Ubuntu-news-team Digest, Vol 29, Issue 13

[nalin4linux77 linux]

As expected, when Microsoft came into scene of
UIDAI<http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20100215/news02.shtml>
(Unique Identification Authority of India), the whole platform of UIDAI had
been built around Windows. This forces use of propitiatory & non-free
Windows operating system in tracking the whole Indian population.

This indeed is a big gain for M$ as this would earn a big fortune by sales
of thousands of Microsoft Windows licenses. And even worse, our tax becomes
a cash cow for MS due to the resulting infrastructure's continuous and long
term dependency on Microsoft Technologies (We all know the cost of support &
upgradation from M$). It would also propel further use of  Propitiatory/M$
technologies & slow down the adoption of Free Software.

Migration to a free platform (Eg linux) later is not quiet practical.
Development with Windows in mind makes a lot of difference for migration
since the technologies used to build the infrastructure is not open &
portable. Also the hardware equipments like biometric scanners seem to be
Windows only devices (they relay on some Windows specific features to do
their job). The security of such a system is also an issue of major concern.
Windows is targeted by 99% of virus & malwares.

So a project of such high costs cannot be closed source and under the
control of some private foreign companies. Although voices from
FSF<http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article863912.ece>have
been protesting this, general public(the tax payers) seems to be
unaware and silent about this. Spread the word
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