Cash-hit Punjabi University plans switching to free software

Ravneet Singh

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 22

Facing an acute shortage of funds, Punjabi University has decided to switch to free public domain open-source software from the commercial software it is using at present. The move comes in the wake of the expiry of the licences of the software being used by the university.

Sources said departments on the campus and its regional and neighbourhood campuses had been using pirated software and utilising activation keys to access commercial software.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Arvind confirmed that the university had decided to shift to the free public domain software. “It will also shift to the Linux operating system. We are working towards stopping the use of commercial software. We will replace the Microsoft Office with some open office software so that we do not need to buy the commercial software anymore. We are facing resistance as the employees need to be trained for the new software as well, but we will completely shift to the new process gradually.”

The VC said, “For a university which does not have funds, it is a good long-term option.”