"We believe that open source systems can play a vital role in the development of a knowledge-based society (k-society) in sarawak. The low cost and free distribution mean that more people can afford Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

"Open source systems are free. There are training and support costs involved, but these are generally lower than the costs of propriety software," he said.

Dr Chan, who is also the Minister of Finance and Public Utilities and the chairman of the State Information Technology and Resources Council (SITRC), said this at the launching of Sarawak's Open Source System Programme and the OSS101 Open Source Appreciation Seminar and Workshop at University Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) here yesterday.

He hoped the launching of the State level Open Source System Programme would help to combat software piracy.

"This (usage of pirated software) is not only illegal, but also unhealthy. Not all propriety systems can be replaced with open source software, but in many of the common applications such as office productivity tools and web application development, open source systems have shown that they are as good if not better than many propriety system," he said.

Dr Chan also hoped that the public, local businesses, and institutions like Unimas and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would show the way forward in the State by adopting the open source systems.

He further pointed out that the fact that the source codes or programmes of open source system were made available to the users would enable any individual or groups of individuals to modify and customize the software, and therefore, help in its improvement and evolution.

"As a result, open source systems can evolve very fast because of the huge number of people all around the world who can collaboratively detect and fix problems, and develop new versions and functionalities of the software; it will be a feature that is most appealing.

Present at the ceremony were Chairman of Unimas Board of Director Tan Sri Datuk Amar Bujang Mohd Nor, Unimas Vice Chancellor Datuk Yusuf Hadi, Director of ICT Unit of the Chief Minister's Department William Patrick Nyigor and Head of Higher Education Client Services Unit (ILECSU) of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC) Dr Yew Kok Meng and Dean of Unimas Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology Associate Professor K.Narayanan.

Speaking to reporters later, Dr Chan said that the State Government would consider giving financial assistance in the form of grants to youths who were interested in exploring the possibilities posed by OSS.

"We must develop and promote a culture of producing software locally. Open source systems provide us with the avenue and opportunity for this while proprietary systems do not.

"Thus, it is important that school students are exposed to the open source movement so that they will learn and develop this culture of producing software instead of just using systems developed by others," he said.

Dr Chan added that potential producers of new software could approach the State Government for funding or financial assistance for their projects.

"In the future, this generation (present day students) will develop and sustain the local ICT industry that will be a critical component of a k-Sarawak.

"Thus, there are economic reasons for adopting open source systems. Its low costs can help expand and extend the usage of ICT within the State. We will decide on the anount of financial assistance to encourage and aspire the younger generation to utilise and develop the open source systems," he said.

The two-day seminar and workshop is aimed at introducing the participants to the Linux operating environment.

A total of 70 participants registered for the half day seminar whereas 30 representatives from government and private agencies and members of the public participated in the two-day workshop.