[Fsf-india] IT Policy Govt of Kerala

[Raju Mathur]

>>>>> "klak" == Khuzaima A Lakdawala <klak@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in> writes:

    klak> [snip]

    klak> Trying to "compete" solely on the basis of "technical
    klak> merits" (even if those merits are valid) of Free Software
    klak> does a lot of damage to the cause. It paints a wrong
    klak> picture, makes it sound as if the raison d'etre of Free
    klak> Software is simply to provide "technically" better software
    klak> and trivialises the important freedoms provided by Free
    klak> Software.

What's wrong with a technically better solution?  As far as I know
most users (govt depts, companies, home users, etc) don't give a d*mn
about freedom or other such abstract concepts -- they want software
which works, which continues working, which is cheaper and which is
supported.  You can definitely go around trying to educate people
about how important freedom is; if you want to ensure that no one uses
free software until they fully understand and agree with the concept
of software freedom, I think you have a really long road ahead of you.

I found that in presentations to/discussions with clients the points
that make the most impact are (highest impact points earlier):

- Technological benefits -- security, stability, performance, etc.

- Price, especially in todays cash-starved economy.

- Freedom from single-vendor support -- you can hire the friendly
neighbourhood hacker to fix your problems instead of having to run to
Redmond each time your system BSOD's.

- Security of investment -- if someone shoots Gill Bates and the whole
MS board tomorrow, will MS survive?  If Linus Torvalds and Alan Cox,
Linux definitely will (yes, I still call it Linux, so sue me).
Investing in a single company when so many stable organisations have
gone under in the recent past is the height of foolishness as I
percieve it, and with a bit of convincing, so do the prospective
clients.

    klak> Besides, this argument is dangerous when one comes across a
    klak> particular piece of proprietary software which is truly
    klak> technically superior to any comparable offering of Free
    klak> Software (this is clearly not an impossibility). The
    klak> "technical merit" argument falls flat on its face in
    klak> situations like these. Whereas, if all advocacy and
    klak> propagation is based entirely on issues of freedom rather
    klak> than technical and cost issues, our arguments will remain
    klak> consistent, sound and undefeatable.

While I agree that users (from all walks) should appreciate the
important concepts of freedom in software, I don't want to push that
down their throats.  There's a real world out there, and real people
usually have concerns widely at variance with those of the FS
evangelists and advocates.  Given the choice between seduction and
rape, I'd choose seduction each time :-) Each step, however small,
counts in the end; let's not belittle the important advance which the
Kerala Government policy represents.

Regards,

-- Raju

    klak> -- Khuzaima A. Lakdawala

-- 
Raju Mathur          raju@kandalaya.org           http://kandalaya.org/
                     It is the mind that moves