The Hindu Business Line : DoT-funded project under way — Open source to be part of engg curriculum soon

A three-year project to include open source subjects such as Python programming and the Linux kernel is being funded by the Department of Information Technology.Aiding the academia is the city's Free and Open Source Software event, FOSS.in 2005. It has set the stage for movers and shakers in the field to interact with them. "Such events allow us to reach out to the industry," said a representative of Anna University-KB Chandrasekhar Research Centre, Chennai.

This centre, in association with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), has set up the National Resource Centre for Free/ Open Source Software in Chennai.

This is a national level project and restricted to select universities. The initiative began in May, with the Anna University embracing open source into courses.

FOSS.in 2005 will help in interacting with IT companies to enlist their co-operation.

This would include offering open source projects to students as well as placement, said a representative.

"India has a potential to develop and participate in open source movement," said Mr S. Ramakrishnan, Director General, C-DAC.

With over 1,500 developers in the country, it is of concern that the presence in the international open source scene is relatively unknown.

At C-DAC, localisation efforts on open source are in full swing. "Within 18 months, we will bring out a software that will offer all 22 official languages of India," said Mr Ramakrishnan. This software will work on both Windows and Linux operating systems.

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