The Hindu Business Line : Back at the game

ANNIE George, Headmistress of the Girls' High School at Ernakulam, and her 306 students of Std 10 just don't care how much money a guy called William H Gates makes. Nor do they bother about an idealistic bunch of people who try to stop Gates from making more billions.

But unfortunately for Annie George and her students, they were caught in the crossfire of a long-drawn war of ones and zeroes, breaking out everywhere in the world, all the time.

And like them, nearly five lakh students, their parents and teachers in Kerala were worried about their final examination mired in uncertainty by the eternal debate of `Microsoft vs Open Source.'

"We had made all arrangements for the IT practical examination, but now we don't know what will happen," the headmistress said.

The exam was to have begun on December 9. What threw her arrangements out of gear was the sudden decision by a faction in the Kerala State Teachers Association (KSTA) to boycott the examinations because of what they term as an overdose of Microsoft technologies in the curriculum.

The leftists in the KSTA are of the view that open source software has not been adequately covered and students are being exposed to Microsoft technologies only.

On February 2, Kerala's Power Minister, Aryadan Muhammad, stood up in the State Assembly, well-prepared to defend the State Electricity Board's decision to engage Microsoft and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for an office automation project. Earlier, Opposition members of the CPI (M) had questioned why Microsoft be given the contract when the Board could have used software developed by an in-house team.

The Minister pointed out that West Bengal, under the Left rule, too had opted to engage PwC for a similar project. Moreover, the IT policy of Kerala, under which e-governance projects are awarded, was framed by the Left parties themselves in the past.

This debate is bound to go on.

Back to Annie George and her students. Their problems stemmed from this: The IT@School Project, which imparts computer education to students in almost every government school in the State, has been accused of giving a go-by to Linux. Another charge is that the examination software prepared by Team e-Biz, a small company in Kochi, includes only Microsoft-related topics. Also, it was charged that the software suffered from technical glitches.

However, the Government says the software has been tested and cleared by NIC and STQL and it does have a Linux version as well.

Since consensus could not be reached on the subject, the exam was postponed. (The Government has since announced that the exam will commence on February 17 on the same software. However, it will be replaced next year with software to be developed by State-run agencies. Also, the State Education Minister has said efforts will be made to use free software in schools.)

The proprietary (read Microsoft) or open source (read Linux) debate is never too late and never untimely as the Kerala Government is vigorously implementing e-governance projects. Keralites are buying more computers and there is more awareness about technology all round.

But now the issue, experts say, has assumed much larger technical, social and political proportions.

Nobody doubts anymore the robustness of Linux for large projects. Examples of Munich city and Peru going for the operating system are well known.

In India too, it has taken off to a great extent with many a project going live on Linux.

"Given the high maturity of open source software, especially Linux, it is an obvious choice for e-governance projects," says L. Gopalakrishnan, Director, Platform Technologies at Oracle India.

He points to several projects running on Linux, including those of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and BSNL. With companies like Oracle now providing support to Linux, "the end user can stop worrying about going to more than one player for his support needs."

But not everybody agrees on this point. According to an official involved in the Kerala computer education project, there is a dearth of Linux professionals in the State and it would have taken years to implement e-government projects only on free software.

On the other hand, Linux supporters say this is a vicious argument: You have to go for open source software to promote it. If India could come out with supercomputers on its own, we can surely develop applications on Linux and provide them support, even if there is a certain degree of risk involved in the process. And Kerala, which has many firsts to its credit, should have come forward to become a test bed for Linux technology, they argue.

But Kerala, despite its Left lineage, penchant for parallel movements and willingness to innovate, has not really woken up to Linux.

"Kerala will have to earn a place for Linux. Our software professionals need to develop software (on Linux) and give it away free," says an expert who supports the free software movement. He says that though the State witnessed some initial euphoria, the Linux movement never really took off. (Open source guru Richard Stallman, in fact, chose the State to launch his Free Software Foundation's first affiliation in Asia). "There isn't much to write home about," he says about the adoption of free software.

Communication gaps are cited as a key reason for the problem. "Linux is now being championed by hardcore techies. And the common man does not understand (what they say)," he says.This has prevented Linux from reaching out to growing user segments such as homes.

For Linux to grow in Kerala, organisations such as the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) will have to take up its cause, he says. It was KSSP that gave a tremendous boost to Kerala's efforts in spreading scientific awareness among its people. However, KSSP and such movements are soft-pedalling the issue and those who are now taking up the cause of open source are hardcore politicians. And therein lies a problem.

"The Microsoft vs Linux issue is now being used to settle political scores, both by the two political fronts and factions within them," says an official associated with the computer education project. He says that after having accepted Microsoft's and Intel's support in spreading IT literacy, there is no point now in the State trying to eliminate their technologies.

"The State should have decided long ago to go for free software. Nothing is too late and we still can do that," he says. But it will take strong political will and long-term vision.

If the present Opposition of Left Democratic Front (LDF) and its leader V.S. Achyutanandan, who openly voice support for Linux, come to power after the next Assembly elections, many expect open source software to gain significantly in the State.

`MS is a trusted partner'

MICROSOFT India's Director, Public Sector, Nandu Pradhan, responds to eWorld's queries on the software debate.Excerpts from an e-mail interview:

Why are these controversies coming up?

Is it because of lack of proper communication? Or is it due to wrong perceptions about MS and Linux?

We believe that we are closely engaged with the Kerala Government.

It is only after assessing the merits and advantages Microsoft has to offer over others that the Kerala Government has opted for our solutions for its Registration and Forest Departments.

What is MS doing to avoid controversy?

Microsoft is interacting with the Central and the State Government to offer the necessary support to implement e-governance projects.

Microsoft believes governments and users of technology should be free to use the software that best meets their needs. We've found that customers and governments who select Microsoft solutions make that choice based on value, support and ease of use.

Microsoft is willing to discuss with government or organisations how we can help bring the value of Microsoft products and services to the benefit of government agencies, consumers and businesses alike.

That over 150 e-governance applications in India are running on the Microsoft platform is testimonto the fact that Microsoft is a trusted partner for governments in India.

How do you promote MS in e-governance projects?

We enjoy a long-standing partnership with governments in India.

As pioneers in the e-governance space in India, we have been working closely with various departments of the Central and State Governments and public sector organisations for the last 13 years now.

We have signed MoUs with 14 state governments and there are over 150 e-governance applications running on Microsoft in India.

Do you think Linux is gaining an edge over MS in e-governance projects in India?

In our opinion, the actual usage of Linux today is limited. Microsoft has a well-established business ecosystem.

Our e-governance efforts are among the most mature in the country.

The Microsoft platform offers a significant value proposition to governments.

ur platform provides the highest degree of security, reliability, scalability and availability that customers require in today's business environment.

We have invested billions of dollars in researching and developing a platform that is based on customer feedback and helps businesses derive maximum value through investment in technology.

Our ongoing investments in R&D ensure that customers are ensured long-term benefit from deploying Microsoft technologies.

vipin@thehindu.co.in

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