Hello, Apologies for this intrusive mail. I am writing to you as a citizen who is concerned about the manner in which computers will be used in the administration of our country. You may have heard that the European Union, the United Kingdom, China, Peru and Pakistan have recently (in various ways) announced initiatives to embrace free (as in "azad" or "mukta") standards in the use of electronic media. On the other hand not enough has been done by state administrations in India to define, extend and adopt such standards. Meanwhile, some state-run organisations feel that distribution of material in proprietary formats amounts to "electronic availability". In turn the government often insists that applications and submissions made to it be prepared in proprietary formats. I feel that it is important that there be some bye-law to our various electronic communication acts or perhaps some additional legislation that insists on: 1. The use of open standards to record, store and distribute administrative documents and related material for our Government. 2. The common availability of the software required to handle these formats. 3. Some distributed expert-help support structure to ensure that these facilities can be used by all. 4. The long-term viability of the electronic records. (The formats or the programmes that produce them or the expertise to handle them should be recorded in sufficient detail that would allow reconstruction if the need arises). Since we are still in the early stages of the use of the electronic media for adminstrative use, we do not have to invest much in the "migration costs", which will be substantial if this change is required a later date. Below is an analogy of the exiting software scenario with a similar scenario in the paper and ink world. A draft by Mr. Bruce Perens of the SPI (Software in the Public Interest) on what constitutes an "Open standard" in the realm of electronic media is available at http://perens.com/OpenStandards/Definition.html Regards, Kapil. An analogy: ========== Suppose the government insisted that all official documents be recorded on paper produced by one manufacturer on the basis of *that* manufacturer's advertisement (rather than guaruntee) that the paper will last thousands of years. Moreover, it is also mandated that the paper be written on with ink made by the same manufacturer which is invisible unless seen with glasses provided by the same manufacturer. Also assume that the manufacturer distributes the paper, ink and glasses very well so that these are available in all the shops and don't cost too much. The manufacturer is also giving the material free to schools in poor areas. The manufacturer also gives jobs to a few people who can be trained to improve the paper, ink and glasses. Finally assume that is not permissible to submit the paper or ink or glasses to scientific analysis to check the manufacturer's claims. This is in spite of the fact that there are known cases of important documents where the paper crumbled or the ink vanished or the use of certain glasses actually destroyed both ink and paper. In each case the manufacturer comes out with a "new version" of the system where the defects have been ironed out. I think it will be foolhardy of any public body to place its trust in one such manufacturer or even five or six of them. What one can trust is a system where the government dictates certain technical criteria ("standards") that the paper and ink should satisfy. All manufacturers can then compete to produce paper and ink that satisfy those criteria. A small ("khadi") paper industry can also try to produce the relevant material in the village if it wants or needs to do so. End of Analogy. -- Always use GPG for privacy; finger -l kapil@imsc.ernet.in or http://www.imsc.ernet.in/~kapil/gpg.html for my Public Key. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 768D/FED1D08D 2000-02-19 Kapil Hari Paranjape 1024g/CECEB39B 2000-02-19 Kapil Hari Paranjape Key fingerprint = B6D2 F4F2 A37C B887 DFA2 9100 5F22 0D1D FED1 D08D --