Date:12/02/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/02/12/stories/2004021203051600.htm

Business

Microsoft participates in Linux meet

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, FEB. 11. Linux Asia 2004, the largest event on open source software held in the country, was today inaugurated by IT entrepreneurs, Brian Behlendorf and Inder Singh, who have ensured the deployment of Linux in high end industry, space and military applications. The opening day of the three-day conference also saw a Microsoft official taking the floor to speak to participants who are opponents of his company's policy of closely guarding the source code of software.

The Microsoft `developer evangelist', M. S. V. Janakiram, tried to dispel the impression of the world's largest company not allowing alternate systems to talk to users using Windows and other applications. He spoke about the several Microsoft initiatives to ensure interoperability between different systems. "This was a good step towards breaking the ice. In the long run, it ma

kes practical sense to create conditions so that users can mix and match according to their wish. They have to step forward and become mature. So far the Linux community and Microsoft are used to ranting and raving against each other. Both sides should realise the need to rant less and work more on interoperability," said an open source movement veteran.

Microsoft has tentatively agreed to participate in another discussion titled "Is no policy a good policy?" Interestingly, while open source enthusiasts want the Government to adopt clear-cut guidelines on embracing the software wave in governance and education, Microsoft would rather want the best software and marketing skills to decide the winner.

The mood at the conference-cum-seminar was vastly different from similar expositions held by the mainstream IT community, perhaps because of its political philosophy of openness and sharing. Well-known advocates from the world-over have descended for the meet being held in an informal atmosphere where stifling security is at a premium. Youth from universities and schools were freely intermingling with informally attired open source evangelists.