Software
Free software centre likely by December
August 2, 2008, The Hindu
The Kerala government is in the process of establishing an international centre on Free and Open Source Software. Dr. Rahul De - the professor from the Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) who submitted the mission plan for the project is of the opinion that the centre can be a world class space for promoting FOSS. He has proposed six key areas the centre could become a pioneering institute in.
Say 'No' to software patents
August, 2008, InfoChange-India
The issue of patents for software was discussed and rejected last year by the Indian government but has come back this year for approval. This article by a FOSS proponent is of the opinion that the the clubbing together of different protections like copyrights, patents and trademarks is misleading. While rights are supposed to protect and serve the people, they only serve to protect the interests of the holder at the cost of people who need it the most. While patents are granted to inventions and guarantees the inventor some protection, software are not tangible items, they are ideas.
Free software projects in public enterprises of Kerala
2004, SPACE
Kerala is one of those few states which have successfully implemented a number of e-governance projects. However not many people are aware that many of these e-governance projects are powered by FOSS. This document provides a list of successful FOSS projects which have been implemented in the state of Kerala.
India must adopt free standards
January, 2008, V Sasi Kumar, Infochange
As software and Internet usage expands in developing countries, it poses certain questions about the kind of technology that should be used in order to facilitate such usage. While the issues related to licensed software products vis-a-vis the open source software revolution are well known, another crucial aspect is often overlooked, namely the data storage formats being used. This often becomes a serious hindrance to the exchange of documented information a majority of software (for e.g. word processors like Microsoft Word) store data in proprietary format which necessitates both the writer and the consumer of the artefact to have (licensed) copies of the same software.
Government should support open source with policies: Lin Lee
January 10, 2008, Economic Times
In an interview, Lin Lee, Sun's VP for global government strategy discusses how the government can play a key role in the growth of open source software. She notes that a lot of progress has been made in Asian countries, including India, in promoting open source.
Telecom sector is fuelling OSS growth
November 28, 2007, Times News Network
This interview with Nandu Pradhan, President and Managing Director of Red Hat India, discusses the future of open source software and the company's new strategies for increasing its market share in enterprise servers to 50%. Pradhan envisions an open source future where users can work freely on any platform, and all platforms are interoperable and not locked to any particular file format.
Free as in freedom
August 31, 2007, V Sasi Kumar
A FOSS enthusiast/practitioner from Kerala, India, blogs about the policy measures initiated by the Kerala state government to promote the use of FOSS in that state. Under the political rule of the Left, Kerala has been at the forefront of promoting FOSS within the bureaucracy, government departments, schools, state government projects and so on. Kerala has led by example and this must be emulated throughout the country.
War of formats - India shows thumbs-down to Microsoft
August 24, 2007, The Economic Times
In a major setback for Microsoft, the Indian government has decided to vote against Microsoft's OOXML standard at the International Standards Organisation (ISO) in Geneva on September 2. This decision of the Indian government came after a high level committee meeting decided that the standard did not make the grade.
Innovation systems in India's IT industry: An empirical investigation
September 30, 2006, Rey A L Taganas & Vijay Kumar Kaul, Economic and Political Weekly
This paper explores the supposed innovative behaviour of firms in the Indian IT sector. Although substantial efforts have been made over the past fifty years by the Indian government in implementing various policy measures, building institutions, and putting strong emphasis on higher education, there has been a systemic failure to promote the emergence of networks of innovation. This, in turn, has impeded the innovation performance of the IT industry.
India lays down 'open' challenge
May 12, 2006, Bill Thompson, BBC
This columnist describes his interactions with Indian programmers who are using the freedom of Linux distribution licences to create instrumental technologies themselves. He believes India is beginning a new phase in its use of free and open source software. This work is more than just adapting code from the US and Europe, it includes "localising" code by incorporating local languages.
