Pakistan, where majority of the end users are either students or from lower strata of the society find it too hard to buy expensive software after managing a cheaper hardware for them. It’s a welcoming development that industry in Pakistan, too, waking up to the realization that open source software is gaining popularity throughout the world. Open source technologies are not just another option for reducing costs, but they represent the only way to eliminate illegal copying of copyrighted software.
By Munawar Iqbal
At Present, Pakistan stands at the crossroad in regard with advancement (or backwardness) in the field of Information Technology. Recently, we have observed raids on computer industry vendors by the FIA and arrests have been made on the charges of violation of copy rights. The action taken on the behest of monopolist international software companies has been resulted as a further blow for the already struggling IT industry in Pakistan. Of course no body favors violation of copy rights. However, its point to ponder that what viable alternative is available for the IT industry as well as end user of Pakistan and other parts of the world, especially, third world countries, where industries are unable to absorb expensive software.
Today, when monopolist international companies increasingly threaten to dominate computing as well as the internet, a seemingly motley collection of free software tools and operating systems - collectively dubbed "open source" software – has emerged as an alternative recipe. Open source technologies are now playing an important role in many developing countries, where governments and corporate entities are moving increasingly towards open standards in an effort to reduce costs or to increase revenues.
Pakistan, where majority of the end users are either students or from lower strata of the society find it too hard to buy expensive software after managing a cheaper hardware for them. It’s a welcoming development that industry in Pakistan, too, waking up to the realization that open source software are gaining popularity throughout the world. Open source technologies are not just another option for reducing costs, but they represent the only way to eliminate illegal copying of copyrighted software.
The industry in Pakistan has the realization that piracy has been a huge obstacle in the way of foreign investment in the sector. The government, on other hand, has also taken some initiatives to raise awareness in regard with elimination of piracy and the protection of intellectual property. However, conducting raids at various locations has proved a counter productive exercise and it will remain so until the level of awareness regarding alternate technology is not being raised. Perhaps, the government and private sector need to enhance level of cooperation on this particular front so that a shared vision may be achieved and to educate the people about the benefits of using open source software.
The experts of the industry are of opinion that Pakistan can attract a lot of foreign investment, if piracy is properly tackled. Open source, in this regard, has a great potential in Pakistan in terms of reducing costs for our private sector and to eliminate piracy. The stakeholders need to realize the importance of open source and should adopt free alternatives of copyrighted software in the form of OSS, to counter piracy."
If we take a closer look at the history of computing, many initiatives were launched to build an operating system that could be deployed on multiple hardware platforms. The most prominent example is UNIX, which was a product of AT&T Laboratories and was published back in 1969. Sharing the source code among developers and researchers was a common phenomenon, which brought about major developments in the field of internet and related technologies.
Since then, many open source projects have emerged. However, Linux is gaining in popularity simply because it is completely free of charge. No user or server licenses are required. Another advantage of using Open Source System is that it is developed by hundreds and thousands of people worldwide. Because of this, the system has evolved into a rock solid and stable entity.
Open Source came as a fresh breeze for all system administrators as it is much more secure and it also consumes less system resources to run the services on a highly complex network. However, the question still arises that with all the advantages and benefits of the system, is the open source community successful in attracting wider audiences towards the adoption of free software, especially in Pakistan? Except large corporations and Multi-national firms, almost every single computer in Pakistan runs pirated Software. Hence, piracy is recognized as one of the biggest problems confronting the IT sector in the country.
It is now time that our IT professionals realized that we have the option of using software legally in the form of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The FOSS are liberally licensed to grant the rights to redistribute and study, change and improve its design through the availability of its source code, something that propriety software developers have always dreamed about.
Open Source has a very bright and sustainable future in Pakistan. Its encouraging that private sector spearheaded by Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) and Pakistan Software Exports Board (PSEB) have recently taken some valuable initiatives in this regard including free training to vendors and other stakeholders of the industry. These trainings are aimed at enhancement of the capacities of individuals, groups, institutions, organizations, societies, and government in Pakistan by using Open Source for their sustained economic and social development.
Though, the use of OSS as alternative has not been ascribed as encouraging so far as the number of OSS users still remains under one thousand. However, it is time that we should focus on efforts to change our attitude and realized that our country has long suffered due to software piracy. It would be unfortunate, if we assume that piracy cannot be controlled and curbed in Pakistan. The analysts and experts of the industry as well as from PSEB and other organizations busy in the promotion of OSS predicts a rapid development in the IT sector in the coming years as the free software technology would ease down the pressure on the end users, especially those who find the purchase of expensive software beyond their purchasing power.
The writer is Central President of the Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) and can be reached at info@pakcomputerassociation.com
