If you’re new to it, free software appears to be tough to shift to. It also tends to be supported by a smaller pool of techies, and has something of a steep initial learning-curve. So why shift at all? In any case, you can easily make do with illegally-copied proprietary software… right?

Wrong! That’s a lazy way of looking at things. It’s also an outdated approach, which goes back just three decades or so, when proprietary- you can’t copy it, you can’t share it—software became the norm.

Today, free software offers so many different alternatives, that it’d be criminal to avoid giving it more attention.

Today, free software offers so many different alternatives, that it’d be criminal to avoid giving it more attention

Proprietary software isn’t going to give up without a fight. Their last strategy is to confuse issues. Free software isn’t really “free”. Why call it free when it isn’t always zero-cost? There are a whole lot of similar arguments, which are proliferating in this bitter battle for the hearts and minds of computer users

You need to look deep to find the truth of the matter, buried as it is under tonnes of vested interests, high-profits and the habit of doing things the proprietary way

In a report on free/libre and open source software’s impact on the developing world, Finland-based researcher Niranjan Rajani cites a number of reasons why free software makes even more sense to the poorer and resource-hungry countries of the planet. This report, “Free as in Education” Significance of the Free/Libre and Open Source Software for Developing Countries, version 1.0, dated May 2003, is available online on the FLOSS for Development site. The reasons Rajani cites include: lower cost; using free software as a means of coping with the ‘anti-piracy’ campaign; and deploying it on grounds of security and technological independence.

Tere Vaden, a professor at the University of Tampere’s Hypermedialab, argues that the “background motivations” for creating and using free software range from the pure technical (i.e. speed of development, security and privacy, technological independence, ease of use) to the deeply economic, social, political and philosophical (i.e. price, co-operation, equality, commitment to the right to know).

Free software works out reasonably priced both in the short and long term. Free software creates local jobs and multiplies local skills. Free software is transparent enough for you to 1) learn it, if you have the technical background 2) make custom changes in the manner you wish to, or you can pay others to do this for you and 3) enable both you and your staff to learn at a much deeper level.

Real-life examples from South Asia

Looking at the real world easily helps us to understand why free software makes a big difference to its users. Many of the examples below are from the South Asia region. This is due partly to the fact I am based there. Significantly too, the South Asia region is an under-studied region in the free software world, and a lot of initiatives from South Asia are simply waiting too long to be studied. An example is Project Ganeshas, named after the elephant-headed Hindu god, realises the potency of GNU/Linux in schools in Nepal and has been working on this front in recent years.

Free software is also helping young South Asians to work collaboratively across continents, forge software and bring out the best in each other. Take a look at an Indian version of Sourceforge. Likewise, the Project Resource Centre (PRC) on the sarai.net server is working to enhance the skills of local techies.

For a general overview of free software in this region, check out the Free Software Foundation of India or Linux India. However, more often, the real story lies in the easy-to-miss details.

Asia looks at Linux… file photo of an earlier AOSS meeting. Photo by Frederick Noronha

Using barefoot entrepreneurial skills, college students and other young people are selling copies of free software CDs, at a very low cost—the equivalent of a dollar each and less. In this way, they’re earning some money for themselves and doing a favour by spreading the use of free software.

In South India, linuxense.com is a “GNU/Linux-based Enterprise providing software solutions of exceptional quality using cutting-edge technologies; creating a GNU/Linux ambience for our distinguished clients in their demanding work environments.”

Free software—sometimes called “open source” by those preferring a more corporate-friendly name—is also contributing to education. “Freed” is a content management system and free education website. Educationists are encouraged to create an account for themselves and upload, browse, comment on or rate content available on this site. The objective of this site is to enable everyone to help others and themselves learn.

There are many other ways in which free software enables and empowers. GLUGs (GNU/Linux user groups) build skills among hundreds of young people. One listing in India’s “Linux For You” magazine shows that there are around 80 GLUGs scattered across India alone, some more active than others. You can also see a listing of local GLUGs, LUGs, Free Software User Groups and the like.

Free software is offering other solutions too.

Proprietary software isn’t going to give up without a fight. Their last strategy is to confuse issues. Free software isn’t really “free”. Why call it free when it isn’t always zero-cost? There are a whole lot of similar arguments, which are proliferating in this bitter battle for the hearts and minds of computer users