Widespread use of pirated operating systems and software is nothing new in Bangladesh. The concern, however, has surfaced once more after Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the former state minister for Information and Communication Technology, told the International Crimes Tribunal that the Windows operating systems on the tribunal’s computers were highly vulnerable, and alleged the use of unlicensed software.
The remark is belated but important. During Palak’s tenure in 2020, the US Department of State’s report titled 2020 Investment Climate Statements: Bangladesh found that ‘counterfeit goods were readily available in Bangladesh and that industry estimated 90 percent of business software in the country was pirated.’ Bangladeshi mainstream media also reported it. Any argument over Palak’s claims should be left for political analysts. The focus here is on actionable solutions for pirated software and cybersecurity.
Our actions will not install Linux distributions and free software solutions on every business computer overnight. We will not become cybersecurity experts in a week. The aim is a gradual but steady move to solve a decade-old problem.
The best answer to pirated software is Free and Open-Source Software or FOSS. Governments typically adopt it for four reasons: lower licensing dependence, digital sovereignty, interoperability, and the ability to reuse or modify public software. They do not, however, replace licensed software entirely. That is impractical. There should always be a balance between free and proprietary software solutions.
In the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, an official 2025 announcement projected that nearly 80 percent of workplaces would adopt LibreOffice, a FOSS alternative to Microsoft Office, by 2026. The move expects about €15 million in annual licence savings against roughly €9 million in one-time migration and development investment. It gradually adopted other open-source applications. After the release of Windows Vista in 2006, the force decided to phase out Windows entirely and migrate incrementally to GendBuntu, a version of Ubuntu adapted for the National Gendarmerie.
Brazil offers a national public-software programme created in 2007. The government catalogued 81 software products for sharing on the Brazilian Public Software Portal. The portal defines Brazilian Public Software as free software that meets public-administration modernisation needs and is shared without charge.
None of these references mean installing Linux distributions and free software on every machine overnight by blindly following other countries. Our policymakers can study these examples and, working with experts, build a proper step-by-step strategy tailored to Bangladesh.
The goal is to end reliance on pirated software and to reduce future cybersecurity threats.
Bangladesh has considerable potential in cybersecurity. A number of individuals, communities, and organisations are working hard to prove themselves. The government, with the help of industry experts, can utilise the organisations rather than relying on foreign expertise and draw skilled manpower from this pool.
The National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) under the Prime Minister’s Office can play an important role here. If the quality of cybersecurity courses, resource persons, teaching, curricula, training centres, dedicated learners, and hands-on labs is strictly maintained against real-world standards, the authority can produce a good number of skilled professionals. For the adoption of Linux-based operating systems, NSDA can also launch dedicated hands-on training on systems administration and FOSS office tools that can minimise the need to depend on pirated OS and office software for most people.
We already have the resources and the potential. What we lack is a proper and honest combined effort to realise them.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author
The writer is a Sub Editor, Daily TIMES of Bangladesh
