Campaigns:VTU-MS Curriculum tie up/LettertoVTU
From FSUG-Bangalore
[edit] Say NO To Vendor Lock In In Education
Dt:dd-11-2008
Bangalore
To,
The Vice Chancellor
Visvesvaraya Technological University(VTU).
From,
Activists of the Free Software Movement,
Karnataka.
Subject: Say NO to vendor lock-in in education.
Respected Sir,
Education has a very important role to play in society in the dissemination of knowledge and development of society – including the last {wo}man in the most backward villages of our country. Education can successfully play this role only if it is free. Free as in freedom. It should not be user-subjugating or unfree.
We have recently witnessed the devastation caused in the global economic domain and its effect on the Indian economy by following the principle of complete integration into the global economy and the lack of protection of interests of India's needs.
We feel that it is important to protect India's needs in education.
There are many questions before us. How can India protect itself from the ill-effects of the inconsistencies in the global economy? How can we convert ourself into a knowledge economy? How can India become a global leader?
The answer is that India must convert itself from its current role of knowledge consumer to that of a knowledge producer. To effect this transition, India needs to become intellectually self-reliant and this is possible only when we start identifying local problems and create solutions for these local problem statements. The working model and proof of concept has been clearly demonstrated by various European and Latin American countries. In India, Kerala is a pioneer.
Intellectual self-reliance, which is an essential step towards economic self-reliance, can be achieved by ensuring that our education is not a subject to market forces. The syllabus and curriculum needs to be free from vendor lock-in. We need to focus on concepts, applications and on non-proprietary technology rather than on products. We want our students to be free to explore technology, learn from it and then apply this knowledge to develop India's economy.
What sort of technology ensures the uniform development of society? Technology that conforms to the concepts of Free Knowledge and free (or open) standards and which is non-proprietary would qualify.
Free(as in freedom) Knowledge is knowledge which may be acquired, interpreted and applied freely, it can be re-formulated according to one's needs, and shared with others for community benefit.
Free Knowledge is explicit knowledge released in such a way that users are free to read, listen to, watch, or otherwise experience it; to learn from or with it; to copy, adapt and use it for any purpose; and to share derived works similarly (as free knowledge) for the common good. Users of free knowledge are free to
(0) use the work for any purpose.
(1) study its mechanisms, to be able to modify and adapt it to their own needs
(2) make and distribute copies, in whole or in part
(3) enhance and/or extend the work and share the result.
Freedoms 1 and 3 require Free file formats and free software as defined by the Free Software Foundation
Free(or open) Standards is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights to use associated with it. The concept of Free Standards is a reaction against closed de facto "standards" which served to reinforce monopolies.
In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in, or customer lock-in, makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products and services, unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs.
Proprietary technology: A process, tool, system or similar item that is the property of a business or an individual and provides some sort of benefit or advantage to the owner. Companies that are able to develop useful proprietary technologies in-house are rewarded with a valuable asset: they can either use it exclusively or profit from the sale of licensing of their technology to other parties.. This technology is contradictory to the concepts of Free Knowledge. Globally, it has been proved in the majority of cases that proprietary technolgy is not in the best interest of society.
It is important for Universities to form mutually beneficial tie-ups with the industry and in the best interest of the students. These tie-ups must necessarily ensure the free sharing of knowledge to aid the development of the last {wo}man on the planet/country and conditions must be put into place to ensure this.
We are of the well-studied opinion that software is nothing but knowledge in a digital format and if any nation has to develop then its people must have free access to knowledge. We thus urge Visvesvaraya Technological University(VTU) which is a premier University in the country and with a publically stated goal of “To plan the development of technical education, to establish value-based and need-based education and training in engineering and technology, with a view to generate qualified and competent manpower, responsive to technological and societal needs” to review all industry tie-ups including the latest proposed “Microsoft-VTU tie-up to develop curriculum”.
Please see the attached document for the current technological alternatives, which not only give the software gratis, but also give the freedom to study, modify and use it for academic purposes without lock in
