Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, May 18, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, May 18, 2002 |
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Info-Tech
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E-Governance Karnataka may adopt Linux Our Bureau
NEW DELHI, May 17 IN what could result in the first official endorsement for Linux in India, Karnataka is considering adopting this free operating system for the State's various e-governance projects. According to the State Minister for IT and Bio-Technology of Karnataka, Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar, the State is also planning to broach this idea with neighbouring States such as Andhra Pradesh in order to gain wider acceptance for Linux. ``It is sensible for us to do that....because of the affordability and easy spread (of Linux),'' Prof Chandrashekar told mediapersons here. ``But you need radical political appreciation. We should team up with States such as Andhra Pradesh and Kerala,'' the Minister said, adding that he would organise a meeting with these States in the next 2-3 months to moot the idea of using Linux. He said Karnataka had earmarked Rs 5 crore for investing in various e-governance projects in this financial year. ``This amount will go up in the coming years,'' Prof Chandrashekar said. If Karnataka decides to embrace Linux, it would be the first State in the country to do so, giving a thumbs-up for the free operating system, the biggest rival of Microsoft's Windows. Countries such as China, Malaysia and Peru are supporting and preferring open source software such as Linux as against Microsoft Windows. The Minister also stated that Karnataka would support initiatives by companies to form joint ventures with hardware firms in China. ``If we have to address the issue of international digital divide, we need to team up with countries such as China and Taiwan. Karnataka would provide all kind of support for partnerships with Chinese companies,'' he said. Karnataka, which exported software worth Rs 9,903 crore in 2001-02, is also promoting the newly emerged areas of IT-enabled services and biotechnology in a big way. The State has also announced measures to encourage hardware manufacturing through hardware technology parks.
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