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Subject:
redhat trademark (offtopic)
From: Rahul ####@####.#### Date: 30 Sep 2003 05:09:39 -0000 Message-Id: <20030930050911.56992.qmail@web8005.mail.in.yahoo.com> --- Shuvam Misra ####@####.#### wrote: > > And a few notes. I imagine that you are using > "Red Hat Linux 7.3" > > not "Linux 7.3", because there is no such thing sa > Linux 7.3. > > We encounter this problem constantly. It appears Red > Hat is responsible > for this confusion. redhat owns its trademark and without defending it religiously it would lose it. so dont blame it on them. regards rahul sundaram ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner online. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subject:
Re: redhat trademark (offtopic)
From: Shuvam Misra ####@####.#### Date: 30 Sep 2003 05:20:07 -0000 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0309301043170.8134-100000@sm.starcomsoftware.com> > > We encounter this problem constantly. It appears Red > > Hat is responsible > > for this confusion. > > > redhat owns its trademark and without defending it > religiously it would lose it. so dont blame it on > them. The idea is not to blame anyone, but to explain why this happens. We found it interesting, in the sense of academic inquiry, when we discovered the link between this common misquoting (e.g. "I'm using Linux 7.x") and Red Hat. Thought I'd share it with some of you. Shuvam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subject:
Re: redhat trademark (offtopic)
From: Shuvam Misra ####@####.#### Date: 7 Oct 2003 03:01:09 -0000 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0310061811330.23860-100000@sm.starcomsoftware.com> <NOTE TO MODERATORS> This message is off-topic for this list. I'm writing this in response to someone's message, and I'm posting it to the list hoping that you _may_ find it of general interest. If you drop the message, I'll understand, and sorry for the trouble. </NOTE TO MODERATORS> > Same problem here in South Africa. Is the Indian government also > converting to Linux? 80% of our government is planned to switch over. I > think Linux is brilliant for developing nations like ours. Oh yes, open source is a Big Thing here. In India, one way you can assess how big is Big with the Govt is to see how it figures in the real top-level dry Government publications. One such publication is the Economic Survey (ES), published by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India (i.e. not one of the two-dozen-odd State Governments), and forms a background document to the Annual National Budget. The ES is read word by word by anybody seriously interested in the Government's intentions regarding the country's economy. For the last couple of years, the full ES has been available (yes! in PDF form!) on the Finance Ministry Website (www.indiabudget.nic.in). (In case you care to look for it: Each chapter has been cut into pieces arbitrarily, and each piece is a separate PDF file. Pick up the fifth piece of Chapter 7 for the section that I'm referring to.) The ES 2003, which was released in Feb 2003, had a few pages on the Electronics and Computer Technology industry, as part of its coverage of highlights of some key industry sectors. In this, Section 7.47 was the real eye-opener. It starts with "Government policies have worked towards fostering growth and sophistication in this sector in many ways. Some highlights of these efforts are:" And then it lists four points, of which point number two is the real interesting section, and I am re-typing in full: "A remarkable phenomenon of recent years is the rise of high quality 'free software' which has become available internationally. The use of free software reduces costs, reduces computer security threats, puts full control in Indian hands, and fosters the development of Indian skills in building new technology. As with numerous other governments in the world, the Government of India is also actively exploring how free software can be fully utilised in India. Many government agencies and state governments have commenced exploiting free software, particularly in the areas of national security, e-governance, Internet-related applications, research and development, and utilisation for low-cost computing in schools and colleges. Indian projects in this area, like the `Simputer' have received international acclaim." One key point is that this is in a Finance Ministry publication, not a Ministry of IT publication. In essence the Finance Ministry is saying that free software is important for the economy of India. The impact of this paragraph can only be understood if you look at it with the fence-sitting mind of the bureaucrat. It gives free software "legitimacy" in his eyes. Every government-owned organisation, and so-called "EDP Section" within every level of every ministry in India has been "unofficially" experimenting with Linux and freely redistributable software literally for years. But no decision-making bureaucrat wants to sign off on a purchase decision for lots of expensive hardware unless he makes a CYA (cover your posterior) decision regarding the software too. This usually means big-brand American software for the products (Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, etc) and big-brand Indian firms for the services. Now, with this pargraph in place, he can trust his instincts about open source, sanctify his purchase decisions for Linux based solutions, and demand that bidders supply him with solutions based on PostGreSQL instead of Oracle. Till now, no decision-making bureaucrat would have the guts to do this because the Microsoft salesman would always raise the bogey of "Linux has no support" and the bureaucrat would shudder at the thought of some future inquiry into the "inappropriateness" of the purchase decision which favoured "a technology which has no after-sales support." The second bogey that this passage breaks is that open source is insecure software. This too used to be used routinely by Microsoft and IBM. Now IBM sings the Linux tune (they've been brilliant at hunting with the hounds and running with the hares), and Microsoft is very hot around the collar (why do you think Mr.Gates visited India recently?). Two years ago, I don't remember seeing a single government tender explicitly specifying that they wanted just a Linux-based solution, though they wouldn't reject a Linux-based bid. Now, government departments are announcing tenders for "Linux-based networking solutions", "Linux based messaging and firewall solutions", and so on. The gates have opened. If you're Microsoft, Solaris, AIX, whatever, you need not apply. The Government of India is like a plodding elephant, but usually its steps, once taken, have wide effect. This step has been taken. Shuvam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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