Bridging India's digital divide with Linux: "Anyone who doubts the power of Linux needs only to get hold of a nifty, hand-held device that the Indian army plans to give soldiers in its million-strong army. It is unlikely that Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, ever intended this open-source operating system to be put to military use. But it is a mark of the robustness of this revolutionary operating system that the Indian army is adopting it, and has now completed user trials on the device.

Called SATHI (short for situational awareness and tactical hand-held information, and Hindi for buddy), the 875-gram device helps soldiers coordinate with one another on the battlefield. It is one of the many spin-offs of a low-cost computer developed indigenously, the basic version of which is available on the market for about US$200. "

-K

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