Re: [LIG] India continues to reject Office Open XML

On Sun, Mar 23, 2008 at 7:56 PM, Kingsly John
<[email protected]> wrote:
> +++ Linux Lingam [2008-03-23 19:48:06]:
>
>
>  > dear all,
>  >
>  >
>  > On Sat, Mar 22, 2008 at 7:29 PM, Ajitabh Pandey <[email protected]> wrote:
>  > > 2008/3/21, Suresh Ramasubramanian <[email protected]>:
>  > >
>  > > > http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9899839-7.html?tag=nefd.top
>  > >
>  > >  That seems to be good, but within the report it is mentioned that
>  > >  India biggies, TCS, Wipro and Infosys supported the format becoming a
>  > >  standard. This is not good........
>  > >
>  >
>  > valid point by ajitabh. have raised this point earlier, that as a
>  > community we should write to these bigies expressing the communities'
>  > displeasure and disappointment in them supporting this. [snip]
>
>  Will have zero effect on their decision to support the format unless you are
>  able to make a better offer to them than what they've got from
>  Microsoft.(Which would involved considerable $$$$ or promise thereof.)
>
>  Writing to the BIS and telling them that we support the decision will
>  probably be more effective.
>
>  Kingsly
>  --

thanks for your suggestions, kingsley. perhaps both could be done.
the reason i state we should write the biggies even when we know it
may have no impact:

a) they should know the FOSS developer and FOSS community-at-large
does not support them, and is willing to be vocal about it in an open
communique. an email with a cc to publicly-archived mailing lists has
a wonderful effect.

b) all players big and small compete fiercely in the IT industry for
skilled people in all grades. knowing that this community does not
view them favourably may make them less attractive for some really
skilled people. you know, the people who could join, but refuse to
join microsoft for instance, and would rather eke out a living in
google or ibm or other more foss-friendly companies, could start
shying away from such companies.

c) the foss community does have considerable influence in the student
community, especially at the undergrad and grad level. when faced with
choices between which company's cubicle to occupy, talent may even use
frivolous criterion like who has a better cafeteria or gym. being
foss-unfriendly is a much more significant variable.

d) a follow-up story in the mainstream media that takes this angle
would be even more interesting. for them.

i personally know quite a few people in the industry who have
deliberately quit or even disassociated themselves from
foss-unfriendly companies, as well as those who've consciously sought
jobs and careers in foss-friendly companies.

do tcs, wipro, and infosys think that intelligent people would like to
join them when these companies root for decisions which are :

a) counter-productive to the standardization in the global IT industry.
b) distinctly not favorable to india as a nation. those who fought to
ward off ooxml in india could detail how. we've often heard them talk
about this in their presentations.
c) probably taken because either they have been forced or coerced into
doing so, or as a few in the industry may suspect, for a fistful of
coins. not good for a company's image. the easiest way not to tarnish
your company's image: don't root for such lost causes. simple.

by writing to them, we're doing them a favour. we're giving them an
early heads-up.
we're also letting those who support ooxml or other similar insidious
intent know they stand huddled in a corner. Little Brother is watching
Big Brother, by George! or well, if you excuse the pun, by Janardhan.
:-)

regards
niyam





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-- 
niyam bhushan

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