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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."
Slashdot readers may remember that APJ Abdul Kalam, the President of India, is a scientist. He has worked towards developing missiles and the nuclear research of India. He is indeed a rocket scientist.
The President made the speech at the new International Institute Of Information Technology (I2IT) not at IIT.
What should be noted about him is that he is not a politician, but a scientist and an independent thinker foremost.
Everyone thinks they are independent thinkers. Someone else is an independent thinker if you agree with him, otherwise he's just being difficult.
India is really making gains in the IT world. They are also a rapidly expanding and potentially quite vast market. If a company can get enough of a foothold in India, we may see someone other than MS dominate there.
1 000 000 000 million people worldwide using an Os that isn't Windows..... Now, that would clobber Microsoft's world domination plans.
On a side note, anyone know how I can invest in India's IT stocks?
I am from India, and have been reading these things on /. in the recent stories on India. India is not a poor country, where everyone is just trying to break free of poverty. Please.
There is a sizeable population in India which earns very well and significantly contributes to the Indian economy.
Rein in MS before you become the only country left beholden to it ...
It would be great for a country the population of India to listen and follow their leaders urging, but 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
You assume that
working on OSS == working for nothing.
Take a look at the kernel development list. You will find that nearly everyone working on the kernel is employed by a big IT company.
Similarly with most other successful OSS projects. IBM has lots of people working on open source. Ditto RedHat, Suse, HP, Sun, AOL and others. I think it is time we dropped this idea that OSS programmers all do it for free - it isn't the case.
I was just reading a book written by the Indian president, Igniting Minds and came to realize how forward thinking and intellectually "fresh" (childlike.. curious, don't take stuff for granted, asking extremely basic questions...) this great man really is. This is great news, in the sense that there are people at "higher levels" who have foresight in science/technology. I hope it sets a precedent for other countries as well. In a side note, the IIIT is not a premier institution, no where near the league of the institutions equivalent of MIT here.
My photolog
Whoa. Electing a thinker. What a bizarre concept.
Those whacky Indians. Let's rain some "Freedom" down on their asses.
I think you underestimate the power of the Open Side. Though I have a nice degree and make good money, for any future employment I will primarily refer to my work on open source projects as proof that I am as qualified as I claim to be. Open source work like this - done in the public eye and peer reviewed - has become the best kind of resume and the best way to a good job.
As the economy picks up I'm sure my department will be hiring new system administrators and programmers. If you get two candidates with similar skills, one who worked at Microsoft and one who is maintainer of some Linux kernel driver, who would you hire?
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The Indian President, unlike the American president, is a ceremonial head of the state. All the powers lie in the hands of the Prime Minister (currently Atal Bihari Vajpayee). The president of India need not be a politician, and is not elected by the large electorate. The lawmakers elect the president.
The Indian President, APJ Abdul Kalam, has received the highest civilian award in India, Bharat Ratna, before he was elected President. He is a nuclear Scientist, who headed India's defense laboratories.
You must remember that you are speaking with an American. In their eyes, if you don't live in the "Good Ol' US of A" then you are living in a gutter and probably a terrorist.
Note that the article summary incorrectly identifies the venue of the speech as an IIT. The institute that Kalam inaugurated is an IIIT (note the 3 I-s?), or Indian Insititue of Information Technology; these teach people to program, as opposed to the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) which, among other things, teach computer science. May I point out they have an /excellent/ Aerospace Engineering program? (alumnus pride)
It has programmers that may not be paid as much as their US counterparts, but for this very reason are being courted heavily.
So, you're the President of India. You're trying to make your country more money. Which will you do: churn your countries workers into Microsoft developers, or work with Open Source?
Microsoft Advantages:
Open Source Advantages:
I'm sure it wasn't easy for this gentleman to have to explain these ideas to Mr. Gates. I'm not saying that Mr. Gates is a bad person in general - but having a potential 1 billion market right in front of you and told that the competitor has the inside track (especially after all the charitable donations to that country) probably didn't help his appetite very much.
The interesting thing is how this will trickle out. Why did Unix make it big in the business world? Well, students trained on it, and when they entered the Work WorldTM, they said "Hey - I can make a Unix server and solve problem XYZ." This is something that Microsoft has bet on as they help finance education - churning out the folks who "know thier stuff".
If more companies are turning to Linux for their development/help desk needs, odds are, a student with an Open Source education will propose using Open Source tools to solve the problem.
It's very, very interesting. There are cracks appearing in the walls, and I'm wondering how much longer the flood will be held back.
Ah, well - at least Apple isn't going out of business this month. (And they're getting pretty good about supporting Open Source too. Hmmmmm....)
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Here's a possible answer.
Incidentally, the Microsoft India Development Center is located very close to the other International Institute of Information Technology campus in Hyderabad (Dr Kalam gave the speech in I-squared-IT, Pune).
In a way I guess, it wasn't surprising that Dr Kalam delivered a pro-OSS/Software Libre speech at an IIIT; been to the Hyderabad campus last year, and honestly, it was a weird feeling looking at a lab full of people using Emacs in Devanagri script. (They were using/developing Anusaraka)
Yes, that's right trolls, they've successfully resolved two computer-related jehads out there. :-)
More than mere navel gazing.
"I wonder how these changes in the political climate of software will affect Microsoft's Indian software development division?"
.Net elemnts, MS does not do it's core development in India. Even if this got relocated to the US, I doubt if any significant cost escalation could accrue to MS.
Neither India nor MS seem to be indesparate need of each other, atleast for the software development. The total no. of emps in MS- India is less than 500, an insignificant fraction of the IT manpower of India.
Except for SFU and now a command-shell with
The only reasons (as I understand) that MS does development in India could be PR and to promote their brand of IP and respect to IP. All in all, this development could affect sales of MSware and ruffle a few diplomatic feathers, but is unlikely to do anything to MS s/w development efforts.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Oh, come on now, no need to be vicious. Certainly, as Americans we tend to be somewhat elitist, ethnocentric, and globally unaware, but don't confuse the thoughts of the most audible with the thoughts of the less vocal majority.. Most Americans don't think that just because someone is a foreigner that they are a terrorist, up to no good, or are a drag on the economy. Certainly, they have some fear of people of middle-Eastern descent, but you can't really begrudge them that, due to the current state of things. It isn't to say that we should be afraid, but if you get bitten by your neighbor's dog, you're bound to be a bit wary of your neighbor and dogs in general for a while, especially if you see them regularly going after each-other's throats. Not to go on a diatribe here, and I certainly thinkg Americans could stand to be a bit more globally concious, but the time will come when we don't have a choice, and that statement up there just comes across as being bitter. Your posting history doesn't indicate you as being trollish or having a particular appetite for flamebait, so I'll assume you're just having a bad day.. Hope that improves for you.
WE designed and DEPLOYED the first nukes on Japan. WE still pump the most funds into designing NEW ways to kill people. How are we any better? How are we in a position to criticize someone else?
"Last one in is a rotten goblin!" - Kepp
The President of India can. He is a head of state (not head of government) and largely ceremonial, wielding no real power (bit like British Royalty or Australia's Governer General). So his statement has no more weight than Prince Philip saying modern English Architecture sucks -- it is just an opinion. Of course, the current Indian president is a widely respected missile scientist (and IIRC once head of India's space programme) and is technically savvy, but there's no way the Indian government is going to act on what he says.
The day India's prime minister (who holds all real power) says this, it'll be news.
1. Indian president is not elected directly, but indirectly by elected representatives.
2. Current president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is an exception. While previous presidents were just symbolic heads as dictated by constitution, Dr Kalam has actually taken steps to bridge the communication gaps, meeting publically and raising his opinions on matters... to much discomfort of the dirty politicians.
3. Dr. Kalam meets hundreds of school children daily. His vision is to bring about awareness in current generation and imbibe a scientic vision in them. He encourages them to question the things around them.
4. Dr. Kalam has been very supportive of humanitarian work. His team developed an ultra-light carbon composite for heat shields of ICBM Agni missile. Working with a doctor, Dr Kalam made available that material for making artificial limbs of physically challanged children. An artifical leg for children which used to weigh 3.5 KG (7 pounds) now weights 300 grams (less than 1 pound). Dr Kalam lists this achievement in his 3 life time achievements above all nuclear and missile stuff !!
5. He has written two books which are one of its kind. You have to read them to believe them!
- mritunjai