El pasado noviembre, Bill Gates se dejó caer por la India y propuso al gobierno indio
lo mismo que Ballmer aquí en mayo (La campaña Windows, Ballmer sobre Open Source), pero a escala india. Stephen Downes se hace eco en OLDaily de un artículo de The Register titulado We've seen the future, Indian Prez tells Gates - and you're not in it que trata sobre las diferencias de opinión entre el presidente de la India, el Dr. Abdul Kalam, y el señor Bill Gates:
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Last week Indian President Dr Abdul Kalam called for a halt to the "devastating" impact of proprietary software. He revealed that he had what he called "differences" with the Microsoft founder when the two met last November.
"The most unfortunate thing is that India still seems to believe in proprietary solutions," said President Kalam.
"Further spread of IT, which is influencing the daily life of individuals, will have a devastating effect on the lives of society due to any small shift in the business practice involving these proprietary solutions. It is precisely for these reasons open source software needs to be built which will be cost effective for the entire society."
""It is precisely for these reasons open source software need to be built which would be cost effective for the entire society. In India, open source code software will have to come and stay in a big way for the benefit of our billion people."
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El artículo de The Register cita una nota de prensa de la Free Software Foundation of India en la que se enumeran los argumentos por los cuales la India debe rechazar el ofrecimiento de Microsoft. Por dar color al asunto, entresacamos una cita del texto:
To quote Richard Stallman, President of the Free Software Foundation:
"This `gift' is no act of generosity. Giving Microsoft software to
school children is like giving them cigarettes: it is a way to get
them hooked, so that once they grow up they will be a captive market
for Microsoft." Thus, Microsoft is not "investing" in Indian Education
but in its own future captive market.