While open source versus proprietary might be old news; it still manages to raise sufficient dust to effect debates and discussions from boardroom to parliaments. So, when CPI (M) Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury declared his unstinted support for open-source, not many eyebrows were raised. After all politicians are known to be ficklefriend today, foe tomorrow.

Yet, the sand indeed seems to be shifting. Not many would have been surprised at seeing West Bengal and Kerala canoodling the penguin. Simple logicthe Left was influencing the way governments went in the Left-run states. But the biggest surprise of the year has been the state of Tamil Nadu. With no real ideological baggage, Tamil Nadu is indeed a surprise victory for open source enthusiasts. Could it be that finally, business case is prevailing over dogmas? If indeed that is so, the Giant from Redmond has a thing or two to fret over.

Over the last many years, Microsoft has enjoyed complete monopoly in the government space, much like it does in the consumer space. Yet, dynamics between the two are quite different and can be gauged by the way Microsofts stance has evolved over the years. A couple of years back, Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft, had threatened that Asian governments using Linux could be sued for IP violations. He had claimed that Linux violated more than 228 Microsoft patents, and governments would have a tough time. Not many took him seriously. So, the company took a reverse track and literally shook hands with the devil, by aligning with Novell. After all, if you cant beat them, co-opt them.

It is still time before a winner is decided, but as of now, Microsoft has taken a blow or two from the Penguin, especially in India. Though the current penetration is lowand not as rosy as in the US where Linux is breathing down Windows 2000s neckit is estimated that Linux will have substantial growth in India, and the government is expected to be the key driver.

While at present Microsoft clearly rules, the penguin has managed to churn increasing interest at the state level clinching some major deals. State governments have begun to seriously consider Linux as an option (and these are not Left-aligned ones).

The year saw three states charting out a roadmap toward migrating to the Linux platform. The year was also significant as the first ever partnership between an open source company (Novell) and a proprietary software company (Microsoft) came in to existence, leading critics to believe that Microsoft finally is recognizing the growing prowess of the free and open software.

Left Rhetoric
As the only two Left-ruled states, Kerala and West Bengal, have been the early votaries and adopters of Linux, the India story has spice in it. Not to mention the Left parties, the largest allies of the UPA-led alliance at the center, would like to put things in a different perspective as opposed to the commonly held notion of the Left being on an ideological war with software behemoth, Microsoft.

CPI (M) Member of Parliament and the partys central committee member Nilotpal Basu, clarifies, "It is not a question of policy. Microsoft might have to be used at some places, but our position is clear on this. The push has to come from the government as open source provides plenty of flexibility." Basu adds, "we do not favor any particular corporate, as what ultimately matters is satisfaction of the users, and the fact that software should be available abundantly."

Nevertheless, overtones of ideological skirmish were visible as Kerala announced its unequivocal migration to Linux last year in government run schools. While announcing its plans to migrate to Linux, the state government clearly stated that its aim was "to break the US software giant, Microsofts, dominance in these schools." Ironically, the move had come after two weeks of rattling investors by banning Coke and Pepsi sales. The education minister of Kerala, MA Baby had said that his government would promote the use of open-source Linux operating systems along with Microsoft in high schools. "We are against monopolies of multinational companies in any sector," he was quoted as saying. But "ideologically I support Linux and free open operating systems for IT-enabled education in schools," he added.

Underlining the importance of the Kerala market for open source companies, Red Hat had signed an MoU with the state government for supporting Keralas development of open-source software.

On the other hand, West Bengal too seems to be excited about switching applications on to Linux. Vivek Bharadwaj, special secretary, government of West Bengal says, "Whatever new applications we build, are going to be on Linux and the others too will be migrated to Linux. There are going to be some areas where proprietary software will still be in use, but now most of the purchases are being done on open source. So yes, we are encouraging vendors to go for open source."

Bharadwaj, however, chooses to call the state governments decision "practical and not populace." He adds, "This is not about ideology, it makes more sense to go the Linux way, and its not just cost but also security, apart from viruses, which will be an added advantage." West Bengal has set up an institution with funds allocated up to the tune of Rs 2 crore to promote building open source applications.

Meanwhile, all that Microsoft wants is a fair chance. "While the message from the state government in Kerala is clear to go on the open source platform, but doors are not shut for Microsoft," says Rohit Kumar, country head, Public Sector, Microsoft. He claims that more than 75% applications in Kerala still run on the Windows platform. However, he says, "Microsoft does not have updates on which all applications are being migrated to Linux of the total applications run on the Windows platform currently. All we ask for is a fair chance to prove our worth. Nothing more," states Kumar.

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