I have already written in this blog about ending XP support and Free Operating Systems as a possible alternate. I have also written why to use a Free OS instead of proprietary OS like Windows 7/8 or OSX. Now, I am so happy to know that TN government is taking this initiative. This is a step in right direction to liberate our computers from corporate monopolies and those viruses/malwares/back-doors.
Though, the Government's order is a good one, it still has some gray areas. It didn't enforce the use of BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solution, a GNU/Linux distribution developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing). But it is given as a suggestion. The Government offices are asked to "consider" installing BOSS than purchasing proprietary operating systems.
BOSS is the operating system bundled with free laptops given by Tamil Nadu government. Earlier it was planned to ship only with BOSS, but later Windows 7 was given a place. Due to this, many students simple ignore BOSS. Here I place my request to ship free laptops with any free operating system ONLY. Now let us see the pros and cons of the BOSS
Pros:
1. BOSS has excellent Indic fonts support. So our people can use the computers in their own language.
2. BOSS is relatively robust, almost virus-free, free of cost, requires no hardware upgrade and easy to use.
3. As a free software, our Government data will not be under immediate threat of NSA(or NSA like) sponsored corporate back-doors.
Cons:
1. Its repositories are relatively old. So latest and wide varieties of software are not available easily.
2. It is bundled with proprietary codecs and freewares like Adobe flash, mp3 etc, which are not needed in context of Government offices.
My Two Cents:
The battle has just begun. But we need to do lot of things.
* Indian government can spend a little more and build a better OS suitable for Government office needs.
* If community supported distros can give latest and greatest software with rock solid stability, why can't one of the fastest developing nation develop and support one?
* Government should mandate that all PC/laptops sold in India must have a OS-less version available.
* All proprietary software should be kicked out from curriculum.
* Government should encourage/mandate universities to contribute to Free Software projects and also give generous donations to Free Software projects. They should not (ab)use free software as they are available for free of cost.
* Dangers of using proprietary software should be advertised as in the case of unprotected sex.
References:
1. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/state-departments-asked-to-switch-over-to-free-open-source-software/article5798429.ece
2. http://bosslinux.in/
3. http://cdac.in/
4. http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws101011MICROSOFT.asp
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| Image courtesy: http://distrowatch.com/ |
Though, the Government's order is a good one, it still has some gray areas. It didn't enforce the use of BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solution, a GNU/Linux distribution developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing). But it is given as a suggestion. The Government offices are asked to "consider" installing BOSS than purchasing proprietary operating systems.
BOSS is the operating system bundled with free laptops given by Tamil Nadu government. Earlier it was planned to ship only with BOSS, but later Windows 7 was given a place. Due to this, many students simple ignore BOSS. Here I place my request to ship free laptops with any free operating system ONLY. Now let us see the pros and cons of the BOSS
Pros:
1. BOSS has excellent Indic fonts support. So our people can use the computers in their own language.
2. BOSS is relatively robust, almost virus-free, free of cost, requires no hardware upgrade and easy to use.
3. As a free software, our Government data will not be under immediate threat of NSA(or NSA like) sponsored corporate back-doors.
Cons:
1. Its repositories are relatively old. So latest and wide varieties of software are not available easily.
2. It is bundled with proprietary codecs and freewares like Adobe flash, mp3 etc, which are not needed in context of Government offices.
My Two Cents:
The battle has just begun. But we need to do lot of things.
* Indian government can spend a little more and build a better OS suitable for Government office needs.
* If community supported distros can give latest and greatest software with rock solid stability, why can't one of the fastest developing nation develop and support one?
* Government should mandate that all PC/laptops sold in India must have a OS-less version available.
* All proprietary software should be kicked out from curriculum.
* Government should encourage/mandate universities to contribute to Free Software projects and also give generous donations to Free Software projects. They should not (ab)use free software as they are available for free of cost.
* Dangers of using proprietary software should be advertised as in the case of unprotected sex.
References:
1. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/state-departments-asked-to-switch-over-to-free-open-source-software/article5798429.ece
2. http://bosslinux.in/
3. http://cdac.in/
4. http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws101011MICROSOFT.asp
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