Fsf-friends June 2003

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

11 participants
57 discussions

Imporving Indic Support for Debian GNU/Linux
by Kanti Jadia 04 Jun '03

04 Jun '03

--------------------------------------------------------------------- Improved Indian Support for Debian. Jaldhar Vyas [26]wondered if there is any interest in a sub-project for increasing the support for Indian languages within Debian. Both GNOME and KDE contain viable support already. His goals would be to package Indian support software or write it as necessary, help with i18n and l10n for existing software and advocate the use of Debian in the Indian community. 26. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-0305/msg01859.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- Enjoy your Freedom,use GNU/Linux. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html -----------------------------------------

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KDE improves Indic language support...
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 03 Jun '03

03 Jun '03

_______________________________________________ KDE improves Indic language support The forthcoming KDE 3.2 desktop will have improved support for Indic languages, with Devanagari, Bengali and Tamil already tested. Syriac, Tibetan, Khmer and others are also expected to work, but the KDE project needs people who understand these languages to help the translation and localisation teams by providing feedback. If we'll soon have KDE in Tibetan, will there be any human languages that free software doesn't support? http://dot.kde.org/1053201681/ _______________________________________________ Please send your news snippets to daniel(a)linuxuser.co.uk _______________________________________________ LinuxUser mailing list LinuxUser(a)www.linux.org.uk http://www.linux.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/linuxuser

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ECONOMIC TIMES: Is Linux really happening in India, or is it just hype? (fwd)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 03 Jun '03

03 Jun '03

URL : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=383 Is Linux really happening in India, or is it just hype? SOBHA MENON TIMES NEWS NETWORK [spacer.gif] [ SUNDAY, JUNE 01, 2003 01:35:28 AM ] It's being billed as the solution that will deliver the masses from computer illiteracy. And so it was hardly surprising when a recent MAIT-organised seminar on "Open Source Software: A New Direction for India?" drew a larger-than-expected audience that stayed on till the very end. The seminar did throw up some very pertinent questions on open source software (OSS) and helped quite a bit in clearing the myth that the immediate adoption of Linux may be the solution to India's problems. As V Chandrashekhar, global head of s-governance practice, TCS, explains: "Linux use has increased as a result of the economic downturn and the decrease in perceived difficulty in using it. Linux is the de facto standard in embedded systems and in areas of high-end computing -- but it will be some time before it gets popular at the desktop level. " The low cost Linux advantage is what may make it acceptable to small and medium size businesses (SMEs) for accessing web servers, mail servers, and other technologies. Open source code, besides makes it more acceptable in high-end computing areas such as software development, genome unravelling, etc, and in areas where security is paramount -- say, the IT operations of the defence forces. But the common view that anyone who hasn't been exposed to any operating system, for instance Windows, may be a potential user of Linux may not be true as of now. D S Pandit, who heads the information systems at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is an example. "I got a free CD at a conference in Goa on Linux software for desktops. It took my IT department 10 days to download it and even after that I didn't find it easy to use." For instance, the fact that files created on Star Office sometimes cannot be read on Windows is a disadvantage. "This is an issue that only Microsoft can deal with," says Sandeep Menon, Linux Business Manager, IBM Asean/SA. And it's unlikely that Microsoft will deal with it in a hurry. Sanjeev Mathur, who heads marketing at Microsoft India, explains that the eco-system that Microsoft had created around its products include pre- and post-sales services and academic institutions to develop skills around Microsoft products. "It's an eco-system that Linux can't match," Mathur says. And there's no reason why Microsoft should include competing Linux software in that eco-system. A Nasscom report too which talks about the "silent Linux movement" in India admits that "while Linux is gaining stature, it is a fact that currently, the OS is an add-on to existing platforms within user organisations. Analysts also point out that Linux is still largely at the departmental and file or print server stage rather than at the mission critical database server level." The report also points out that Linux deployments are confined predominantly to the server end with less action at the desktop level and that "this factor too will impede Linux's rapid fire expansion in the Indian market." However, speaker after speaker at the conference spoke about a revolution of sorts. "It's like the flower power movement of the Seventies," said Menon, who exhorted the government to "define open standards in public sector procurement as a matter of policy". Menon would also like government departments to encourage their staff to experiment with Linux, and evaluate Linux as part of the national IT, R&D and economic development strategies. But it might be some time before that happens. The Nasscom report talks about e-governance projects on the anvil in many states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra. But the fact is that most of these are just pilot projects. According to Chandrashekhar, TCS has about 10 e-governance projects in various states, but he says only 20 per cent of the solutions used would be Linux-based. Linux has its drawbacks, he says. "There is a lack of accountability because there are many bunches of developers with all kinds of offers. Also there is a reduced set of supporting hardware and business applications, a lack of guidelines, limitations regarding some high end operations, and limitations of user competence." The common refrain at the seminar was that Linux gave one the opportunity to work with open source code, until one government official piped up: "Why would I need open source code? What do I do with it when I don't have the skills to modify it?" Open source code does have its uses -- in high security environments where you can customise security requirements. For software developers and in areas of high-end computing too, there's a lot of advantage in having open source software because it ensures flexibility in using the software. So doesn't Linux have much prospects in India? It sure does, but only if its introduced at the school level so that future generations can grow up working on Linux, a government official felt. Worldwide, there are many governments that have adopted a policy of using Linux. Germany, Taiwan, China and many other countries in the Asia Pacific region are encouraging the use of Linux and have announced many initiatives based on open source software. In India, it's seen as a slower movement that will grow in size gradually. "A host of companies in India have extended support to Linux, in line with global strategies and initiatives undertaken by them in the open source space," says Nasscom. Already leading IT vendors such as Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Wipro, Integra Microsystems and Veritas have developed products for the Linux platform. According to Nasscom, many of India's 450,000 to 600,000 software developers who create solutions for the export market are getting onto the Linux bandwagon. All these companies have a separate set of Linux strategies for the Indian market. Red Hat's also working overtime to increase Linux's reach in India by working closely with government agencies such as NIC, ERDCI, IITs, NCST, MIT, etc , to develop applications on Linux. It's also put in place a network of training partners and is now offering courses in over 100 centres in India. And though government officials are still sceptical and look at it as a "hype created by a group of MNCs", it may be just a matter of time before the movement picks up. ______________________________________________________________________

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www.stallman.org switched from FreeBSD to GNU/Linux
by Kanti Jadia 02 Jun '03

02 Jun '03

http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2003/05/05/richard_stallman_adopts_gpl_op… ------------------------------------------------------------------- In the late 90s, I kept some personal information in http://www.gnu.org/people/rms.html. It would have been improper for me to post my other political opinions there. Eventually we found that maintaining substantial amounts of text in that directory for GNU contributors was too much of a burden for the GNU webmasters. So we decided not to use it that way any more. I therefore wanted to set up a personal web site for my personal material. I decided for ethical reasons that the site had to be running a free software operating system, and that it must not put any ads onto my pages. I was prepared to pay for the service, but preferred to avoid the expense if possible. A friend was in a position to sponsor my usage of the site that his company used. That site runs FreeBSD, which is a free system. So I chose that site. In 2003 my friend was no longer able to sponsor the site, so I looked for new hosting. Once again, I considered only machines running free operating systems. I received several acceptable offers; the best one is a site running GNU/Linux. Any free operating system is acceptable, but I prefer to use a version of the GNU system. A couple of other points. * There is no "GNU Project License"; "GNU GPL" is short for the GNU General Public License. * It is not really accurate to say that GNU/Linux is a GPL-covered system and *BSD is not. GNU/Linux contains free software such as TeX and X11 and Apache that have other licenses, while *BSD systems contain GPL-covered programs such as GCC. What is true is that the developers of the *BSD systems do not use the GNU GPL for their own code. Posted by: Richard Stallman on May 16, 2003 11:49 AM ----------------------------------------- Enjoy your Freedom,use GNU/Linux. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html -----------------------------------------

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TCS to set up Linux lab in Delhi
by Soundara Rajan N.S. 02 Jun '03

02 Jun '03

TCS to set up Linux lab in Delhi PTI[ SUNDAY, JUNE 01, 2003 11:02:30 AM ] NEW DELHI: Software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is planning to set up a centre of excellence Linux Laboratory in its Delhi facility where it will showcase Linux-installed machines to demonstrate the capability of open source software. IBM and Computer Associates are already on board for the lab and it will be operational in July this year, Gautam Shroff, head, architecture and technology practice, TCS, said while adding the company is in talks with other companies as well. The laboratory will have Linux installed on a number of non-high-end machines but of reasonable calibre that has everything required to run an IT organisation in terms of management software, the middleware and desktops end-to-end, he said. TCS will be investing in the lab in terms of manpower, the partners will be investing in deploying the software. There will be no dedicated team for the lab but there will be one such team of management and TCS will rotate its people through the lab and at any point of time 10 people will be working in the lab, Shroff said. The lab itself does not have a revenue target and the goal of the lab is to provide a set-up where we can bring in our customers to show the extent to which open source could be pushed, he said. The lab will also have TCS's own solutions that it has built for government and the banking sector and has IPRS for them besides demonstrating customers those projects on open source, Shroff added. ====================================================== Posted by N.S. Soundara Rajan, Freelance IT Correspondent, Mysore, India

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[Fsf-friends] Is Linux really happening in India, or is it just hype?
by Soundara Rajan N.S. 02 Jun '03

02 Jun '03

Is Linux really happening in India, or is it just hype? SOBHA MENON TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, JUNE 01, 2003 01:35:28 AM ] It’s being billed as the solution that will deliver the masses from computer illiteracy. And so it was hardly surprising when a recent MAIT-organised seminar on “Open Source Software: A New Direction for India?” drew a larger-than-expected audience that stayed on till the very end. The seminar did throw up some very pertinent questions on open source software (OSS) and helped quite a bit in clearing the myth that the immediate adoption of Linux may be the solution to India’s problems. As V Chandrashekhar, global head of s-governance practice, TCS, explains: “Linux use has increased as a result of the economic downturn and the decrease in perceived difficulty in using it. Linux is the de facto standard in embedded systems and in areas of high-end computing -- but it will be some time before it gets popular at the desktop level. ” The low cost Linux advantage is what may make it acceptable to small and medium size businesses (SMEs) for accessing web servers, mail servers, and other technologies. Open source code, besides makes it more acceptable in high-end computing areas such as software development, genome unravelling, etc, and in areas where security is paramount -- say, the IT operations of the defence forces. But the common view that anyone who hasn’t been exposed to any operating system, for instance Windows, may be a potential user of Linux may not be true as of now. D S Pandit, who heads the information systems at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is an example. “I got a free CD at a conference in Goa on Linux software for desktops. It took my IT department 10 days to download it and even after that I didn’t find it easy to use.” For instance, the fact that files created on Star Office sometimes cannot be read on Windows is a disadvantage. “This is an issue that only Microsoft can deal with,” says Sandeep Menon, Linux Business Manager, IBM Asean/SA. And it’s unlikely that Microsoft will deal with it in a hurry. Sanjeev Mathur, who heads marketing at Microsoft India, explains that the eco-system that Microsoft had created around its products include pre- and post-sales services and academic institutions to develop skills around Microsoft products. “It’s an eco-system that Linux can’t match,” Mathur says. And there’s no reason why Microsoft should include competing Linux software in that eco-system. A Nasscom report too which talks about the “silent Linux movement” in India admits that “while Linux is gaining stature, it is a fact that currently, the OS is an add-on to existing platforms within user organisations. Analysts also point out that Linux is still largely at the departmental and file or print server stage rather than at the mission critical database server level.” The report also points out that Linux deployments are confined predominantly to the server end with less action at the desktop level and that “this factor too will impede Linux’s rapid fire expansion in the Indian market.” However, speaker after speaker at the conference spoke about a revolution of sorts. “It’s like the flower power movement of the Seventies,” said Menon, who exhorted the government to “define open standards in public sector procurement as a matter of policy”. Menon would also like government departments to encourage their staff to experiment with Linux, and evaluate Linux as part of the national IT, R&D and economic development strategies. But it might be some time before that happens. The Nasscom report talks about e-governance projects on the anvil in many states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra. But the fact is that most of these are just pilot projects. According to Chandrashekhar, TCS has about 10 e-governance projects in various states, but he says only 20 per cent of the solutions used would be Linux-based. Linux has its drawbacks, he says. “There is a lack of accountability because there are many bunches of developers with all kinds of offers. Also there is a reduced set of supporting hardware and business applications, a lack of guidelines, limitations regarding some high end operations, and limitations of user competence.” The common refrain at the seminar was that Linux gave one the opportunity to work with open source code, until one government official piped up: “Why would I need open source code? What do I do with it when I don’t have the skills to modify it?” Open source code does have its uses -- in high security environments where you can customise security requirements. For software developers and in areas of high-end computing too, there’s a lot of advantage in having open source software because it ensures flexibility in using the software. So doesn’t Linux have much prospects in India? It sure does, but only if its introduced at the school level so that future generations can grow up working on Linux, a government official felt. Worldwide, there are many governments that have adopted a policy of using Linux. Germany, Taiwan, China and many other countries in the Asia Pacific region are encouraging the use of Linux and have announced many initiatives based on open source software. In India, it’s seen as a slower movement that will grow in size gradually. “A host of companies in India have extended support to Linux, in line with global strategies and initiatives undertaken by them in the open source space,” says Nasscom. Already leading IT vendors such as Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Wipro, Integra Microsystems and Veritas have developed products for the Linux platform. According to Nasscom, many of India’s 450,000 to 600,000 software developers who create solutions for the export market are getting onto the Linux bandwagon. All these companies have a separate set of Linux strategies for the Indian market. Red Hat’s also working overtime to increase Linux’s reach in India by working closely with government agencies such as NIC, ERDCI, IITs, NCST, MIT, etc , to develop applications on Linux. It’s also put in place a network of training partners and is now offering courses in over 100 centres in India. And though government officials are still sceptical and look at it as a “hype created by a group of MNCs”, it may be just a matter of time before the movement picks up. ====================================================== Posted by N.S. Soundara Rajan, Freelance IT Correspondent, Mysore, India

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volunteers login
by Sam 01 Jun '03

01 Jun '03

hi, i have been trying to login to volunteer's page for last 2 weeks, but it doesn't seem to be up yet! when will it be online again? Sameer

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Fsf-friends June 2003