Today, I read that the Indian govt (through its CDAC research arm), maybe developing its own open source operating system. Most probably built around Debian Linux, the goals of the project are security and dependability.

On first sight, it looks to be a stupendous and awesome waste - but I do believe we need to support it wholeheartedly.

Why ?

No, not because of stupid patriotism - but because the core developers of FOSS do not always understand Asian needs and specific necessities.

For example language - always a monumental challenge in India. I have written about this before, especially in context of Harfbuzz and SIL-Graphite text layout engine.

As an Asian linux user, i do believe that initiatives like these not only popularise the notion of a free operating system to the public - but also leads to some improvement in areas, which are not just about rotating cubes.. but about a person in a village, being able to tap into the Collective Intelligence