INFOCOMM and engineering students in Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will soon be taught the language of Linux.

They will also be taught how to develop applications for this open-source operating system, which is fast growing as an alternative to closed proprietary software systems like Microsoft's Windows.

Red Hat, an international provider of open-source software,which aims to popularise the use of open-source software by businesses here, announced the introduction of Linux into the schools' curricula yesterday.

Linux's chief selling point is that it is available free online. Users can freely customise the software code to suit their own business needs and redistribute this to other users - all legally too.

More organisations here and abroad are using it and saving thousands of dollars on the licensing fees payable when proprietary operating systems are used, said Red Hat's senior manager for corporate communications Colin Lee.

Singapore Airlines and the Ministry of Defence are among the organisations here now chugging along on Linux.

Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan, who was at the launch of Red Hat's Open-Source Collaborative Innovation Initiative, said: 'With the key trend of Internet evolving, everyone can be co-creators of new content now. The open-source software model is one of these trends.'

Research firm IDC notes that usage of Linux in the Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 21.6 per cent till 2011. Red Hat and the schools are, therefore, projecting a need for students here to be trained for the industry.

Dr Lim See Yew, director of the School of Electronics and Infocomm Technology at ITE College East, said this means 'training in most operating systems, not just the traditional ones'.

Red Hat has roped in six software vendors as its partners here. They will develop and expand the range of open-source applications for usage by, for example, health-care companies, e-government platforms and mobile solutions providers.

TAN WEIZHEN

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 9, 2008.