Kerala issues handbook on migrating to free software platforms

The Kerala government Monday released a handbook to help its various departments and institutions migrate to free and open source software (FOSS) based operating systems.

Last month, the state government had issued an order stipulating that computers in all government and quasi-government institutions migrate their desktop PCs to FOSS-based platforms, unless there were unavoidable reasons to defer the migration. The decision has been taken in view of the withdrawal of support to Windows XP by Microsoft.

State-owned International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), which released the handbook, said that migrating the vast majority of the existing computers should be feasible without much problem.

"Through publishing of the handbook, ICFOSS would like to support the action initiated by the IT department, Government of Kerala, in the migration of desktop PCs to Free Operating Systems. It is also open to the FOSS communities in Kerala and around the world, for suggesting improvements so as to make it even more relevant, in the true spirit of Free/Open Source Software", said Satish Babu, director, ICFOSS.

The handbook provides information on planning and gearing up for the transition, identifying the potential problem areas (such as legacy hardware and software), and the recommended steps for making the shift.

The transition would also require training and capacity building measures for staff, which may be arranged using local FOSS-based institutions in the government as well as private sectors.

The handbook is available on www.icfoss.in.