| Richard Stallman on Kerela's desktop Linux adoption |
Sep. 06, 2006
 To learn more about the recently reported migration of computers in 12,500 high schools in the southern Indian state of Kerela from Windows to GNU/Linux, prompted largely by the recent visit to India of free software guru Richard M. Stallman, DesktopLinux.com contacted Stallman for further details.
Knowing that Stallman was still in the midst of his world travels on his GNU/Linux mission, we contacted him via email in France in an effort to follow up on our prior story about Kerela's Windows-to-GNU/Linux migration.
Stallman, founder of the GNU free software project, answered our questions in the following Q&A-style interview:
Q1: Can you describe what kind of GNU/Linux system the good folks in Kerela will be instituting in the high schools?
A1: They have made their own distro, emphasizing support for Malayalam (the language of Kerala). I don't know any more details ...
Q2: Was it difficult to convince them to make the change, or were they already leaning in that direction?
A2: The previous government gave lukewarm support to free software; they began a partial migration, but had not made a firm decision to take it all the way. FSF India has worked for several years with both the main parties, and won the firm support of the (then) opposition leader. He is now the chief minister (equivalent to the governor of a state in the U.S.), and we both spoke at a free software event in Trivandrum two weeks ago. So I think the FSF India people deserve some of the credit for building the support that made this decision happen.
I suggested to the education minister a way to begin moving Kerala's colleges to free software. Colleges in Kerala are not government entities, but they usually buy computers with government funds. I suggested that the government set a policy of only paying for computers that won't use proprietary software.
I played a role in convincing them, but I was able to do so because the FSF India had already built the relationship. I was helping them.
Q3: Are there other countries/localities that you know will also be moving to GNU/Linux and other Free Software?
A3: Extremadura [a community in western Spain], which migrated its schools to GNU/Linux a few years ago, is now migrating the desktops of its public agencies. They plan to finish some time next year.
Andalucía, another region in Spain, is migrating its schools. A year ago they were training people to train the teachers.
I heard a long list of agencies and localities in France that have migrated, but I don't know the details; I could put you in touch with someone else who does.
The UN is now considering the use of free software; there was a meeting last week where people from various camps were invited to speak. I presented the argument, originated by Enrique Chaparro of Via Libre in Argentina, that agencies of the UN, like all public agencies, have a duty not to let the control of their work fall into any private hands, and therefore they must never use proprietary software.
Q4: Was there anything else relevant from your travels that you would like us to know about?
A4: I am currently in France. Here some companies sell computers whose BIOS prevents installation of anything but Windows. Customers with a certain amount of expertise may be able to get another BIOS from branches of the same companies in other countries, but ordinary users won't know how to do that.
Also, we are concerned that the new French law, like the DMCA but even nastier, might prohibit the replacement of the BIOS if Windows is deemed to be a form of Digital Restrictions Management.
-- Chris Preimesberger
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