What open source can do for:

An organisation

Free and open source software (FOSS) is a wild dragon-child that can trans-
form any organisation into a Daenerys Targaryen. But like her, you need to 
know how to tame this dragon, and where and when to use this effectively. 
Otherwise, its fire can and will consume you instead.

An individual (home user)

Whatever software a home user adopts (including proprietary and com-
mercial software), open source offers fierce competition to push costs 
down, keep it free, enhance its performance, make it secure, or honour 
your privacy better. Hence, open source browsers are free. Home users get 
operating systems for free or a token fee. The latest Firefox outclasses even 
Google Chrome, while Telegram messenger and Signal outshine WhatsApp 
with their privacy and security.

Techie home user

That’s like singing to the choir. For the techie home user, open source is the 
best way to tinker and hack and, hopefully, also build the next billion-dollar 
unicorn in your barsaati.

Dos and Don’ts for developers

I insist that people should read their 

employment contract carefully. In 

most cases in India, I’ve noticed 

developers have signed away their 

rights to their contributions to FOSS 

in the name of the company, which 

may even keep them a trade secret, 

and may even threaten employees 

from using their own code ever again. 

Even if the software is under a free, 

muft and mukt licence, please carefully 

consider whom you want to assign the 

copyright of your work—to yourself, 

or your organisation.

Check with the legal department 

about policies on the use of code 

marked as open source. Often, 

violations occur when developers help 

themselves to code without bothering to 

check the implications of its licence.

A ray of hope

Unfortunately, people in India are not yet 

sensitised enough to the issue of digital 

privacy. If this sleeping giant wakes up 

to the importance of digital privacy, the 

adoption of open source will naturally 

become pervasive. IoT will provide the 

next push for open source across India, 

invisibly. Startups and entrepreneurs are 

and will continue to set up sophisticated 

cloud-based services deployed on free 

and open source software. So, here’s 

the magic bullet: sell your value-

proposition, not your open source 

philosophy, and the market will adopt 

in droves. Beyond software, I see 

open source licences being adopted 

directly in agriculture, health, pharma 

and education, creating an exponentially 

larger impact than they could ever create 

as just software licences.

To conclude, I would say that 

we’ve managed to discover the magic 

formula for the adoption of free and 

open source software in India. Just 

make it invisible, and people will 

adopt it — hence the exponential 

growth in the adoption of Android in 

India. Arduino projects bring FOSS 

to kids. But for me, adoption of open 

source is successful when people 

start the relationship with it after 

understanding its true philosophy. This 

is one love affair with freedom! 

by the community, but we are yet 

to unlock the true potential of open 

source in the country. 

How many of us really know that 

the highly sophisticated computer in 

our pocket is running Linux! Apple 

Macintosh and the iOS are based on 

the MACH kernel, Windows on BSD, 

and all of these are open source kernels. 

On a positive note, I would say that 

it is impressive to see the adoption of 

Android, but at other levels, the real 

potential of open source is yet to be 

realised by Indians.

Survival

You may wonder, “How did Niyam 

Bhushan survive and continue giving 

to the industry?” One should always 

remember that any community-

building needs your time and effort, 

but gradually, it will start giving 

you returns in the most unexpected 

manner. This was not the real driving 

force for me. I love people and I 

love ideas. Sharing your knowledge 

and experiences in return brings you 

commercial opportunities, as well as a 

plethora of ideas that further enhance 

your understanding. My intention 

was never to be a multi-billionaire, 

but to earn more than comfortably for 

myself while following my passion. I 

wanted to touch the lives of as many 

people as possible and enrich my life 

with knowledge-sharing whenever and 

wherever possible.

The beauty of the community is 

that it seems like it is taking your 

time and effort, but it opens doors to 

lucrative opportunities as well. The 

community will continue to evolve 

around specific value-based pillars. 

For instance, in the vibrant startup 

communities of India, open source is 

fuelling a gold rush, propelling India 

to becoming a creator of wealth in the 

world. In academia, it is the highly 

local and focused communities that 

deepen learning and exploration. 

In the government and the public 

sector, their internal communities 

orient, adopt, collaborate and 

formulate policies.

For U & Me

Open Journey

24 | JANUARY 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | www.OpenSourceForU.com