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President Of India Advocates OSS
cOdEgUru writes "I am sure this is a first. The President of India has urged Indian IT Professionals to develop and specialise in OSS rather than Windows. To be noted is that he made the speech (look for the "Think Different" section) at the famous Indian Institute of Information Technology (India's foremost academic institution equivalent to MIT). Also he reminisces that his meeting with Mr.Gates were difficult due to differing views concerning OSS and Security. What should be noted about him is that he is not a politician, but a scientist and an independent thinker foremost."
What do you consider sizeable? There are over 1 billion people in India. How many of those people are in that sizeable population of yours? How many outside of Bombay? If only 52% of your country is even literate then how many could possibly "earn very well?" 25% of your country is below the poverty level. That is an amount roughly equivalent to the entire population of the US.
There is a HUGE gap between the poor and the rich in India and setting that aside as a small problem is irresponsible.
"This is really great statement to be made, but I wonder how well taken by the students it will be."
Considering that Indian students are respected the world over, even by His Billness, while presiding over a meeting of IIT alumni in Clifornia recently, one would assume the students would be clever enough to understand the import of the statement.
"A lot of the students who attend IIT attend so that they can be marketable in a big business like Microsoft."
For your info., ALL IIT students run Linux on their systems in the campus. All the IITs host the local LUGs (Linux User Groups). No self-respecting IITian would touch an MCSE with a bargepole. IITs and indeed most of India have been using computers since the past 15 years or more. Companies like Wipro Infotech even developed their own OSes (WDOS - a menu based OS with Cobol) long ago - 1987. And again, the average MCSE earns less than $100 a month. I'm not joking or trolling here. No wonder Indians consider MSware as expensive disposable junk.
"I seriously doubt in a country where many are trying to break free of poverty that they will work for next to nothing on OSS."
Kudos for making 2 mistakes in 1 sentence! Indian geeks are much sought after by the girls here, make more money, have more fun, and are well respected in society. They live in luxurious apartments, enjoy about 70 channels of television at $3 per month (incldg. CNN and BBC).
Geeks hese days get work only on OSS. The hot thing in India today is embedded devices and mobile phone tech, both of which use OSS as their basis. Indians think little of the 'gratis' WinCE licensing and free access to the VS.Net bait.
Guess you'd do well to take a $2,000 flight to India and watch for yourself.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
President Bush has a pilot's license and flew F-102 Delta Darts in the Air National Guard---have you ever flown a plane from Texas to Washington DC? (Bush did that once for a date w/ Pres. Nixon's daughter Pat ;) He's bi-lingual (Spanish) and has an MBA from Yale. I don't see the occasional stutter or mis-wording as that big a deal---character is a lot more important, and he's far more a man of his word than Al Gore. What's ironic is his shift in attitude (influenced by his advisors I believe) on foreign policy---before election, ``humble'', after ``resolute and determined''.
As regards India's president---I really think they need a reformer who's willing to dismantle their caste system rather than a technocrat. Gandhi once said ``an eye for an eye results in a nation of the blind''---I suppose I'd have a similar opinion of human morality / nature if I lived in a nation which tolerates systematic human degradation as India does.
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.