For a large number of Indians who are using Linux today, that first encounter was through PCQuest magazine - which bundled every flavor of linux it could find in a DVD (along with a bunch of free software) and gave it away with the magazine.
A lot of people I know started using OpenOffice after they first encountered it on PCQuest.
He also founded and ran some of the biggest FOSS groups in India.
Yes, it was a Slackware CD that came with every copy of the PCQuest mag back in the 1995-1996 time frame. My first taste of Linux and more importantly, it satiated a thirst for hacking and knowledge. I still look back and recall fondly all the neat things I learned hacking Slackware. R.I.P. Atul.
While in 1st year, I would, each month go to the market and buy last month's tech magazines mainly for software and those Linux distros. Now I am on X but I still have fond memories with playing and struggling with all those Linux distros.
When I recently saw his name in one of the news-letters somewhere I immediately checked whether he's the same guy I used to read in those magazines and I was glad to know he was.
A lot of people I know started using OpenOffice after they first encountered it on PCQuest.
He also founded and ran some of the biggest FOSS groups in India.
RIP.