[fsug-calicut] President's remarks
- From: Ajith Kumar <ajith@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: fsug-calicut@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 14:36:28 +0530
Hello,
Some of the reports in the international media about the President's
remarks on software.
ajith
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This story was printed from ZDNet UK,
located at http://news.zdnet.co.uk/
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Location: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t289-s2135401,00.html
Indian President adds salt to MS wounds
David Becker, CNET News.com
The president of India added to a growing foreign-relations headache for
Microsoft with a speech in which he advocated broader adoption of
open-source
software.
In a speech during dedication ceremonies on Wednesday for the country's
new International Institute of Information Technology in the university
city of Pune,
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam recounted a conversation earlier this year
with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.
"We were discussing the future challenges in information technology,
including the issues related to software security," Kalam said,
according to a transcript of
the speech. "I made a point that we look for open-source codes so that
we can easily introduce the users built security algorithms. Our
discussions became
difficult, since our views were different."
Microsoft has become an increasingly harsh critic of the open-source
model, in which the underlying code for software is freely shared for
users to modify and
distribute, saying the approach is risky and undermines innovation. The
open-source Linux operating system has become a growing threat to the
dominance of
Microsoft's Windows.
Kalam said open-source software offers developing nations such as India
the best opportunity to modernise.
"The most unfortunate thing is that India still seems to believe in
proprietary solutions," he said in the speech. "Further spread of IT,
which is influencing the
daily life of individuals, would have a devastating effect on the lives
of society due to any small shift in the business practice involving
these proprietary
solutions. It is precisely for these reasons open-source software needs
to be built, which would be cost-effective for the entire society. In
India, open-source
code software will have to come and stay in a big way for the benefit of
our billion people."
The president's speech comes just after another international
embarrassment for Microsoft, with the government of Munich, Germany,
announcing this week
that it plans to migrate 14,000 PCs from Windows to Linux. The city will
also drop Microsoft's Office productivity suite for the free OpenOffice
package.
The German government has backed development of Linux software, as have
Chinese officials.
Is Linux really a viable alternative to Windows on the desktop? Read the
latest headlines at ZDNet UK's Operating Systems News Section.
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.
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ZDNET is a registered service mark of CNET Networks, Inc. ZDNET Logo is
a service mark of CNET NETWORKS, Inc.
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