Sasi Kumar, a member of FSF India's Working Group, spoke with Blue GNU about the organization's past, present and future, and shares how they have impacted India.

When was FSF India started, and what led up to its inception?

FSF India was inaugurated by Richard Stallman at Thiruvananthapuram, in a Conference called Freedom First on July 20, 2001. This came about because several people took keen interest in the new operating system called 'Linux' and in the type-setting programme called LaTeX. As they got to know more about the ideological and ethical aspects of the software, many of them were attracted to it and thought about starting a Free Software Foundation of India. A movement called Freedevelopers, which eventually died out, also helped in drawing many people to the ideology of Free Software.

Can you tell me some of the key events that have brought FSF India to the present?

After FSF India was inaugurated in July 2001, possibly the first major issue it had to face was the inclusion of only Microsoft software in the IT@School curriculum in Kerala. IT@School is a project for implementing computer education in schools. FSF India and some of the User Groups, particularly the Free Software User Group in Kochi, expressed their
objections and FSUG Kochi submitted a memorandum to the government. FSF India argued that only Free Software should be used in schools since it promotes social values like sharing, and also gives freedom to teachers and students. This was supported by other organisations also, especially the Kerala School Teachers' Association and the then Opposition Leader (current Chief Minister) Mr. V.S. Achuthanandan. As a consequence of these pressures, the textbook was changed in the second year to include Free Software also. Eventually, the government decided to use exclusively Free Software in schools. Thus Kerala became the first state in the country (and possibly in the world) to use exclusively Free Software in schools.

Another major challenge that FSF India had to face was when the program playfair was hosted on a server in Thiruvananthapuram. Based on a letter from Apple, the Internet Service Provider asked the owners to remove the program from the site and the host organisation had no option but to remove it, despite the fact that no law existed in India
that prevented anyone from hosting it. FSF India got ready to fight out the issue in the courts, but it was saved the trouble because one of the Directors of FSF India, Mr. Anand Babu, a computer scientist in the United States, and a member of the Board of Directors of FSF India, decided to host it on his website. The problem ended there since no one challenged it.

A third case was that of software patents. When the Government of India decided to modify the patent laws of the country, they thought of introducing software patents. Though this is harmful even to small software companies, there was virtually no opposition from the industry. It was left to FSF India to argue against this. The left parties, which are partners in the present coalition government, were sympatheric to our cause and expressed their views to the Minister. Eventually, the government decided to drop the provisions that were most harmful. This victory, we understand, is not permanent, since there are powerful interests who are still arguing for the introduction of software patents. FSF India continues to be vigilant against this threat.

Another issue that cropped up recently is that about approving Microsoft's OOXML as a standard. Currently, we are a party in the dialogues going on regarding the approval of OOXML as a standard. Dr. Nagarjuna, President of FSF India, is a member of the group in the Bureau of Indian Standards that is debating the issue and has submitted his comments.

What role has the FSF India played in any of the major events involving Free Software in India (such as the decision by Kerala to focus on Free/Open Source Software)?

The present Chief Minister of Kerala was the Leader of the Opposition when we raised the issue of IT@School focusing exclusively on Microsoft's Windows operating system and applications. At that time, he learnt about the ethical and ideological issues of Free Software and favoured it. Over the years, as he understood more about FS, he felt that the state should move completely to Free Software because of both ideological reasons and economic sense. Activists of FSF India had built a relationship with him when, as Opposition Leader, he supported the cause of Free Software in IT@School and he consulted these people when he decided to formulate the IT Policy of the government. The IT Adviser of the Chief Minister is a supporter of Free Software. It was FSF India that developed the GNU/Linux distribution
that was first distributed to the schools in Kerala.

FSF India was involved in organising an international conference called Free Software Free Society at Thiruvananthapuram in 2005. The conference had participants from several countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia. The conference adopted a declaration that has become known as the Thiruvananthapuram Declaration. It called for the
establishment of a gnowledge society (see http://www.gnowledge.org).

FSF India took the initiative to establish a media centre that used only Free Software for the World Social Forum at Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Since then, all WSF conferences used only Free Software.

What are some of the major challenges with respect to Free Software adoption in India?

The adoption of Free Software in India faces more or less the same kind of challenges that it faces in other countries. At the individual level, people who have been using MS Windows are reluctant to change to a different operating system mainly because of their fear of having to learn something new. But those who are using computers for the first time find no difficulty in using GNU/Linux. In businesses, adoption is happening, though slowly. There, the main problem is ignorance and the spread of misinformation by vested interests. Hopefully, with companies like Red Hat and Novell setting up their offices in the country, there should be a change in this, which is already slowly beginning to be seen. The paucity of students who opt to study GNU/Linux is another problem. This is slowly changing
since universities are beginning to migrate to Free Software.

Would you tell us about some of your current projects?

We are now working in different areas, though not necessarily as projects. An important area is that of standardisation. On the one hand we are fighting the issues related to the acceptance of OOXML as a standard, while on the other hand we are talking to governments about adopting open standards for all documents. Dr. Nagarjuna, President, FSFI, is in the committee constituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards to decide on the adoption of ODF and/or OOXML as a standard.

In Kerala state, the government has decided to start an international institute for the development of Free Software. The work is in its preliminary stages and FSFI activists are involved in the process. We hope this will give a big boost to FOSS in the state and the country.

FSF India activists have been organising training programmes for school and college teachers in Kerala and Maharashtra and workshops for students and the public.

Can you give me an idea of how many people are actively involved in FSF India (including associate members)?

FSF India has a Director Board consisting of five people. There are about 100 Associate Fellows. But the actual strength of the organisation is the large number of people actively involved in Free Software User Groups (FSUGs) and GNU/Linux User Groups (GLUGs). It is virtually impossible to say, even approximately, how many people are actively
involved in promoting Free Software and its ideals. In fact, there are a number of people who are not involved with any FSUG or GLUG who work for the cause of Free Software. In a way, it is this loose organisation that has really helped, because every person sympathetic to the cause of FS takes it as his/her own mission.

As you consider what lies ahead for FSF India, what are the key challenges you face?