Open Letter To Mammootty: Difference between revisions

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Dear Mammootty

This letter is to express our disappointment in your involvement with Microsoft to launch their e-literacy program in kerala in spite of you being the brand ambassador to Akshaya. We are assuming that you were not given enough information about the IT Scenario in the state.

We are a group of individuals who believe in freedom , free society and free expression of ideas.

This letter is to express our deep disappointment in your involvement with Microsoft to launch their e-literacy program in kerala in spite of you being the brand ambassador to Akshaya. We are assuming that you were not given enough information about the IT Scenario in the state.

Software is a tool and a means with which we can achieve a lot of things. In this respect , it is similar to infrastructure like roads and rails . Using Microsoft software is akin to using a road built by a private agency who levies a charge for its use. Any further development to that road and the terms of usage of that road will be subject to the whims of that private agency alone , however insane it be. Free Software is like an alternate road , with equal or better quality. It is community owned - public property. Which modifications has to be done , what has to be done and where it has to be done is driven by public need and is not influenced by a private party.

When we use Microsoft's products , which do not comply to open standards and are never owned in the true sense , we are subjecting ourselves to what is called vendor lock in. They can end their support our computer systems whenever they will want to. We will be left hanging in the air when they demand more money for upgrades to their software ( which as past has shown , requires more expense in the form of hardware requirements ) . we will be left without a choice. We do not want a society dependent on a company for any need.

When we use Microsoft's products , which do not comply to open standards and are never owned in the true sense , we are subjecting ourselves to what is called vendor lock in. They can end their support our computer systems whenever they will want to. We will be left hanging in the air when they demand more money for upgrades to their software ( which as past has shown , requires more expense in the form of hardware requirements also) . We will be left without a choice. We do not want a society dependent on a company for any need.

There are equally good , community owned alternative to Microsoft products, which comply to open standards ( which means that anyone can make software that implement them , without licensing costs and be assured that it will remain interoperable with other similar software ) and we have successfully introduced it to our children and students ( tomorrow's citizen's ) in schools. At this stage , your actions endorsing Microsoft's products will be damaging to efforts that strive to bring about open standards and free society.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 Dear Mammootty
-This letter is to express our disappointment in your involvement with Microsoft to launch their e-literacy program in kerala in spite of you being the brand ambassador to Akshaya. We are assuming that you were not given enough information about the IT Scenario in the state.
+We are a group of individuals who believe in freedom , free society and free expression of ideas.
+This letter is to express our deep disappointment in your involvement with Microsoft to launch their e-literacy program in kerala in spite of you being the brand ambassador to Akshaya. We are assuming that you were not given enough information about the IT Scenario in the state.
 Software is a tool and a means with which we can achieve a lot of things. In this respect , it is similar to infrastructure like roads and rails . Using Microsoft software is akin to using a road built by a private agency who levies a charge for its use. Any further development to that road and the terms of usage of that road will be subject to the whims of that private agency alone , however insane it be. Free Software is like an alternate road , with equal or better quality. It is community owned - public property. Which modifications has to be done , what has to be done and where it has to be done is driven by public need and is not influenced by a private party.
-When we use Microsoft's products , which do not comply to open standards and are never owned in the true sense , we are subjecting ourselves to what is called vendor lock in. They can end their support our computer systems whenever they will want to. We will be left hanging in the air when they demand more money for upgrades to their software ( which  as past has shown , requires more expense in the form of hardware requirements ) . we will be left without a choice. We do not want a society dependent on a company for any need.
+When we use Microsoft's products , which do not comply to open standards and are never owned in the true sense , we are subjecting ourselves to what is called vendor lock in. They can end their support our computer systems whenever they will want to. We will be left hanging in the air when they demand more money for upgrades to their software ( which  as past has shown , requires more expense in the form of hardware requirements also) . We will be left without a choice. We do not want a society dependent on a company for any need.
 There are equally good , community owned alternative to Microsoft products, which comply to open standards ( which means that anyone can make software that implement them , without licensing costs and be assured that it will remain interoperable with other similar software ) and we have successfully introduced it to our children and students ( tomorrow's citizen's ) in schools. At this stage , your actions endorsing Microsoft's products will be damaging to efforts that strive to bring about open standards and free society.