Tuesday, Sep 21, 2004
Tuesday, Sep 21, 2004 |
| Tamil Nadu | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Tamil Nadu
-
Coimbatore
By Our Staff Reporter
COIMBATORE, SEPT. 20. A large number of individuals and institutions in India have opted for open source software during the past decade, the columnist and technical consultant, Atul Chitnis, said here on Friday. He was delivering the keynote address on `Impact and future directions of open source software', organised by the G.R. Govindarajulu School of Applied Computer Technology in association with the Coimbatore Chapter of the Computer Society of India, at the P.S.G.R. Krishnammal College for Women. Mr. Chitnis said that open source software had made its appearance in the country in 1992, and by 1996 had moved from individual use to institutional use. Two years later, companies had begun adopting open software as an alternative to proprietary software.
Explosive growth
An explosive growth during the next few years had established its efficacy for mainstream purposes. Computer publications had helped boost popularity by distributing open source software on compact discs to large numbers of readers. He noted that users of licensed proprietary software were not permitted to change or modify the product, even if there were defects. Only the manufacturer could make changes to rectify the deficiencies. On the other hand, users who noticed software defects in open source software could rectify the deficiencies on their own, because the licence itself guaranteed the user the right to read, re-distribute and modify programmes. This type of software could "adapt, improve and evolve" because of user involvement.
User-friendly
"Open source is a process, not a product," Mr. Chitnis said, adding that designing and coding were transparent operations, with the online release of the source code making it possible for users to test it extensively, write software patches to overcome defects, and also develop new features that could be incorporated into the main project.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2004, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
