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Open Source: Look Beyond The ‘Free’ Tag It’s a general misconception that open source means free. Yes, open source software is free, but these applications are much more than just free alternatives. B Y P R I Y A N K A T I L V E

The essence of open source is that it encourages developers and gives them a platform to showcase their skills. It is truly

democratic in nature. When a developer starts developing software, anybody from the community can contribute to it, perfect it by ironing out fl aws, and keep adding new features. As a result, this software is extremely popular amongst end users not only because it’s free, but also because of its functionality.

Though it is popular worldwide, the open source movement is slowly picking up momentum in India, as was evident at the recently concluded Open Source India (OSI) Days event in Chennai. We spoke with Sonali Minocha, Director (Databases), OSSCube, who was also the conference content head for OSI Days, about the nature and scope of open source software in India.

Q What is the idea behind having open source software?

A The idea behind open source software is to make software source code open and

accessible in a platform and technology-neutral way. For computing and information technology to make healthy progress, it is essential that software be developed with the open source methodology. Open source, ideologically, creates a perfect market, with zero barriers to entry and exit, and 100 percent awareness in the market participants.

Q What are the challenges faced by the open source movement in India?

A The challenges are many. The biggest challenge is the lack of awareness, and

decentralization. There is a lack of awareness of the potential of open source, both technologically and for businesses. There is no restrictive ownership of open source, as the ownership is shared by the contributors to the project as dictated by the open source license of choice. This decentralization of ownership creates a lot of confusion amongst new entrants in the domain.

Another set of challenges is at the policy level. Proprietary tools and technologies, sadly, form a considerable part of our educational curriculum. There is no solid government policy about proprietary and open source software. However, the good news is that things are slowly changing, but the rate of change right now is unsatisfactorily slow.

Q Do you think it is fi nancially viable for developers?

A Open source is fi nancially viable. It has been proven time and again by many open source

projects. Redhat Linux, Apache Webserver, Mozilla Firefox, SugarCRM, and MySQL Database are some examples of open source projects that are not only fi nancially viable, but also leaders of their domains.

SONALI MINOCHAConference Content Head for OSI Days

NOVEMBER 2010 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP PLUS SUPPLEMENT

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It is a misconception that by opening up your code, you lose your economic potential. Open source software is more economically effi cient than proprietary software. It is the lack of awareness that is the deterrent and not the lack of fi nancial viability.

Q What is the nature of software that is popular in open source?

A Open source is omnipotent. It is present in all categories of software. If you look at Wikipedia’s

compilation of open source software, or at the Sourceforge Directory, you will fi nd there is no shortage of popular open source software in any fi eld. Blender is a popular 3D modeling and animation tool, Firefox is a popular web browser, LibreOffi ce is a popular productivity suite, Apache runs almost 70 percent of all websites, VLC is one of the most popular media players, Wordpress is the blogging platform of choice, Drupal runs millions of websites, and there are many more tools like these.

Q How popular are these open source software amongst the general users?

A It is a misconception that open source is a geek’s toy. Open source software is being written with

the end user in mind. Wordpress is being used to run over 200 million blogs. Firefox holds the Guinness world record for the most downloaded software in a single day. Almost all of the most used projects of all time on Sourceforge are end-user applications. Open source software is very popular amongst general users. There is a substantial number of end users who do not realize they are using an open source application or don’t understand open source in its totality, but they still use it.

Q What kind of support can a developer expect?

A The best thing about being an open source developer or end user is that you are never

alone. You are part of a community. Help is always available. Unlike proprietary software, where you either risk license violation by getting third-party support or wait for offi cial help, with open source, you just have to ask the right questions. There are numerous community forums, IRC channels, and knowledge bases available.

Q How safe is open source software to use?

A Way safer than any proprietary software. During the development of any popular open source

software, every line of code is peer-reviewed and

Drupal is the most favored open source software that allows you to easily publish, manage and organize content on a website.

Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser that has gained popularity because of its speed and efficiency.

Blender which was developed as an in-house application is today a popular open source 3D Modelling and animation program with advanced features.

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passes through the eyes of the community before becoming a part of the fi nal software. Bugs occur; they are a part of software development, but the turnaround time from bug identifi cation to bug resolution is extremely fast in open source software.

There is a misconception that since the source is open, anyone can see the code and create a hack to exploit it. The truth is that the process of developing open source software is so robust that a public exhibition only showcases zero fault tolerance and does not expose vulnerabilities. Any vulnerability that may exist is highlighted easily due to open access to code and rapidly fi xed.

Q How popular is the development of open source software in India?

A Indian developers and organizations extensively use open source tools and technologies to solve

business problems. However, there is a growing niche of open source developers. Plus, the increasing awareness for open source and the increasing positive outlook of the industry towards open source are encouraging symptoms.

Q What is the future of open source software in India?

A India is the global hub of development and a large number of developers are working with

open source tools and technologies. With increasing community awareness and with community initiatives like OSScamps, PHPCamps, DrupalCamp India, and industry initiatives like OSI Days, FOSS.in, and Freed.in, there is a growing buzz for open source in India, greater adoption of open source software, and a higher inclination towards developing and contributing to open source software. The future is promising.

LibreOffice is a popular open source program that is compatible with other major office suites, and is available on a variety of platforms.

Red Hat is a leading name in the development of free and open source software. Its applications are mostly developed for the Linux platform.

Open Source India strives to popularize and accelerate the growth of Open Source software in Asia. It tries to bridge gap between community and industry.

Open Source India (formerly LinuxAsia) was started in 2003 with the mission to accelerate the growth of adoption of open source in Asia. Today, the overall mission of Open Source India remains the same. A key attribute of Open Source India is that it tries to bridge the gap between the community and the industry. While OSI provides a platform for advocacy of principles powering open source, majority of its content is focused on topics that are related to the industry. www.osidays.com

ABOUT OPEN SOURCE INDIA