[Fsf-kerala] FSF India sends letter to Education Minister of Kerala

[Anivar Aravind]

Dear Friends,

Dr Nagarjuna, Chairperson FSF India has send a letter to Mr MA Baby
citing the violation of the Kerala IT policy by using proprietary 
software for several projects.

Read the letter from

http://www.gnu.org.in/fsf-india-sends-letter-to-education-minister-of


					06/26/08
To
Sri M A Baby,
Minister of Education
Governement of Kerala
Room No.208, Second Floor, North Sandwich Block,
Govt. Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram 1

Dear Sir,

Subject: Forcing schools to use proprietary software illegally

During the last few decades, Kerala has been following a unique
development path that has been considered a model for the rest of the
country and even other underdeveloped countries. Kerala, again showed a
model to the world with its vision to build an inclusive Knowledge
society. Its IT Policy clearly states that the "Government realizes that
Free Software presents a truly unique opportunity in building a truly
egalitarian knowledge society. The Government will take all efforts to
develop Free Software and Free Knowledge and shall encourage and mandate
the appropriate use of Free Software in all ICT initiatives." (section
2.10, IT Policy document, Kerala Govt.)

We congratulate the government for its efforts to support Free Software
and free knowledge initiatives. Schools, KSEB, Kerala State Khadi Board
etc. successfully completed their migration to Free Software. Public
sector initiatives like Keltron are doing mega projects completely in
Free Software. With these examples, the state showed that "Free
Software" is a feasible technological alternative to any proprietary
technology.

Under the leadership of the IT at School project, the schools in Kerala
were the first to successfully migrate to Free Software. The migration
to GNU/Linux operating system and software tools not only saved money
but also helped teachers to keep their ethical and moral values by
allowing students and others to share the software they use.

However, we would like to point out some abberations from the stated
policy particularly in the e-governance initiatives of the education
department, like the Higher Secondary Single Window system,  data entry
application for SSLC, Child Census,  etc. The above stated e-governance
projects necessitated the installation of Microsoft Windows operating
system as the software for the above projects were dependent on that
operating system. This has forced the schools to install these
proprietary operating systems. Most of the schools do not have the
necessary licenses for these proprietary systems and consequently, they
have to install and use illegal copies of the operating system. By using
unauthorized copies of proprietary software, the schools and the
teachers who install the operating system are breaking the law. This
also puts the teachers in a moral dilemma of having to use proprietary
software while teaching and promoting Free Software. Also, it is a clear
violation of the IT policy of the state.

The software used for data entry operations are very simple applications
which are very easy to build on a free software platform. Also, as all
schools in Kerala have already migrated to Free Software, it is easy for
them to use a software that works in GNU/Linux. An example is the IT
Practical Examination software. Around 5 lakhs students used the IT
Practical Examination software for SSLC this year without any problems,
and it was made completely using Free Software technology. Government
agencies like Keltron, CDAC etc have proved their capabilities in
building software using free software technology.

We hope that the State will keep up to the leadership role it has taken
in the adoption of Free Software in the education sector. We strongly
recommend the government to stand by its policy to use only Free
Software in all government departments and convert all software
installed and used in schools to free software technology.

Looking forward to your support in spreading the use of free software.

Thanking you
best regards

Dr. Nagarjuna G.

Chairperson, FSF India.

References:
IT Policy 2007, Kerala Government:
http://www.keralaitmission.org/web/main/ITPolicy-2007.pdf
CPI(M) supports Free software :
http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/04/stories/2007030411510400.htm
Kerala schools use free software :
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/280323.html
ORUMA: the result of KSEB’s concerted efforts :
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/09/stories/2008030953940500.htm

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