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Bill Gates woos techies, denies Linux threat
The Microsoft chairman coaxed Indian engineers to use his firm's proprietary software, dismissing threats to Windows from Linux.
Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates coaxed engineers to use his firm's proprietary software, dismissing threats to his Windows system from rival Linux in the battle over network computing.
The world's richest man, on the third day of a trip to India, delivered a sales pitch in Bangalore, home to more than 1,000 software companies.
Gates, who said on Tuesday that his firm would invest $400 million in India over three years on education, partnerships and boosting its own software centre, used his Bangalore visit to promote Microsoft's .NET (dot-net) network platforms and tools.
The sale of these tools is key for Microsoft's success in the area of Web services, which involves connecting different computer systems and mobile devices. The .NET tools rival Sun Microsystems' SunONE tools to speed up end-use software.
"Trustworthy computing is the biggest focus of our current $5.0-billion-a-year R&D budget. I think we will really surprise the world," Gates told more than 2,500 software writers at an open-air theatre at the sprawling campus of Infosys Technologies Ltd.
Microsoft officials say India is "strategic" for the company.
"Software is magic," Gates said as he was cheered by hundreds of young employees of Infosys, India's No. 2 software services exporter, a showpiece of the nation's software revolution.
India's exports of software and allied services rose 29 percent to about $7.5 billion in the year to March 2002 and the industry expects 30-percent growth in the current year.
While .NET tools help connect network computers, Windows-based software that runs in them faces a challenge from Linux.
Microsoft's Windows has dominated desktop computing for years, but modifiable Linux has been making inroads into the market for servers, the machines that manage computer networks.
Analysts say Microsoft could get hit if "open-source" Linux turns popular with cost-effective developers.
But Gates dismissed fears of Windows being hit by Linux, saying Linux, which is not owned by any company, could increase costs due to maintenance that requires more support workers.
"There has always been free software going back 20 years but the success of the Windows platform has come from the overall richness of the platform," Gates told reporters.
"Software by being comprehensive can save money by avoiding having to buy other add-on pieces of software. You can save money in terms of speed of development (and) less expensive hardware."
Prasanto Kumar Roy, group editor of India's "Dataquest" magazine, which is unrelated to the US-based group of the same name, said only two to three percent of developers in Indian firms now focused on Linux, but that freelancers would take the share to between six and seven percent.
"What is true is that all these guys have limited budgets and Linux can stretch the budget. New PCs available today for 10,000 rupees are running on Linux," Roy said.
