Apart from being easy on pocket,software developed are replacement and not substitute to costly programmes They are the new whiz kids on the block and offer a better and more affordable version of popular software. Meet the team of Open Source Software,a community initiative started by a group of engineering students who were in the city to promote their programme during a one-day camp held at Chitkara Business School today. The concept of OSS is being initiated by Kinshuk Sunil,who felt that buying propriety softwares was an expensive affair. In order to bring the commonly used programmes such as Microsoft Word,Office,Windows,etc within the reach of a common man,OSS was formed. I was working with a software firm where the entire idea was conceived a few years ago. Since 2007,I am holding camps across the country to tell people about the benefits of the OSS, said Sunil. Students from a local engineering college have been instrumental in setting up the second camp in six months. The first camp in the city was held in October. The group claims that benefits of using OSS are far too many. Apart from being easy on pocket,the softwares developed by them are an upgraded version of the existing ones. The students say that their products are a replacement and not a substitute for the original softwares. The cost of buying the original ones runs into thousands. OSS provides a better finished product,which can be downloaded free of cost. We have tried to plug the loopholes that were present in the older ones, claims Mayank,a B. Tech student. OSS has currently replaced Windows,internet explorer and are working on other softwares as well. Besides,the team is active on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and has its own blog where discussions are held on improving different softwares. We provide an open forum to students and users to give suggestions for the advanced products. It is a community product at the end of the day, says Sparsh Jain,a class X student at Bhavan Vidyalya,Delhi. After touring major institutes in India including BITS,Pilani,the team is also planning to take their intiative to countries like United States and France. Talks are one with some colleges abroad. Ultimately it is about sharing knowledge, said Sunil.
