Biased tenders
On May 20, 2003, the department of expenditure issued a notice saying the government should not be biased towards any company while issuing tenders. But the government's preference for proprietary software in its software tenders is a blatant violation. For instance, on October 6, 2007, a tender notice issued by the University of Mysore for purchase of computers read: Lenovo, HP, Compaq or Wipro with Intel processor, operating system as Windows XP HOME and HP Laser printer and Microsoft visual studio.
Why does this occur? "Those who issue the tenders are not even aware of the any other operating system that exists,' says D C Mishra, senior technical director, National Informatics Centre. Fredrick Noronha, a freelance journalist in Goa, disagrees. "The reasons are obvious. There is money playing at all levels,' he says. Venkatesh Hariharan of Free Software Foundation says they have been campaigning for tender neutrality for long but without much effect.