ACADEMIC ARTICLE SUMMARY
Technology Neutrality and Government Policy: A Pointless Debate on Open Source Software (OSS)
Article Source: CNBC and Microsoft, November 2006
Publication Date:
Time to Read: 1 minute readWritten By:
Bibek Debroy
Search for the full article on Bing
ARTICLE SUMMARY
Summary:
This paper asks whether India should support open source software (OSS).
POLICY RELEVANCE
Policy Relevance:
Economic growth is supported by competition and choice. The best policy is for government to be technology neutral.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key Takeaways:
- OSS lets users change the code to suit their own needs; open source code under the General Public License (GPL) must be distributed free. Traditional software (proprietary) cannot usually be redistributed or changed by users and is sold for profit.
- The Indian government has unwisely favored OSS by including it in mandatory technical standards, preferring it for public sector use through the procurement process, and providing public resources and fiscal incentives for OSS development.
- OSS is not always cheaper than traditional software when one counts all costs, such as service.
- OSS and proprietary software should compete fairly. It is a myth that proprietary software models favor Western corporations.
- There is little evidence that OSS helps develop local talent or industry, produces better software, adapts better to local languages, or will boost India into global markets.
QUOTE
TAGS
