made "significant
contributions to the code".

Inspite of its immense potential as a software superpower, India's
contribution to OpenSource software has still been rather small. Says Sani:
"I wish that it was better. It has the potential to be much better."

He feels that Indian students and professionals simply don't have the spare
time to contribute enough to this international volunteer-effort at
generating high-quality software code. Encouragement is lacking too, but
this is beginning to change as more Indian corporates behing to take to
GNU/Linux, the 'free' computer operating system, he notes. (ENDS)

LINK: Contact Dr Sani at tarique@sanisoft.com