October 2002 - Fsf-friends

FLOSS... e-government... and India
by Frederick Noronha 15 Oct '02

15 Oct '02

Open Source... e-government ... and India This is an international conference on Open Source (Free Software/Open Source might have been a better description) in the US. And look at the 'desi' participation: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (27) ex-Delhi and key author of the FLOSS European study; a special session for India (Ajay Kumar of Kerala, Jivtesh Maini of Punjab, Sunil Abraham of Mahiti-Bangalore... a convert to GNU/Linux and its relevance for NGOs, and Vinay Deshpande of Simputer Trust). There are also other desi-sounding names. Wish more desis could travel the globe at the drop of a hat... there are more points to be made http://www.egovos.org/egovosagenda.htm * * * * * * * * * More such info at http://linuxinindia.pitas.com * * * * * * * * *

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Re:[Flags]
by psk 15 Oct '02

15 Oct '02

Khuzaima A. Lakdawala wrote : >No need to formalize it with "rules" etc. You >will probably get caught up in your own >mini-bureaucracy :) Isn't FSF India enough of a >formal organisation to work under? Why add another >layer of formality with "official rules" etc? The idea is not about adding a new layer of formality. The formalization was just saying about the things for the groups to work in the FsF (Actually both in and out in the Internet). The FORMAL was the only word that can be used at that place. It was about the activities of FsF itself. Just acting and working in local areas which will help the FsF india. (Something similar to FsF and FsF-India. See India is a wide country) >Just do what you want to do in as informal a >manner as possible. When you do need an >"official" banner, the banner of FSF India is >enough. You don't need another one. Flag is not another one but FsF itself (FsF Local Activists Groups). It will/should contain all the ideas of FsF and FsF only. It should not contain anything that hurts freedom. Why can't it be started as a sub group using a sub-domain in the FsF India and talk the Freedom locally? See there are problems of Freedom in each local stations. How will others consider about a talk of the political matter which promotes the propritory stuff. (for eg. In Kerala the IT Kerala mission can use the Freedom stuff to save a lot of money with the government and in Kollam (a local place in Kerala) the mayor can talk with the Flag for using GNU for the local use. Hope s/he can't arrage a meeting with FsF india) When it comes to some matter which includes outside locality too let Flags refer FSF-India. Classification is something like dividing the batch of students in a school into different batches. --HTH --psk __________________________________________________________ Give your Company an email address like ravi @ ravi-exports.com. Sign up for Rediffmail Pro today! Know more. http://www.rediffmailpro.com/signup/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Flag
by psk 15 Oct '02

15 Oct '02

Vinay Pawar wrote : >I think the idea of free software should sink in >to peoples minds. Rightly said pawar. The idea of Free Software should be in the minds of believers. But as anything else there should be some one to talk about it.Only because there are a few percentage of the total community of Developers know what the stuff FsF* is. The main problem is there is no official topics in the normal cource of study for any computer student or developer to know about FsF. A developer can live his entire life without knowing about FsF and can use FsF products..( Sorry that's the case in India Now) Another problem is a developer or student who wants to know about some GNU stuff have no place to go for information..(bandwidth problem will block him from living in internet) >Forcing it in by a "Activists Group" >wouldn't help, Right.... Never force someone to believe in a philosophy.. But the ideas can be given to the air and let others smell it.. >instead might be counter-productive. >All that needs to be done is that every LUG in the >country should have atleast one FSF representative. It's the way.. The Flags* and the current LUG's are the same except in two things. 1)Flags will be saying the ethics too 2)Flags will contain other GNU lovers also than GNU/Linux.. (other OS's such as GNU/Hurd and similar BSD stuff and etal.) >I might've suggested this before. It works. It has >worked for us at the Pune GNU/Linux Users Group. >Noticed on multiple ocassions as the most active >and coolest User Group in the country. >Almost all of the "flag" activities could/should be >done at existing User Groups. It should be understood >by the LUG's that Linux(yes, i mean the kernel) >wouldn't have gone very far if it wouldn't be under >the GPL. > >Thanks, >Vinay Pawar there should not be any competetion between the existing LUG's and Flags. It'll be better to convert the LUGS in the Flag way. Something like start Flags where there are no LUGS and let the LUGs come in the Flag way (don't bother about the names but the content) -HTH -psk __________________________________________________________ Give your Company an email address like ravi @ ravi-exports.com. Sign up for Rediffmail Pro today! Know more. http://www.rediffmailpro.com/signup/

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IRC Channel.
by Arun M 15 Oct '02

15 Oct '02

Hi friends, A channel is registered in irc.openprojects.net/irc.debian.org. channel name is #fsf-india. See you there. regards Arun.

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The Hindu takes up the thread
by CK Raju 15 Oct '02

15 Oct '02

The Hindu has taken up the thread in case of Pattenchery Grama Panchayat, being forced to opt Windows OS, even after getting a resolution passed to adopt Free software. The link is at http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002101404040400.htm Cheers to Roy Mathew who brought it out. CK Raju

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not using sourceforge
by Sayamindu Dasgupta 12 Oct '02

12 Oct '02

Hello, I want to start a Free project of my own (a centralised place for Unicode compliant Bangla fonts) , and I do not want to use sourceforge. I was looking for alternatives The first one that cam to my mind was savannah.gnu.org But, for some reason, they have not responded to my Project proposal (it is almost 1.5 weeks now) So, I was thinking of some other place - https://developer.berlios.de/ Can anyone advice me on this site - do they have licensing terms similar to srcfrge?? -iti- sayamindu

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Re: LINK: Open domain software meet
by Arun M 12 Oct '02

12 Oct '02

> Open Domain Software Movement has gained momentum in recent years. Open > software is increasingly viewed as a panacea to the digital divide and a > means of providing cost effective e-governance. > > Many countries are ready to exploit the benefits of Open Source software > by framing policies encouraging the use of open source > software wherever possible. Open software are usually copyrighted or > copylefted. While they are generally freely distributable, > there are certain redistribution and reusability guidelines that require > the attention of every user of that software. I was just wondering, in India, do we really have 'Open Source Movement', less a 'Open Domain Software Movement'. What is the role of Open Source Movement !!! Is it really a Movement or just a 'mask' some people wanted, to further their commercial interest ? I think Fred's interview with Rishab Aiyer, gives some idea. <snip> In the developer survey (part 4), one interesting result was, despite the adoption of the term "open source" among most of the media and support structure (e.g., O'Reilly, Slashdot, Sourceforge), developers themselves identify with the term free software by a huge margin. </snip> It tells who dont wants to say Free Software, its not Developer nor the User.

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]Open IT - Govt to rewrite source code in Linux
by Frederick Noronha 11 Oct '02

11 Oct '02

Inspite of all one's enthusiasm about Free Software and Open Source, it's hard to be too sure or optimistic about the story below. If government decides on such policies (i) shouldn't the policy decision be taken openly, on the record and without the possibility of any later hanky-panky? (ii) is nobody willing to take responsibility for such a stand -- which is very welcome -- and say so publicly? (iii) if not, why should we not conclude that this is just some kind of kite-flying, which actually may be intended to pressurise some 'proprietory solutions' vendors to come up for equally behind-closed-doors negotiations? In a neighbouring country, Pakistan, some quaters at least were trying to use the GNU/Linux-is-great argument to get Microsoft to reduce its prices. [One recalls times when a number of attempts were made to appeal to Microsoft to offer discounts for the use of their products in schools. These appeals were studiously ignored, or snubbed. Today, when there is a growing demand for GNU/Linux being implemented in schools (inspite of blocks like a Microsoft-products-only syllabus in parts of India), the proprietory coders are willing to offer 'special discounts'.] It might be a good thing if companies like Microsoft could be convinced to offer more realistic prices to the Third World (just as, say, book publishers have special prices for South Asia, which are one-seventh or less of the Western prices) to take care of the lower earning capacity and the unfair exchange rate we get for our currencies. But it would be surely a better thing to ask fundamental questions about what should be the nature of software, whether knowledge should be meant primarily to harvest profits or to meet desperate human needs. Free Software and/or Open Source needs to be adopted not just as a cheaper option, or a matter of convenience, but as a rational choice that would -- in some small way -- make ours a less iniquiteous world by taking the gift of skills and knowledge to those who need it so badly. -FN PS: To put things very bluntly, is this report a plant? If not, then let's see that scrap of paper which would make it something more than loud thinking..... On Wed, 9 Oct 2002, Ashish Kotamkar wrote: > Open IT - Govt to rewrite source code in Linux > TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2002 01:29:29 AM] > http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=24598339 > > NEW DELHI: If the Chinese have IT, get it. The Indian government seems to be > taking a leaf out of China's operating system, and is planning a countrywide > drive to promote the open source operating system, Linux, as the 'platform > of choice' instead of 'proprietary' solutions. > > For proprietory, read Microsoft, which controls over 90% of the desktop > software market. > > The Department of Information Technology has already devised a strategy to > introduce Linux and open source software as a de-facto standard in academic > institutions, especially in engineering colleges through course work that > encourages use of such systems. > > Research establishments would be advised to use and develop re-distributable > toolboxes just as Central government departments and state governments would > be asked to use Linux-based offerings. > > DIT is in talks with leading industry players like IBM and HCL to get a feel > of their work in the area and invite proposals for joint projects. "As a > first step we are persuading all government institutions to offer courses on > Linux and programming for Linux environment. We would also set up Linux > Resource Centres in academic institutes (with co-funding from government and > industry)," said a senior government official. > > Though India has made a name for itself selling solutions, software as a > product is expensive within the country. And the cost will bite once India > starts implementing IPR protection in earnest, as it has committed itself > to. > > While redistribution of proprietary software is restricted through a licence > agreement, the licensing terms for Linux grants the right to obtain and > redistribute copies. Many analysts believe that China's growing dominance in > the IT space is fuelled by its low cost open source bias. > > The Chinese government has consistently promoted its local software based on > Linux, both for cost reasons, and reportedly for 'security' concerns as > well. > > The source code for proprietory software is not revealed, and this, it is > believed, has not found favour with the Chinese, especially in defence and > security related applications. > > Microsoft, in what many observers and reports say is an attempt to soften > the Chinese government's stand, recently committed to investing $750m in > China in three years to help set up a software college and put its money > into Chinese education. > > In comparison, Microsoft has announced investments worth only $75m over a > three-year time frame in India. Howver, the Chinese company Redflag > Software, which was set up by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country's > most prestigious research institute, has often come out with low-cost > software based on Linux, in direct competition to Windows-based software. > > The Indian government's plan, however, is not driven by security concerns, > but by the far more simple arithmetic of costing. To put it simply, India > being a developing country needs low cost solutions. > > Unlike the Microsoft-developed Windows operating system, Linux code is free > and downloadable from the internet. With the addition of special > applications, it can be personalized to meet specific needs. > > An industry-government-user-developer conference on the subject would be > organised to throw up ideas for specific initiatives including funding, > reliable sources told ET. > > The only issue here is support and services, which Indian government sources > feel is not likely to be an issue in a country known for its software > support and service skills. > > Like China, the government is also eyeing the increasingly lucrative global > support and services market for the Linux environment may prove lucrative. > While proprietary support agreements govern only the systems purchased (with > licences), for free software support is independent of the number of copies > owned. > > "With applications in security being a focus area, inputs have been sought > from the Defence on their experience with Linux. Indian-language based > solutions, e-governance, embedded and high performance cluster solutions are > other areas. But firstly we want to concretise the position on IPR issues in > the use of Linux," the source said. > > DIT is planning a three-tier mechanism, with itself as the first, industry, > user groups and state governments as the second and a national apex > committee headed either by a government representative, an industry expert > or an academician to oversee manpower and skill development, applications > development and deployment and public policy support, said sources. > > According to IDC's figures for '00, Microsoft still controlled 94% of the > desktop software market and while Linux is expected to overtake the number > two � Apple Mac OS � by '03, it would still control less than 4% of the > market. > > In server software, it fares a little better and is expected to control > around 30% of the market by '03, according to IDC. Linux, which has > established itself in the server space, is an open reliable OS that runs on > virtually any platform and was developd by Finnish technologist Linus > Torvalds. > > After developing the initial source code, Linus made it available on the > Internet for use, feedback and further development.

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SMALL GRANTS: Need resources to write Free Software?
by Frederick Noronha 11 Oct '02

11 Oct '02

Sarai/CSDS, a Delhi-based research network that realises the potential of Free/Open Source software, is offering a limited number of small grants (in three categories of under Rs 10,000; Rs 10-30,000; and Rs 30,000-60,000) for those willing to write socially-useful programmes and put these out in the public domain. Ownership of these programs will remain with its writer(s), under the GNU/GLP or similar suitable licence. But the coders will undertake to widely distribute and make available their work to those who desire to use the same, in the interest of promoting Free Software/Open Source in India. Email in your plans and suggestions via email to application(a)sarai.net with a copy to fred(a)bytesforall.org not later than October 31, 2002. Use "FLOSS application" as the subjectline. This should contain the following details: * Outline of project * How this project would be relevant to society's needs * Stage of the project (if work is underway) * Time-frame required for completion * Whether work will be done singly, or if jointly, names of all individuals/groups to be involved * Estimated number of man-hours for completion of this project * Estimated cost with break-up * Any other information you feel relevant. Last date for application is October 31, 2002. Feel free to pass around this note, particularly to students who could use such help productively.

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need a summary comparison of MS vs linux
by akr!linux-delhi.org＠linux-delhi.org 10 Oct '02

10 Oct '02

i need a quick and short summary comparison of MS versus Linux (or open source) deployment. i know that there could be several (google searchable) sites that i can troll. but if any of you have a ready document, or can point to the right website or url, i would be very grateful. basically the document should describe in short and non-technical language, the cost-benefit analysis, the non-monetary benefits, and long term vs short term implications of using open source/free software, as against proprietary software like MS. thanks in advance, ajit ranade. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .

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INTERVIEW: Europe (and a desi) takes a deeper look at FLOSS
by Frederick Noronha 09 Oct '02

09 Oct '02

EUROPE TAKES A DEEPER LOOK AT FREE/LIBRE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE... It is being viewed as a "major research project" coming out of Europe, that takes a detailed look at the reasons behind the growing use of Free and Open Source software. One of the key persons behind this study is Rishab Aiyer Ghosh, who moved from the Indian capital of New Delhi to Europe just a couple of years ago. Does Aiyer Ghosh see this report changing the way Free and Open Source software is seen? "Not necessarily," says he modestly. But then adds, almost as an after-thought: "But hopefully the study will increase the depth and clarity with which the phenomenon is understood." Commentators have already called this study perhaps the "first large-scale rigorous study concerning any aspect of free software". It included interviewers with thousands of developers and hundreds of businesses. Till a couple of years back, the 27-year-old Indian-born author of the study was based in Delhi, and closely involved in the Indian internet/telecom scene. He wrote for technical and mainstream publications too. Ghosh had his own newsletter, 'Indian Techonomist', which went out to people like Reed Hundt and Vint Cerf, and he wrote various consultation papers on the opening up Internet policy (especially to small providers) on the request of senior Indian government officials. Extracts from an exclusive interview Aiyer Ghosh <rishab at dxm dot org> had with Frederick Noronha <fred at bytesforall dot org>: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: What was your contribution in preparing the report? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I wrote the original proposal and workplan for the FLOSS study, and after approval from the EC (European Commission), was coordinator of the project consortium (University of Maastricht and Berlecon Research). I was lead author of the parts written at the university. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: How much time was put into it in all? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FLOSS was a 13 month project. there were three people at the university and three at Berlecon Research working on it. But I off-hand can't give you a person-hours breakdown! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: What was the most surprising finding/s? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- That's a hard question to answer. We weren't really surprised by our own findings, but from the user survey (Berlecon; final report part 1) the level of F/OSS use among organisations was higher than one might have expected (e.g. 6% of all companies use some F/OSS on the desktop). An important, though expected, finding was that licence fees were #3 on the list of reasons for user organisations choosing F/OSS -- stability and security were more important. In the developer survey (part 4) one interesting result was that despite the adoption of the term Open Source among most of the media and support structure (e.g. O'Reilly, Slashdot, Sourceforge) developers themselves identify themselves with the term free software by a huge margin. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: What are the aspects that are still to be researched on FLOSS, in your view? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Much more work needs to be done on measuring organisation and production of the software itself (started in part 5 of the report); lots of analysis remains to be done on the data from the developer survey. On the user side, due to a limited budget, FLOSS didn't ask organisations who said they don't use any F/OSS why they don't do so, which would have been interesting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: This dilemma of explaianing why affluent Europe is increasing turning to FLOSS, how would you look at it? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't see that as a dilemma. I can imagine that licence fee savings are an attraction in developing countries, but arguably the total cost of ownership isn't necessarily much lower for f/oss than for proprietary solutions. Certainly, most advocacy in Europe emphasises other advantages rather than cost, which is a dubious advantage if it is one at all and easier to attack ("cheap" software must be bad...) As the user survey showed, F/OSS is being adopted more for stability and security than price. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: Besides this study, what have you been busy with since moving out of India? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- i moved to Maastricht in October 2000, and the FLOSS proposal was submitted that month. I've been working mostly full-time with this study and related research, and speak frequently on the topic of free software and the "cooking-pot market" model I developed to explain non-monetary economic activity on the Internet. (Ghosh explains the 'cooking pot model' at http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_3/ghosh/ ) I also continue my involvement as a founding editor of First Monday, the now very successful peer-reviewed Internet journal, and organised the first First Monday conference in Maastricht last year (www.infonomics.nl/newdefinitions/) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: Do you see this report as changing the way FLOSS is seen? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Not necessarily. But hopefully the study will increase the depth and clarity with which the phenomenon is understood. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: Could you tell us something about how you chose the word -- rather apt in my view -- FLOSS, to describe both Free Software and Open Source in one neat twist of phrase? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- European Commission projects often have long-winded titles and the official project acronym is therefore quite important. Early drafts of the project proposal were entitled Free/Open Source User and Developer Study. FOSUDS sounded rather less catchy than FLOSS, which also had the additional advantage of incorporating "Libre Software", a term that is hardly in use outside the french-speaking members of the EC bureaucracy, which is a pity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FN: If you had a chance to do this study all over again, what would you have done differently? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't know, really, still digesting what we've just finished. But certainly we would have asked user organisations for reasons _not_ to use F/OSS... See the report at http://www.infonomics.nl/FLOSS/report/ For a photo of Aiyer Ghosh, please see http://www.infonomics.nl/niew/about/people_cv.php?id=81

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Re: [FSF-WG] [rajnibakshi@yahoo.com: Re: From Rajni Bakshi]
by klak＠giasbm01.vsnl.net.in 09 Oct '02

09 Oct '02

On Mon, 07 Oct 2002 18:43:14 -0400, Richard Stallman <rms(a)gnu.org> wrote: > Please tell him about the ways that Indian governments are > promoting Windows. > > From: rajni bakshi <rajnibakshi(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: Re: From Rajni Bakshi > To: rms(a)gnu.org > Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 21:17:04 -0700 (PDT) > > Please send me more information about government's > forcing Windows on schools etc. Especially names and > contact numbers of people in India who are involved in > these issues. > It is not certain if I can write about this myself but > I will try and alter journalists who would write about > it. > Regards, > Rajni

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Profits from piracy
by klak＠giasbm01.vsnl.net.in 09 Oct '02

09 Oct '02

What we were really worried about is beginning to happen: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/09/26/piracy_unlimited/ Going "soft" on so-called piracy is now a part of MS's strategy, at least in China. (India next?) They have realised that "allowing" piracy to happen is an efficient way to fight free software. (Not to mention giving away free (zero-cost) licenses to entire school systems across states and countries) Forgive me for this "I told you so" attitude, but please see http://forum.gnu.org.in/1016695648/index_html where this strategy was predicted to stress why Cost should not be an Issue in the advocacy of free software. -- Khuzaima A. Lakdawala

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Good news for Linux(GNU Linux?)! On Economic Times today!
by N S Srikanth 09 Oct '02

09 Oct '02

Hi Listers Good news for Linux Lovers! Front Page cover story on Economic Times today (09/10/2002)! "Linux turns government's "Platform of choice"" It gives details about the IT ministry's broad guide lines and directives to promote Linux in Govt depts and more so in Engineering colleges. Isn't this good? Pl give your feedback. N S Srikanth Trivandrum

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RE:FLAG
by Kanti Jadia 08 Oct '02

08 Oct '02

I have come in contact with few people who would like to donate money for this cause. Now the problem is two fold. a.To whom should i direct this small amount of money. b.How can i further the cause so as to help them donate more.They have been using various free software's for some work and like the concept too. On the point of running informal Free Software User Groups. The group we need to form in nagpur will cater both as a FLUG as well as a GLUG. This in simple terms means that they will also provide help in formalising/configuring/using free software for certain needs. The monetory portion thus collected will be further directed towards promoting use of free software. We also plan to distribute free software cd's since they are not available locally. To support all these activities what things have to be done. From the following link http://plug.org.in/minutes.php i understand that a trust can be formed which will take care of the activities. Would like input from all patrons of FSF-India as well as the members. regards Kanti Jadia

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Free TTF Fonts of Akruti
by Nagarjuna G. 08 Oct '02

08 Oct '02

----- Forwarded message from "M.S.Sridhar" <mssridhar(a)vsnl.com> ----- Envelope-to: nagarjun(a)hbcse.tifr.res.in Cc: nagarjun(a)hbcse.tifr.res.in From: "M.S.Sridhar" <mssridhar(a)vsnl.com> Subject: Fonts To: jitendras(a)vsnl.com X-AntiVirus: OK! AntiVir MailGate Version 2.0.0.0 at hbcse has not found any known virus in this email. Dear Jitendra and Nagarjun I have uploaded the fonts at the following url. www.akruti.com/freedom/fonts/freefont.zip These can be put on your servers. I will also publish the glyph list and other details. Please let me know if there is any problem. Regards Sridhar ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ nagarjun(a)hbcse.tifr.res.in www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/gn/ Key fingerprint = C1E2 1B8C 8E98 A697 68B7 ADAC E956 6D4B DE90 BF01

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Fwd: Free software movement in Cochin University of Science and Technology
by klak＠giasbm01.vsnl.net.in 07 Oct '02

07 Oct '02

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Fw: [seul-edu] educationaLinux 2003 miniconference: Call for Papers
by Mahesh T Pai 07 Oct '02

07 Oct '02

Forwarding:- ===========+++++++++++================ Please forward this release to any educational lists you're on that have a computer focus, and any computer lists you're on that have an educational focus. And anyone who wants a learning holiday in sunny Perth, Western Australia during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. (-: THE CONFERENCE educationaLinux 2003, the Education mini-conference attached to the Australian Linux Conference 2003, is now seeking papers and presenters for two days of intense learning and networking in the leadup to the LCA2003 proper. LCA2003 promises to be a doorbuster conference, a hard act to follow (which is why we're running before it) and we've obtained permission to piggyback an Education mini-conference on it - in parallel with a Debian mini-conference - in the two days leading up to it. Rolling through into the main conference gives educators involved with Linux that little bit of extra time with an educational focus, an extra reason for attending LCA2003. An educational prefix to the main conference turns up fresh material to hammer out in the workshops. THE PAPERS Even before this CFP went out, we've had some interesting papers waved at us. The presentations will include reports from Australian implementors fresh from a new rollout in the field. We're looking to cover two main areas: Linux as seen from an educational perspective (Monday 27 January), and education as seen from a Linux perspective (Tuesday 28 January), with some overlap. The former means presentations on opportunities, problems and experiences with Linux from the educator's seat, be it school IT staff, teachers or consultants. We're looking for educational applications for Linux and what needs to be done to make them better, features to build on and misfeatures to repair, both theory and testimony. The latter means presentations on setting up and altering Linux to meet the special needs of academia, such as the ability to migrate user contexts between grades, ways of tuning for or dissipating load spikes from start-of-lesson stampedes, plans and experience with various network arrangements, adaptations for special-needs input devices, unobtrusive security hardening; go wild with your special project or experience! THE LOCATION The LCA2003 conference is being competently kitted out for an optimised, immersive networking experience; just the right balance between the convenience of everything-laid-on and the interest and satisfaction of roll-your-own. By penguinistas, for penguinistas. The University of Western Australia is about the closest thing Oz has to real historical buildings; these ancient, hallowed halls are equipped with wireless LAN, wired sound and other modern facilities to make your visit a highly productive one. Accomodation is close to hand, the city centre only a few kilometers further away and `geek' attractions like the UCC, home of one of the first Coke machines on the Internet and many other digital treasures, are right on campus. Perth itself has a wonderfully mild climate, is big enough to offer practically any facility, and small enough to still be friendly. Western Australia is packed with interesting things to see (from unique natural grandeur through impressive industry to world-class fishing and world-famous wineries) so an extended holiday stay is a definite option. The main Conference ends on Australia Day. On the Sunday night you'll get to see some of the biggest, most impressive fireworks ever to be launched in Australia. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW 1. Register for LCA2003, even if you have no paper to present. 2. Notify educationaLinux that you're planning to attend. 3. If you have a paper, submit a precis and a brief bio to educationaLinux. 4. Arrange your schedule and finances so you can roll up on the day. THE LINKS http://plug.linux.org.au/~leonb/lca2003/papers.html Presenters' instructions http://plug.linux.org.au/~leonb/lca2003/ educationaLinux home http://linux.conf.au/ LCA2003 entry http://conf.linux.org.au/register.html Conference registrations http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/mmmgroup/e-gall.html The Spanish Linkquisition

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Re: Good News!
by Suresh Titus 07 Oct '02

07 Oct '02

Thats really good news. Suresh ________________________________________________________________________ Missed your favourite TV serial last night? Try the new, Yahoo! TV. visit http://in.tv.yahoo.com

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RE:flag
by Kanti Jadia 07 Oct '02

07 Oct '02

>Hi hackers, >The works for starting flag(FsF Local Activists Group)s are on >the >way. I mailed rms & as he advised we met Arun. The activities >are >currently going on by planning how the groups should be >working. The need for GNU user groups/Free Software user groups is true. People need local group to discuss and implement free software. I am facing similar problems here in NAGPUR(Maharashtra) also. > The current plans are >*Arranging awareness classes of FsF both ethical & technical >*Arrange the local activists meetings monthly >*Promote the FsF distributions >*Sale & support of FsF softwares & Documentations >*Find out and use the developers for developing Free Software >*Each flag is planned in such a way that they support Other >Free >Softwares (including other OS's)as well as the GNU/Linux >*Each meeting will be having the discussions about the current >activities in Freedom world & technical world of FsF >*Cooperate with the lugs for promoting the GNU/Linux environment >& >support them to think about the freedom >*Seminars on any of the papers either in the ethical (better) >or >the technical >*** MOST importantly maintain a Free Software journel containg >the >articles of budding FsF'ians and FsF 'Gurus' from allover the >country. >The journel may be an Online One for atleast a few issues & by >analysing the stuff we can plan for a printed one forum.gnu.org.in >We have started the primary activities at alappuzha district of >Kerala. We are on the way to find out more members from >alappuzha >& now it's a 58 member group untill today. The activities are >based around a GNU software training computer institute (JRS >Academy*) and with the help of students from Cochin University >College of Engineering Kuttanad. (Hope similar groups start all >over the country.) It is true that local Colleges and Institutions can be the hub for such groups. >Now we need the support of all the Free Software Community to >make >up official rules for all the flags* & further advices & >guidelines. The flags can be organized under the FSF-India banner and to me it seems the best. Rules /Guidelines need to be formulated so that proper communication can be established.The laws of the land also need to be seen so as to get Tax Free donations and other benefits for FSF-India and the FLAG's or FLUG's (Free Software User Groups) > The better thing will be deciding the formalization only >after >an active chat in the mailing list. I would suggest a mailing list of fsf-india itself to cater to the FLUG's. This is emphasized since mailing lists at present tend to be a better methed due to bandwidth and other limitations in online forums. Articles can and should be posted to the forum so as to make the available at all times and an easy to read format. >***The articles are invited from all over the country & 'll be >better if in TeX format. Send them to >praveenskhan(a)rediffmail.com*** >We people are having a daily meeting now & are planning to >start >the official functioning after the Pooja* (14th & 15th)days. > Hope we'll be forming an idea before that > HTH > -psk Regards Kanti Jadia

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Console frontend to wvdial
by Frederick Noronha 06 Oct '02

06 Oct '02

This msg is from Asterix Baron <b2ornot2b(a)yahoo.com> in Goa. -FN ---------- Forwarded message ---------- hi all heres a set of scripts that act as a front end to wvdial ... console based it gives u a bar of traffic on ppp interface ideal for the 'console happy' ;) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa/files/inet.zip if u have any probs with these hack them to suit ur taste adieus cheerio b2 p.s. Does anyone have any interesting scripts to share ??? p.s. Is anyone interested in forming an (e)group ... BCLU - Brotherhood of Command Line Users ??? to share the power of the command line

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Wanted: Links about GNU/Linux in Asia...
by Frederick Noronha 05 Oct '02

05 Oct '02

I am currently trying to locate more information on the role that GNU/Linux is playing in Asia, and would be grateful if you could offer me some clues on where to look. In particular, would be grateful for (i) URLs of any useful GNU/Linux websites in Asia (ii) email addresses of key persons play a role in the Free/Libre Software and Open Source domain in countries of this region (iii) mailing lists that are active and innovative in this field (iv) any useful contributions to GNU/Linux coming out of Asia. Thanks so much for your help, Frederick PS: Please visit my recently updated site at http://linuxinindia.pitas.com -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org * GNU-LINUX http://linuxinindia.pitas.com Email fred(a)bytesforall.org * Mobile +9822 122436 (Goa) * Saligao Goa India Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference

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Flag
by psk 05 Oct '02

05 Oct '02

Hi hackers, The works for starting flag(FsF Local Activists Group)s are on the way. I mailed rms & as he advised we met Arun. The activities are currently going on by planning how the groups should be working. The current plans are *Arranging awareness classes of FsF both ethical & technical *Arrange the local activists meetings monthly *Promote the FsF distributions *Sale & support of FsF softwares & Documentations *Find out and use the developers for developing Free Software *Each flag is planned in such a way that they support Other Free Softwares (including other OS's)as well as the GNU/Linux *Each meeting will be having the discussions about the current activities in Freedom world & technical world of FsF *Cooperate with the lugs for promoting the GNU/Linux environment & support them to think about the freedom *Seminars on any of the papers either in the ethical (better) or the technical *** MOST importantly maintain a Free Software journel containg the articles of budding FsF'ians and FsF 'Gurus' from allover the country. The journel may be an Online One for atleast a few issues & by analysing the stuff we can plan for a printed one We have started the primary activities at alappuzha district of Kerala. We are on the way to find out more members from alappuzha & now it's a 58 member group untill today. The activities are based around a GNU software training computer institute (JRS Academy*) and with the help of students from Cochin University College of Engineering Kuttanad. (Hope similar groups start all over the country.) Now we need the support of all the Free Software Community to make up official rules for all the flags* & further advices & guidelines. The better thing will be deciding the formalization only after an active chat in the mailing list. ***The articles are invited from all over the country & 'll be better if in TeX format. Send them to praveenskhan(a)rediffmail.com*** We people are having a daily meeting now & are planning to start the official functioning after the Pooja* (14th & 15th)days. Hope we'll be forming an idea before that HTH -psk __________________________________________________________ Give your Company an email address like ravi @ ravi-exports.com. Sign up for Rediffmail Pro today! Know more. http://www.rediffmailpro.com/signup/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Fwd: Govt Stand on Linux
by Ajith Kumar 04 Oct '02

04 Oct '02

pandarinathan raman wrote: > It is highly irregular to pass comment about officials > without knowing full context. It could have been > rejected probably some existing applications have to > be ported. What is the present level of computerization in the govt. offices. Does it go anything beyond MSOffice. If a panchayat is capable of handling its requirements using GNU/Linux, preventing it by an order from Trivandrum is sheer misuse of power. Once I had the following experience. We we met the mayor of a corporation , that was computerizing some records, to talk about Free Software and he directed us to the officer handling it. When we pointed out about the cost savings the curt response from the officer was "we have enough funds from the government". This is the prevailing mentality. If money is there, just spend it. If somebody under you come up with something better , reject it without assigning any reason. If linux is rejected due to the lack of some application, he should have point out that reason. Sending an order "strictly objecting to installing linux" is not a sensible thing to do. Such reply comes from the attitude " I do not have to explain any reason since I have power" I am also a govt. employee and working in a place where more that 100 machines running GNU/Linux for word processing, communication, databases, scientific computing and control applications. Fortunately it not under an official who rejects something without reason. > > We can progress by our actions and not by accusing > others or by emotional outbursts. For real success in > govt sector you should show some successful sites in > India entirely running on FS, which I think are > reallly rare. The decision makers in the govt. also should keep their eyes open. They should interact with academics in places like engg. colleges and IITs. At least they should see what is happening around the world. If they do not do any of these, at least they should not issue orders "strictly objecting to something without assigning any reason" . A nations fate cannot be decided by the information provided by sales representatives. If somebody does that, one can always suspect the motive. ajith >

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Fwd: Govt Stand on Linux
by CK Raju 04 Oct '02

04 Oct '02

On one hand the Government says that it has decentralised and transferred most of the powers to local bodies, and here it appears to be strengthening its hold. CK Raju KILA ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: letter Date: 3 Oct 2002 17:28:43 -0000 From: "ramanunni s sivasankaran" <hitharamanunni(a)rediffmail.com> To: ckraju(a)zyberway.com I invite your kind attention to the resolution adopted by the Pattanchery Grama Panchayat about the installation of Linux in the computer during the month of January this year. In this regard we had sent a letter to the secretary to the government for the approval of Linux installation in the computers. The additional secretary for secretary department of local administration in his letter ltr.no 31914/02 dla dt.25.9.02 to the secretary pattanchery grama Panchayat has strictly objected the installation of Linux as operating system in the computer when it is being installed in the Panchayat instead of windows. The secretary pattanchery grama Panchayat called on me over the phone yesterday and informed this fact to me. This is for your information please. Nothing more at present. Thanking you, (Ramanunni) -------------------------------------------------------

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Fsf-friends October 2002