[fsug-calicut] Article sent from The Hindu
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Source: The Hindu
(http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2002/12/01/stories/2002120100100300.htm)
Selling India to Bill Gates
C. RAMMANOHAR REDDY
IN 1997, on his first visit to India, Bill Gates met Prime Minister Deve Gowda
in New Delhi. A couple of days later, Mr. Gowda flew to Mumbai to attend
another function in honour of the Microsoft chief. In 2000, during Mr Gates'
second visit, more than half a dozen Chief Ministers queued up to plead for
investment by the software giant. Now, in 2002, the coronation of Mr. Gates as
the most preferred visitor from abroad has been completed.
The way we fete and fawn on Bill Gates each time he visits India should make
any self-respecting Indian wince with embarrassment. At the same time, we are
quick to show our displeasure towards Mr. Gates for speaking about AIDS in the
country. We are naturally equally quick to accept the money his Foundation had
to offer, and want more.
The AIDS mission apart, why was Bill Gates here? Blinded by his fame and
wealth, we failed to see the pure commercial motive of advancing the interests
of Microsoft. With our uncritical adulation, we may have ended up selling our
software market, our software talents and perhaps even our soul to the world's
biggest software company. Hook, line and sinker.
The company Mr. Gates has built up is the biggest and most profitable software
firm in the world. But it is also facing a threat from the most unlikely of
competitors — the GNU/Linux operating system which has been developed by
the larger Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) movement across the world.
This "free" software has long since ceased to be a cult operating system meant
for geeks. In terms of cost, reliability and security, GNU/Linux has proved
itself far superior to the proprietary Windows in the market for software that
runs the internet. Some independent estimates suggest that GNU/Linux has even
overtaken Windows here. The back offices of several global companies are also
increasingly being run on this alternative operating system. Businesses selling
FLOSS are making money, and organisations switching to FLOSS are saving
enormous amounts. (For a comprehensive survey on GNU/Linux versus Windows usage
on the internet, in back offices and on the desktop, see!
)
Governments too are increasingly looking at GNU/Linux as an alternative to
Windows. Cost is obviously one factor. For example, the United States Census
Bureau found that launching a web site for provision of data, which cost
$47,000 with Linux, would have cost as much as $3,58,000 had the proprietary
Windows been used. A complete dependence on proprietary Microsoft software also
raises security concerns. China recently launched a version of GNU/Linux to
eventually replace Windows on all government computers. (That did not prevent
Microsoft from announcing a $750 million investment in China. This,
incidentally, is considerably more than the $400 million that Mr. Gates has
planned for India.)
During his visit last month, Mr. Gates bamboozled uncritical reporters with
jargon about GNU/Linux not being a threat to Windows. The total cost of
ownership (TCO), he said, was higher for GNU/Linux than for Windows. TCO is the
cost of software, training, maintenance and upgrades. Now, most independent
surveys say that the TCO of GNU/Linux is a minimum of 25 to 30 per cent lower
than for Windows — quite the opposite of Mr. Gates' claim. The world's
richest man also asserted that GNU/Linux is affecting software companies like
Sun and not Microsoft. This is only half correct. GNU/Linux, positioned in the
middle, is rapidly eating into the market share of both Sun and Micrsoft in
server software.
From Peru to Japan, from China to the U.S., governments all over the world are
looking at GNU/Linux. There is one government though that is missing in this
list. In spite of India being home to many of the writers of software who have
contributed to the development of GNU/Linux, the Centre and the States seem to
be more busy chasing Microsoft than exploring the use of this superior
software. There have been reports of the Centre launching a Linux India
Initiative to encourage universities and governments to move away from Windows.
But the Government seems too scared to confirm such press reports. And of the
State Governments, only Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have been making some
noises about exploring the use of GNU/Linux.
Mr. Gates' interest in India is obvious. Computer use in India remains very
low, but is growing. E-governance is just beginning to happen. Imagine the
future, as e-governance and other government computer-linked services increase
rapidly. Imagine all government computers running on Microsoft software —
a potential market of hundreds of thousands, eventually even millions. No
wonder it is so important to tie India to proprietary software. There is
another reason for the Gates interest in India. Though a lot of application
software — like word-processors or spreadsheets — is available for
GNU/Linux, much more needs to be written if open source software is to
completely replace Windows on the desktop. India is believed to be home to 10
per cent of the world's developers of software. If India's software community
can be chained to the development of proprieatry software, then one source of
GNU/Linux-based applications will dry up!
Bill Gates needs India more than India needs Bill Gates. But we don't seem to
want to see that.
Copyright: 1995 - 2002 The Hindu
Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly
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