Nearly 2,000 supporters of the Linux operating system rounded off a three-day conference in India's technology capital this week, pleased with its growing corporate use and strong backing by heavyweights like IBM.
Linux is open source software, which can be freely copied, used and modified, unlike such proprietary industry standards as Microsoft Corp's Windows, for instance.
An operating system controls and coordinates the functions of a computer, and allows the user to run the machine.
Enthusiasts said a four-day visit by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates last month drew welcome attention to Linux, which is challenging Microsoft's popular Windows.
Microsoft, which announced $400 million in Indian investments, says Linux cannot match Windows in terms of security and end-user convenience. Supporters of Linux, which no one owns, emphasise the free software's flexibility and cost advantage.
"No one could have possibly arranged for more publicity for the open source movement and its importance than Bill Gates coming and giving $400 million to fight Linux," said Atul Chitnis, an adviser to the Bangalore Linux Users Group whose conference ended on Thursday.
Bangalore is considered a key battleground in the tussle between the two platforms because of India's developer army which analysts say can help lower costs and boost innovation.
Indian developers are estimated to grow to 1.3 million in four years from 400,000 now.
"Probably, the biggest boost that open source has got in recent times in India has been due to Bill Gates's visit," Chitnis said.
The Linux convention, billed as the largest gathering of its kind in India, saw some 70 technical seminars on its use in desktops, portable devices, robotics and genetics.
Linux users thronged a shop for books and CDs on the subject, touted its penguin mascot or wore T-shirts that declared it the operating system for the 21st century.
Analysts say Microsoft needs Indian developers to make cheap and reliable software based on Windows and fight open source, which is software that can be copied, used and modified freely.
Big backing
Microsoft's global rivals like International Business Machines Corp and Hewlett-Packard are now carrying the Linux gospel forward in the corporate sector.
"IBM is convinced that Linux will be a significant component of information technology solutions and architectures in the future," said Kalpana Margabandhu, general manager at the firm's software laboratory.
Microsoft is competing neck-to-neck with Linux in the worldwide market for servers, which manage computer networks.
IBM's Bangalore lab showcased a personal digital assistant running on Linux at the convention. Designers of India's Simputer, a $200 handheld computer aimed at taking Internet to the rural masses, are also using Linux.
A sign of corporate interest in Linux were the 100 visitors from Indian software giants such as Infosys Technologies and Wipro, who serve global corporations.
As a market for software, India is cost-conscious, and a debate is raging over which system state governments should use in their march towards computerised e-governance.'
The Linux club drew flattering attention from Microsoft, which sent two senior officials to speak on its shared source' approach which reveals limited amounts of proprietary code to partners.
