Free Software Compulsory in India!

[Dark Star]

Free software in India is from now on mandatory for IT practicals of SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) examination planned for March 2008.

Orders making free software compulsory have been issued by the Director of Public Instruction (DPI), considering Linux Operating System should be used
for IT education in 8th, 9th, and 10th standards. The DPI will also start various programs to popularize the free software. Until last year, schools had to choose between free software and the Windows operating system.

For the 10th standard, fully Linux-based text books have been prepared, while for the 8th and 9th standard more books have been provided. These books were prepared by SCERT (State Council Educational Research and Training) and Free Software Foundation of India under the guidance of IT@school project.

Introductory lectures will be delivered in school assemblies across the country on Monday, and after them a pledge will follow. Outlines for the lectures and pledge circulate in schools. The DPI has started organizing competitions for the students mainly in the digital art area.

A digital painting competition for students of 8th standard will be conducted using the applications TUX paint, XPaint and GIMP, with the subject "My school and surrounding" , and a presentation contest will be held for the students of 9th and 10th standard with the topic "IT and its benefits to the common man", using Open Office Impress. Both competitions will have a duration of one hour and a half.

The prize winning paintings will be compiled at the State level and then uploaded on the website The official web site of the Department of General Education , Government of Kerala.

The situation is at least ironic: by making compulsory the use of software that should be free, the government is annulling the students’ freedom of choice; still, at the same time, the measure (namely using free, open source software) also means a lot of money will be saved by these schools.

Sources : - SCERT KERALA | official website of general education
LinuxWorld | Free software wins support among communists in India

Behold the horde of Open Source approaches

[NucleusKore]

Yes its about time it was made compulsory to learn. People kick up such a fuss about even trying to use linux, let alone migrating.

[infra_red_dude]

kerala is taking some really bold steps!!

[kumarmohit]

Hmm I do not agree with the move. I think that true freedom does not lie with any OS rather with the choice of the person who wants to use it. So Freedom is not all about using linux, its about my choice. I want to use X software and I would use it, who is the govt to force that no you should only learn Linux and not even touch windows or OS X

[infra_red_dude]

thing is windows has forcefully dominated the scene. and ppl will shy to use anything. they are not ready to even learn new things. so i believe this move is correct. once the person gets familiar wid all things, he then has choice. that shud be the time when he get to choose. unless the monopoly is forcefuly countered the end user has no choice!! how may first timers do you know wud try out OSS by themselves? none, at least as to what i haf seen. so a forceful intro to the OSS is necessary at this level so that they become capable to choosing something at a later stage (mebbe at the professional level)

[gary4gar]

So if only for kerala???
it will be fun seeing my teachers who once said linux is cr@p & FLOSS does'nt occur in real life, as nothing comes for free.


now at least my joniors will get away from learning visual basic & stupid dos


Still in college too i don't have anything relating to linux however we will be taught unix in 3rd year

[NucleusKore]

Originally Posted by kumarmohit

Hmm I do not agree with the move. I think that true freedom does not lie with any OS rather with the choice of the person who wants to use it. So Freedom is not all about using linux, its about my choice.........

So are you going to ask students to CHOOSE? Then you would also have to provide them Apple, Sun Solaris and other OSes which might feel left out. The idea is to tell people that there is a REAL FREE ALTERNATIVE to stealing a propriety OS. I can't see what's wrong in that kind of education. Forcing everyone to learn Windows (that too on illegal systems) is ok I guess, is it?

[skghosh44]

Common ppl are slave of habit, if somebody ask to do anything out of his paradigm they denied to do the same. When forcefully applied to do the same, they will do and subsequently they will be slave of the new paradigm. Here also if every state govt introduce OSS as kerela Govt doing, Time will come , when we all are slave of OSS. Because there is no need to purchase costly software which Microsoft developing. Also software piracy will be reduced.
In my case just for learning purpose I have installed Ubuntu 7.04 and Kubuntu 7.04 in my pc, ist time I found it very difficult to use, then with the help of forum members, now I am a parmanent user of Kubuntu 7.04. Also I have installed Kubuntu 7.04 in one of my friends PC. He is also satisfied with the OS.

[kumarmohit]

thing is windows has forcefully dominated the scene. and ppl will shy to use anything.

This is what the govt wants to do with linux now, So you get out of MS monopoly and get in a govt monopoly, from the frying pan to the burning stove.

so i believe this move is correct. once the person gets familiar wid all things, he then has choice.

The idea is to tell people that there is a REAL FREE ALTERNATIVE to stealing a propriety OS.

Alternative to what, since the people wud only be taught linux, what does it mean, that Linux is the OS, the only OS, In such a case all of it comes full circle.

how may first timers do you know wud try out OSS by themselves? none, at least as to what i haf seen. so a forceful intro to the OSS is necessary at this level so that they become capable to choosing something at a later stage (mebbe at the professional level)

That is a misconception, there are people who want to go legit and can go an extra mile for it as well. But you can not force them to take stands.

So are you going to ask students to CHOOSE?

Exactly and this is what the movement of freedom is all about, is it not.

Forcing everyone to learn Windows (that too on illegal systems) is ok I guess, is it?

No because that would be the same story with different characters. And why do you think like a Sith Lord, If I am not with you, does not mean I am against you

unless the monopoly is forcefuly countered the end user has no choice!!

If you use force to defeat force, what is the difference between you and the first person

Take a simple example, The students should given a hands on experience on all OSs for some time say 3 months/OS and they should be allowed to make the choice.

If we can allow a person who has just passed class 10, to choose between Science, Commerce and Arts, what is the big problem with choice of OS.

[ilugd]

just a simple note. When you say linux in schools, are you aware that the teachers install a server on some system and the students are supposed to telnet and use command line tools. If that is what the students think linux is all about, I don't see it serving any useful purpose. I seldom see any of the students having ever heard about ubuntu and such.

What do you think?

[Yamaraj]

Originally Posted by gary4gar

now at least my joniors will get away from learning visual basic & stupid dos

And the arch stupid Turbo C++ compiler as well.

[kumarmohit]

Originally Posted by ilugd

just a simple note. When you say linux in schools, are you aware that the teachers install a server on some system and the students are supposed to telnet and use command line tools. If that is what the students think linux is all about, I don't see it serving any useful purpose. I seldom see any of the students having ever heard about ubuntu and such.

What do you think?

Yep, I went to give some personality development sessions for the students in an institute, where RHCE is being taught, its an exam center as well. I was there for like 10- 15 days, during my stay I asked students who Linus Torvalds was, they were blank, I asked who was stallman, they were blank, I asked what is bery they were blank, I asked what is an RPM they were blank, I asked wat is kernel panic, they were blank.

I asked wat is ls, they said its a command to list the content of a directory!

[ilugd]

sad. Linux is supposed to be fun.

[infra_red_dude]

the idea is to give students an insight into OSS/alternatives. almost all the cases i know haf refused to voluntarily get into OSS and use alternatives. their simple reasoning is this: arey yaar, why shud i spend time knowing about another OS when windows is there. i'll just make a copy of the installation CD from my fren!

if students are made to learn about OSS/alternatives from their school dayz then they won't give the kinda reply mentioned above when they become old enuff to choose.

take the case of my engineering colg. i'm from the electronics branch. 2 of us (the other being from the comp. science branch) organised a workshop on OSS/Linux/alternatives... their capabilities, their usage in the real world, market share, how they are different, the features, customisation.... everthing. the next day was a workshop on installing and configuring a basic linux system. free ubuntu CDs were to be distributed. my class has 65 ppl. guess how many turned up? 4!!! yes, thats rite.. FOUR! unless ppl are made to do things, they won't voluntarily do anything... they'd rather go to the sutta (cigarette) corner, spend time there than attending the workshop and then goto their frenz place and pirate windows. this is the sad reality!

[mehulved]

I am not with the idea of forcing OSS down the children's throat. They should have a good mix of learning about OS's. The IT department should try and make best use of available budget constraints to provide them variety of different OS's to understand computing rather than specific OS.
Another thing is having teachers who actually teach, not just explain just what's given in the books. It's not just linux that is taught in haphazard way. I'd like to know how many of you've had teachers who even taught anything in windows properly. I didn't have such teachers for sure.

As for students. Not much in blaming them. It's a human tendency to stay away from what doesn't interest you. On top of it most teachers remove the fun out of learning. No wonder that is what students do.

[infra_red_dude]

^^^ i agree wid mehul regarding the way and attitude of teachers.

[aditya.shevade]

Very good decision.

[kumarmohit]

Originally Posted by infra_red_dude

the idea is to give students an insight into OSS/alternatives. almost all the cases i know haf refused to voluntarily get into OSS and use alternatives. their simple reasoning is this: arey yaar, why shud i spend time knowing about another OS when windows is there. i'll just make a copy of the installation CD from my fren!

if students are made to learn about OSS/alternatives from their school dayz then they won't give the kinda reply mentioned above when they become old enuff to choose.

take the case of my engineering colg. i'm from the electronics branch. 2 of us (the other being from the comp. science branch) organised a workshop on OSS/Linux/alternatives... their capabilities, their usage in the real world, market share, how they are different, the features, customisation.... everthing. the next day was a workshop on installing and configuring a basic linux system. free ubuntu CDs were to be distributed. my class has 65 ppl. guess how many turned up? 4!!! yes, thats rite.. FOUR! unless ppl are made to do things, they won't voluntarily do anything... they'd rather go to the sutta (cigarette) corner, spend time there than attending the workshop and then goto their frenz place and pirate windows. this is the sad reality!

Yes! Only it sounds too familiar to M$ strategy, what MS does with the power of money, here it is being done by the power of govt.

If people do not want to move, why force them, let them realize for themselves that their act is wrong!

So wat is the big difference. AFAIK, the only looser here is still the same: Freedom of choice.

[praka123]

forcing means forcing.if someone cannot be out of addiction,what u'll do?de-addiction.yes,ofcourse!
to elderly members-how do u get into this DOS,windows thing when PC usage started?-because the only option visible that time was windows.
ps:but i'm worried if congress come into power in next election-Linux adoption may be killed(Congress Leader is arguing like a M$ agent in USA law assembly! when GNU/Linux are going to be on all schools)
times are changing and we dont want to stick with windows and microsoft.
and in kerala,there is an uproar from M$(m$ itself) supporters to reverse the policy.but kids talk about gpaint,tuxpaint and they are not worried about missing wi(n)dows.
btwn in kerala,they use a debian custom distro which is updated regularly when necessary like the way edubuntu is.
infact RMS who visited CM changed the state to shift to Linux.
http://space-kerala.org/
http://support.space-kerala.org/wiki....php/Help_Desk

even the distro is available for download(forgot the link)
and FYI,many pvt schools uses windows along with Linux.

[din]

May be it is not a good move, like forcing students, or it can be done like win-lin combination.

But the basic thing is, Govt can force schools to use Lin coz it does not cost much, at the same time if they are supposed to use win / ms office, the $$$ matters.

Second thing is - students are not going to learn very complicated things or internals of an OS. They are learning paint, office suit etc. So nothing matters, I mean whether its win or its lin, it does not matter. In open office or in MS office - you either use the B button to make a word bold or you just use ctrl+b - whether it is lin or its win - does not matter at all.

They are not going to learn .net or VB rt now, so Win is not essential. I mean as per the syllabus. When the syllabus changes and when win is needed, the schools will have to try win too. But for the time being, Lin is quite sufficient for their needs.

And now lin is much more user friendly, the start menu etc are similar and I do not think this will confuse the students when they have to use win at a later stage - if needed.

[infra_red_dude]

^^^ exactly, its jus giving them an insight of linux. jus basic knowledge required to operate an linux system.

[Pathik]

This is a really good step.. I just hope it ll be implemented soon enough..

[din]

@pathiks

It is implemeted in many schools already. MS tried their level best to fight against it, but didn't succeed yet.

My bro-in-law is workin as a Teacher in a high school, here in Kerala, he said all PCs (50 or 60 in his school) in the school are running on Debian now !!

Originally Posted by ilugd

just a simple note. When you say linux in schools, are you aware that the teachers install a server ....

No, every PC will have Debian, not just the borring telnet window, but it has desktop, all apps needed by the student - paint, office, all.

Originally Posted by kumarmohit

Yep, I went to give some personality development sessions for the students in an institute, where RHCE is being taught, its an exam center as well. I was there for like 10- 15 days, during my stay I asked students who Linus Torvalds was ....

I am not sure from which state you are, but if you ask similar questions to a student who is 10 or 12 yrs in Kerala, they will surely give you answer. I am telling this from my experience. At present the syllabus contains more details on open source, its founders etc - even at lower levels.

And mainly these should come as general knowledge ! When I joined IBM 7 yr back, I heard of the name Linus, but not RMS. We got more info from sites, teachers and other friends, I mean about the open source movement and their leaders.

Once the movement is fully rolled out in schools, students will be more aware of things happening around the world. And they will know MS is not the only thing in the world and there are laternatives

[kumarmohit]

@din

I am from Delhi. As for the information availabillity naturally FOSS has changed very much since 2000 and comeon if pple from school know abt it, engg students doing RHCE should also know it. but they weredoing it just becoz they had to and the teachers were teaching them VI and commands. Its like teaching the monad powershell to a person who does not know wat C: means.

@ praka

forcing means forcing, forcing means forcing.if someone cannot be out of addiction,what u'll do?de-addiction.yes,ofcourse!

First of all, using an OS is not addiction! If you think that it is, than you are equally addicted to Linux. Which makes your stand for freedom sound nothing more than self righteous blabbering. One who himself is addicted can not claim to cure other.

times are changing and we dont want to stick with windows and microsoft.

We, now wait a minute, who else gave you the right to speak on his part. Again this is the self righteous attitude of Linux bigots which is going to ruin the entire concept of freedom to choose and use the software you want.

See I am just saying that freedom can not be forced down the neck of people, unfortunately this is wat Kerala govt is trying to do.

if you want to use Linux, cool why impose it on others just like MS tries to impose it on you by FUD. Isnt this like countering FUD with state power.

[din]

First - You are right. Lot of people do RHCE for the sake of doing that ! They heard an RHCE can earn lot of $$, so they join. And some do college projects in Lin or related stuff just coz they think it will add something in their resume ! Unless we know what we are doing and we love what we are doing, its all useless.

And yes, Teachers matters. If they are not used to Lin, its not easy. But in Kerala they started giving proper training to the teachers. Of course it will take some time. Hope they make students friendly to Lin.

Another thing in Kerala (apart from the $$$), the ruling party support Opensource / Lin a lot. They are against monopoly, big companies etc ! Thats the reason they are doing like this (I am not justifying what they are doing, I was explaining why they are doing it). As prakash mentioned, after 2-3 yrs, the other party will come in power and MS will be back in schools, no doubt in that !

[Faun]

Originally Posted by Yamaraj

And the arch stupid Turbo C++ compiler as well.

ditto

[praka123]

Originally Posted by kumarmohit

@ praka



First of all, using an OS is not addiction! If you think that it is, than you are equally addicted to Linux. Which makes your stand for freedom sound nothing more than self righteous blabbering. One who himself is addicted can not claim to cure other.



We, now wait a minute, who else gave you the right to speak on his part. Again this is the self righteous attitude of Linux bigots which is going to ruin the entire concept of freedom to choose and use the software you want.

See I am just saying that freedom can not be forced down the neck of people, unfortunately this is wat Kerala govt is trying to do.

if you want to use Linux, cool why impose it on others just like MS tries to impose it on you by FUD. Isnt this like countering FUD with state power.

How can you call some one a zealot?
I am not restricted to GNU/Linux itself and when it comes to make alternate os's known to people some needs to be "de-addicted" or "unlearn" what they are injected for this many years.and the term i used "we" hence stands for ppl who agrees with me.

Freedom?Why do Microsoft wants you to upgrade to latest version?sure it will after few months.why do we have GPLv3 here?to counter attack and hence protect OSS.(if u know)

and its a wrong concept that people henceforth use only one single os for their entire life.only think is what kerala government does is simply great and except from some FUD from manorama newspaper and M$ India everything is right over here.Linux adoption from school itself means the student will learn both *NIX and Windows sidebyside.windows?they will be forced in everywhere to use windows!that's how they learn.
Now luring programming interested kids to .net and M$ technologies in small classes itself makes biggest win bigots to say with.
Let then know what GUI programming in gtk+2 or qt4 and be familier with gcc.rather than ancient "turbo c" compiler.
with Linux esp a friendly debian derivative which is updated for new h/w support too is a very good job.
we need to remove this bug#1 infection from India
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1
below is a nice read :

First of all, we all know the true nature of Microsoft. Only the most novice of computer users and the most diehard of Microsoft fans would not, or choose not to know or believe the truth about this giant monopoly of doom. So, since the vast majority already knows what's bad about Microsoft products (ie viruses, major show stopping bugs, etc), then it only stands to reason that we don't need to be out in the town hall 24/7/365 screaming about the obvious. That'd be like walking down main street shouting "The sky is blue!", all day, every day. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't call out Microsoft when they start trying to do something illegal or unethical, and I'm not saying we shouldn't continue the fight against them. If anything, we should ramp up our efforts. However, when doing so we need to keep the noise to signal ratio to a respectable level. Especially in front of people who might be won to Linux.

Promoting Linux by Silencing Microsoft
^am gonna follow this way.silence

[vaithy]

Hello,

although the Supreme Court has ruled that ,"State can formulate the policies for their own citizen" what many of members here missing are a important question, whether software freedom can be achieved by force?

For years Microsoft, with its money power ,used unethical means to dominate the software industry by destroying rivals,stealing,bribing congress members,senators,legislators, judiciary, using voilence, bribery every thing in the law books, and away with some minor punishment..FOSS is mainly such contributions from MS empire..
'We are doing what MS is doing in other parts ' is not going to be correct answer..
The best course open to the Govt is use both windows and Linux in the curriculum.
Now I have purchased a AMD X2-Compaq presario-V 3425 which is coming with preinstalled with vista. I managed to install Ubuntu, pclinux OS, and Granular Linux,(still some space left for some additional distro). I am showing it to my office employees ,friends etc..almost all of them impress with beryl effects ,and oo packages doing office work, where as Vista get poor review...
My point here is modern day linux has more maturity than windows,and this can be demonstrated by side by side comparision...So let windows be there..We will use windows to kill windows..

with regards,
vaithy

[kumarmohit]

How can you call some one a zealot?

Fanboyism, We have some on this forum too, for Windows, OSX and Linux too.

I am not restricted to GNU/Linux itself and when it comes to make alternate os's known to people some needs to be "de-addicted" or "unlearn" what they are injected for this many years.and the term i used "we" hence stands for ppl who agrees with me.

Exactly, people who agree with you. Not every in the world might agree with you. Heck not everyone in Kerala might agree with you. Unfortunatly, this is wat Kerala govt is doing. They are trying to force linux down the throat of people and this is what I think is wrong. If someone wants to learn it, fine, why make someone who wants to go the other way, go your way. This is democracy, not communism. Unfortunatly the commie govt in Kerala thinks that wat they think is correct. But why do they forget that ppl have brains and they want choice. If we did not want choice we wud have accepted everything from spyware of govt to DRM but no, we know that they kill choice and they are bad. Heck we wud still be British if it was not about choice.

As for addiction etc. Seriously u think all the ppl who are being forced to study linux here are fanboys of other OSs. Come on they are just school kids. Some might not even know wat is difference in HW and SW.

only think is what kerala government does is simply great

That is the bone of contention is it not. Imagine if next kerala govt comes and scraps linux and brings OSX or as u said brings windows. Than it would not be a good move. Even than I wud be angry coz the problem is not Linux or Windows. The problem is the murder of wat the entire FOSS community stands for - Freedom of Choice.

[infra_red_dude]

i agree wid some points and don't wid some others. windows and linux should be taught side by side. students should haf a knowhow of both. however, before implementing this move the Govt. should take steps to see that the teachers are well educated in the field of both. the course should not be obsolete, as in teachers telling students that linux is only about CLI. instead they should teach them that CLI is the most powerful component of linux. they should tell them about beryl/compiz. show them everything in linux widout a biased of uninformed nature. only then this will succeed.

most of the ppl today haf computerz at home and only a countable number go in for linux at home. so the students hafing windows at home has a very high chance. if they are taught about outdated linux - no eyecandy, poor driver support (as in the PCs at school not hafing audio etc. due to older version of distro etc.), teaching only CLI and nothing else will actually harm this initiative as ppl will obviously tend to compare the obsolete version/uninformed teaching wid windows at their home.