[Fsf-india] IT Policy Govt of Kerala

[Raghavendra Bhat]

[Fri, Dec 07, 2001 at 08:55:24AM +0530] Khuzaima:

> > > For them it is still only a question of "total cost of ownership"
> > 
> > It is quite natural for a govt to be concerned about the total cost 
> > of ownership.
> 
> Isn't it *more* "natural" for a Government to be "concerned" about
> freedom? 

The  Government should  be more  concerned about  *freedom* as  you have
rightly said.  Some  of the *critters* in this list who  say that TCO is
more important than *freedom* are  living in a land known as *consulting
utopia*.  I have got solid facts to back Khuzaima or for that matter the
*freedom* angle  of this thread.  So  before guys jump on  my *bones* do
think twice and read on....

The former DoT, now called BSNL entrusted a firm called as SUNTech to do
their TRA work  in the Eranakulam SDCA.  The  agreement was that SunTech
would hand over  the source code to the DoT guys  and SunTech was *free*
to  implement  such a  system  anywhere  across  our vast  *free*  land.
SunTech, the  greedy corporate  that it is;  reneged on this  and denied
access to the source.  Now some  of the *critters* here would jump on me
and say,  "What need does  DoT have  for the source  code ?".  I  am not
advocating for the DoT !   DoT has invested their time, system resources
and  manpower to  assist  SunTech  complete their  task  of writing  and
implementing the system.  Now DoT is  asking for the source code so that
they  can  enhance the  system,  thereby  bringing  better QoS  for  the
*public*.  SunTech is refusing to hand  over the source code out of fear
that they would  lose their *grip* on the  entire implementing work that
they have contracted  with BSNL (DoT) across the  country.  The DoT guys
have said that they are not going to publish this code, but they do need
the code for  *improving* the system, not only  Accounting but Switching
too.  The DoT  guys are hell-bent on seeing  that the original agreement
is complied with and they get  the source.  They say that by getting the
source code, they would be able  to make their services better and maybe
cheaper.  SunTech is standing in the way to this *freedom* of theirs.

What does the above *story* say ?  I fully understand that the *freedom*
angle of Khuzaima/the GNU Project/RMS  is about the *freedom* to do what
one wants to do with the  source code of a program.  This very *freedom*
would  make the  stuff better.   This angle  is all  the  more important
because the  Government is using  the *tax-payer fund* to  implement all
these.  We  do not  want a *greedy*,  proprietary software  corporate to
cream off funds and stash it away in a *foreign* land.

I  understand that  the  *critters* who  are  complaining against  these
*freedoms* are only  bothered about TOCs and some-such.   They live in a
bottomless tar-pit....can we call them 'pit bulls' ?


> The whole edifice of software  "piracy" is built on a corrupt, immoral
> and unethical  foundation which treats  software as a  material object
> and completely  disregards the fact  that the ability to  access, copy
> and modify information is in fact the greatest boon of the Information
> Technology age. 

This  very point  should make  the existing  *software  bizinesses* and
*daturbase/coding services* wake up and see  the light at the end of the
tunnel.  The  age of shrink-wrapped  software packages are drawing  to a
close and many of the *software technology* companies in our TechnoParks
who are *dogmatic* and who do not adapt are doomed.


-- 
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