For each copy of MS Windows in Bangladesh, the country actually owes Microsoft about $100 in license fees.
April 2018 marks the release of Ubuntu Linux 18.04, the latest version of the world’s most popular free desktop operating system (www.ubuntu.com/desktop). Widespread piracy of Microsoft and other software in Bangladesh has prevented the public from becoming aware of Linux and the free software movement which has revolutionised computing in the last 20 years; but a little reflection will show that use of Linux and other free software is obviously the way forward for countries like Bangladesh.
As per Bangladesh law, software piracy is illegal. This means that for each copy of MS Windows in Bangladesh, the country actually owes Microsoft about $100 in license fees. Furthermore, currently practically all computers also include a copy of MS Office (Word/Excel/Powerpoint), which costs at about $200, and MS Access database which costs another $200. So the total bill due to Microsoft for each computer in Bangladesh is about $500. And Microsoft is not the only company we owe money to; most computers in Bangladesh also contain a copy of Adobe Photoshop for editing pictures. The annual cost of Photoshop is around $100 ($500 over the five year life of a computer). So the total bill for pirated software for each computer is at least $1000 per computer. This figure is three times the cost of new computer hardware. Unfortunately, all the above-mentioned software is assumed by the SSC / HSC syllabuses for ICT which is now compulsory for all students. So it may seem that software piracy is unavoidable.

According to 2006 estimates, there were 2.5 computers per 100 people in Bangladesh. This means that there are at least four million computers owned by the current population of 163 million people. In fact, the number is likely to be several times higher due to economic growth over the past decade. But four million computers equal a bill of at least $4 billion which is owed to Microsoft and Adobe in software license fees. This is really unaffordable for a country like Bangladesh.

Fortunately, free software can save us from this multi-billion dollar liability. Ubuntu Linux is a perfect zero-cost replacement for MS Windows. It contains LibreOffice (www.libreoffice.org) which offers the same functionality as Microsoft Office’s Word Excel, Powerpoint and Access. LibreOffice can also open MS Office files with no issues. Linux also includes a free graphics software called Gimp (www.gimp.org) which can replace Photoshop. Since Linux, LibreOffice and Gimp are all free/open-source software developed through the voluntary collaboration of global teams of thousands of programmers, they are all available for download free of cost. Software piracy can easily be prevented by using free software.

Of course, anyone can use a pirated copy MS Office, but this is not a legal option, and leaves large companies and governments vulnerable to software piracy lawsuits. For a large organization, the costs of buying software licenses can be very high. Kazi Farms Group, Deepto TV and Dhaka Tribune have saved crores of Taka in software licences by using Ubuntu Linux and LibreOffice.

In recognition of the huge savings that free/open-source software like Linux and LibreOffice can bring, governments in Europe as well as China and India have made policies encouraging free software instead of proprietary software. Bangladesh should do the same.

Zeeshan Hasan is a director of Kazi Media, the company behind Deepto TV. He is also the managing director of Sysnova