Linus Torlvalds created a family open source operating systems kernels in September 1991. These are similar to Unix, an operating system for multi-user computing. Linux soon gained popularity with computer programmers as it was open source. Programmers wanted to write programmes independent of closed operating systems such as Windows, iOS, Android.

Since 2004, Linux has been able to run on Windows-based Operating systems. It now also runs seamlessly on Macs and other hardware.

Linus Torlvalds created a programming language called Git some years ago to overcome the difficulties of making Linux and Windows compatible. Both Linux and Git allow for a great deal of collaboration among programmers.

Programmers would like to share the repositiories of computer code in Git. One such repository is GitHub, which was founded in 2008. It provides internet hosting for software development. The hub gathered millions of subscribers. Microsoft acquired it in 2018.

A competing firm was GitLab. It was founded as a fully remote company, with no HQ and no real estate. All employees across the world had enough access to information. GitLab has over 2000 web pages forming its handbook. This handbook defines how the company operates.

IT firms too are undergoing metamorphosis. Their platforms are being used for requisitioning and delivery of services. Software development cost is crashing as there are reusable code libraries, e.g. those available on GitHub and GitLab. Large amount of software development is done in open source.

There were contracts of buying and selling software. The contracting costs are coming down. Off-shore services are now de rigueur at most organisations.

In future, software services firms will act as platforms for buyers and sellers to collaborate. There could be offerings of Quality Control and the availability of programmer. It is akin to a marketplace model. The industry is likely to be disrupted by a player who provides most IT services. The repositories would come handy.

A software embedded in a blockchain that runs when predetermined conditions are met is the nature of a smart contract. It automates the execution of an agreement that eliminates the intervention of any third party. It also automates the workflow, stimulating the next action when conditions are met.

To make a smart contract , the contracting parties negotiate the terms of the contract. Later these are memorialised, either in part or in full. It becomes the smart contract code which is stored inside the blockchain.

The contract is performed — dependable transactions are made without the intervening intermediaries. It is a decentralised method. The code governs the performance of the contract. The transactions are trackable and reversible.

Smart contracts are vulnerable to hacking. They could be infected. There is audit of smart contracts to identify the risks. There are smart contract audit companies. In this audit, the code is examined and analysed. Its aim is to discover errors, issues and security risks in the code. Improvements are suggested. There are suggestions to fix the bugs and errors.

Many advocate that India should enter into chip fabrication. However, the economics of chip fabrication is far too complex.

To begin with, it is a highly capital intensive business, and does require recurrent capital investments year after year. An oil refinery requires one time capital investment, but then it functions for several decades. Chip manufacturers invest several billion dollars in R&D every year.

Another point is the rate of failure in this industry despite the high investments. As we know, miniaturization has led to the packing of billions of transistors in the smallest possible area. The distance between the transistors is measured in nanometres(nm). An nm is one billionth of a metere. The lower the nam or distance, the more powerful is the chip. Apple’s iPhone 13 uses a 5-nm chip. Apple soon proposes to use a 3-nm chip for its iPad. It is 15 per cent faster than a 5-nm chip, and consumes 25 per cent less electricity. China, despite its heavy investments in this area and two decades of government support, could only produce a 14-nm chip, which is at least two generations behind the 5-nm chip.

In the chip industry, finally, there is going to be a market glut — a surplus capacity in chip production. There is US-China rivalry, which has led to heavy investments in the chip industry. The US intends to invest $50 billion on chip manufacturing. Intel is expanding its fab building activity. TSMC from Taiwan proposes to invest $100 billion on new fabs. There are many other proposals on the anvil.

Of course, chips are to this century what oil was to the last. The US controls the IP, design and technology. Japan makes silicon wafers on which chip circuity is etched. Lithography machines from Netherlands etch the circuitry on wafers. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) makes chips on order for anyone. Samsung from South Korea too is an advanced fab manufacturer.

India should focus on chip value chain except fab. It is almost 40 per cent of the chain revenue. Chip design, assembling, testing and packing (ATP) should be of interest to India.

China buys 60 per cent of chip production of the world . Its import bill on this account exceeds $300 billion. China could succeed in making low-end chips. It has failed to make advanced chips. Its efforts to buy the US firms to enhance its capability have been thwarted by the alert US government, and other European and Asian governments.

Huawei developed a chip for use in 5G equipment. But it has to depend on the US firms for chip design. US has banned the American firms from helping Huawei. Even other firms were told by the US to stop selling to Huawei. It is the US monopoly in the IP and chip design. Thus chip making has its own politics.

Elon Musk, Tesla chief, expressed his opinion at a conference in Beverly Hills, LA, US that cryptos should left to their own, and advised the governments around the world to ‘let them fly.’ Musk further said that it is not possible to destroy crypto, but governments can slow down its advancement. He thought governments were averse to crypto, though in a subtle manner, but what is hinted was in that direction. Crypto reduces the power of centralised government, and they do not like that.