Everyone have talked about deploying OSS in a higher level, the ministry and the government.
Lets talk about its implementation at somewhat lower level, the education institutions. The highersecondary school education teaches M$ Word, Excel and it seems M$ Access is in the course curriculum. Now yes we do have their alternative in the OSS world, but those aren't in the curriculum the sole reason because, everyone's customed to pirated softwares. And yes new policies can be made and courses can be changed. But kids grow up in M$ world, they want to play WOW, Counterstrike, FIFA and other games, kids will always be kids unless we tell them not to be(duh). Not everyone here in Nepal have broadband and linux configuration and dialups, i'll leave it to that. But we have OpenOffice running in Windows, thats OSS and there is the mighty firefox, but its far few people who take notice of their existance. M$ apps are the standards for everyday people. Of the hundreds of PC selling shops, it will need a microscope to find one selling desktops filled with OSS softwares. And talking about the ministries, imo they are switching to save their faces, if only they didn't have to i wonder if they really have waken up to the major benefits of the OSS world. > Many american states have already deployed Linux and other OSS softwares at > various state level. Their defence industry has been using > Unix-like OS for centuries. European countries like Deutchland, Russia and > Germany are going FOSS already. Hospital in Ireland already > saved $13 million dollars using FOSS. Why would Nepal have to lag behind? European countries have Aeroplane manufacturing plans, why nepal is lagging behind. Russia and Germany are european giants, we tiny miniscule country with a very small economy. Not everything they've done is possible there. On Dec 23, 12:20 am, "nepbabu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 05:12:19PM +0545, Bipin Gautam wrote: > > > > 3. Setting up Open Standards and Open formats > > > we don't have even basic policies regarding ICT use. Standardizing is > > a distant dream... even many European countries are in initial phase > > of standardisation. Irrelevant to Nepal if you think practically, if > > you think about with the user base and level of use of ICT for daily > > purpose. > > Many american states have already deployed Linux and other OSS softwares at > various state level. Their defence industry has been using Unix-like OS for > centuries. European countries like Deutchland, Russia and Germany are going > FOSS already. Hospital in Ireland already saved $13 million dollars using > FOSS. Why would Nepal have to lag behind? Why can't we make decisions on our > own and not rely on other countries "sucessability" to confirm our own > position on this? Can't we do our own feasibility test and confirm wehther > FOSS will work or not? We have the hard-working hackers and other enthusiasts > already to take the step. > > > > > >I think in the briefest sense, what ICT industry needs is > > > transparency. There needs to be clear consensus of where > > > donations, tax payer's money go and to what sort of > > >projects, what milestones have been achieved so far [if > > > any]. > > > we already have "the rights to information" policy passed by Maoist. > > Now i guess, there should be few independent ORGs working with media > > sector to o post the status of a work weekly/monthly? > > > >Next thing comes a clear planning. Planning ahead what > > > needs to be done in certain years/months etc and how much > > > is practically achievable, feasible. Planning is not easy. > > > OK, ask anyone in HLCIT or national planning commission. Planning is > > the easiest part. less than 1% of work that lies ahead. Rest 99% is > > getting it thought the bureaucracy of finance ministry and pushing it > > to the table of respective dept/ministries. > > That's true (i.e., the beauracracy will always be there no matter what > country or what industry you're trying to pitch in). The 1% plan you mention > is "planning with short sightedness". Planning to have a backup is also > called planning. Planning to have any secondary strategy is also called > planning. And finally planning to MAKE IT THROUGH WITH THE 100-level deep > water of FINANCE MINISTRY is also planning. Think in bigger picture instead. > Then only comes executing the plan. Also, plan may change and it has to be > highly customisable to suit the situation. > > > > > > > >WTO forces Nepal to stop using illegal softwares. When I > > > say people I mean even people in government quarters. So, > > > we have two options in hand. Either convince and prove the > > > usability of OSS or wait until WTO does something. Need I > > > say, the first option is far better. > > > i would love to BET my money in this prediction, anyone? > > > lets assume government is using 1500 computers in government offices > > for WORK purpose (fair assumption!?) > > > In that case, Microsoft will probably sell 50$ /computer licence for > > government to operate its 1500 computers > > > == 4725000 rs (which is less than 50 lakhs and another 50 lakhs or > > less for Microsoft office suit and other regular software) > > I get your point but if you think about the long term and beyond, I do not > believe that proprietary path will save us money. Think about this - > * Eventual great community surrounding OSS in Nepal. > * Save $$$ in LONG TERM and not short term only. And I believe ICT's planning > should maximise this benefit. > * Local support by MPP and other independent consultancies (THAT I BELIEVE > WILL GROW TO PROVIDE SUPPORT) to provide hands-on training. > * No reliance on proprietary software = self-sustainable environment (i.e., > nepal ko paisa bidesh jandaina! it stays there.) > * Can be adapated to suit lot of environment - for e.g. in no particular > order, LTSP project, e-library, Mero Sanu Sathi...and more.. Aren't these all > projects using FOSS software? Tell me. Or else, these projects would have had > to get lot of $$ to even buy 1-user license for that LATEST/GREATEST > proprietary software to do their jobs. > > FOSS is NOT for geeks only. Provided it comes with trainings, it is something > that can self-sustain just like LTSP TOT is doing today. > > > no extra bricks touched from the system, everyone is happy as things > > will stay as-is like it has been. No extra support, installation, > > migration, training headaches. > > Who is everyone? The "things" will "stay as-is"?????? What is the "things" > and how does it "stay as-is". I know you have a bit of surcasm going on there > but really this is serious business. and You can't put statements like that > without backing it up first. > > > > > after all 1 corer is not a big budget when you compare with say, road > > construction to a small stretch or say building construction (get the > > idea) > > No i don't get the idea. Please enlighten me. > > > Stop assuming there will be any migration from propriety software's. > > It already has its roots and will stay for FOREVER even if WTO or copy > > rights law are enforced. > > What has copyright law got to do with migration?. ok let me tell you in brief > what I think is goin on here. What Subir dai and other's are planning to do > is do a really good pitch regarding OSS software and potentially use FOSS, > thin-clients (If I got it right) at govt. office (have them use FOSS in their > desktop, Linux, OpenOffice etc..). Now tell me why wouldn't this save money > and reduce TCO on top of creating self-sustainable environment for the > workforce provided they be able to give hands-on training and on-call type of > support? > > If tomorrow the MS people come knocking on the door of one of the dept. and > see the PIRATED Microsoft XP, what fines will be imposed and what shameful > situation will Nepal GOVT. be in? Tell me. And I believe, that day could come > soon. > > However from FOSS Nepal's perspective, we do need to make sure that hands-on > training is provided to people in govt. who have not used OSS previously and > timely support (for e.g., when someone doesn't know how to use menu > navigation in Gnome/KDE or use their pen drive etc..) should be provided. > That MUCH SHOULD BE ASSURED TO THE GOVT. PEOPLE. > > Anyone wanting valuable insights on this epicentrical topic can read these- > 1.http://opensource.mit.edu/online_papers.php > 2.http://www.windley.com/archives/2003/07/01.shtml > 3.http://www.congo-education.net/wealth-of-networks/ > > Have a good Sunday morning everyone. Comments welcomed. :-) > > -- > Cheers, > Bikal. > GPG: 0x5DAE3BE5 > "Rule 6: There is no Rule 6." - Rob Pike > > application_pgp-signature_part > 1KDownload --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ FOSS Nepal mailing list: foss-nepal@googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/foss-nepal To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Community website: http://www.fossnepal.org/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
