Fsf-friends October 2005

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Software Freedom Day celebrated
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 07 Oct '05

07 Oct '05

Professional engineering students at MES College of Engineering organised a workshop "Mukti - liberate, enlighten, inspire", as part of celebrations of Software Freedom Day organised by the Free Software enthusiasts at the institution on 07 Oct 2005. Arun M and Anivar Aravind of FSF-India spoke and demonstrated the potential and enormous computing flexibility of Free Software. The event witnessed the FS Students' Chapter at MES College of Engineering releasing over 350 Compact Disks of 'Ubuntu', a distribution of GNU Operating System derived from Debian GNU Linux. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world. A primary goal of the Ubuntu Foundation is to ensure that a high quality distribution of free and open source software is available free of charge, throughout the world. "Free software is produced by expert volunteers who make their time and work freely available - our goal is to ensure that anybody in the world can make the best use of that work, at no charge." claims Ubuntu Community Relations, Netherlands based group that promotes Ubuntu. Ubuntu Foundation has made public commitments that Ubuntu will always be freely available, without the need for royalties or licence payments of any kind. "We include only free and unencumbered applications, ensuring that users have the ability to share and modify their software." As part of the 'bootstrapping process' of initiating the Free Software learning curve within the professional student community, the FS Students Chapter conducted parallel technical sessions at beginner, intermediary and expert levels within the institution, prior to the workshop. Anivar Aravind, Co-ordinator, FSF-India demonstrated a session on "Compiling Linux Kernel in a GNU system". The session focussed on compiling Linux Kernel in a GNU System to optimise the kernel for the present hardware configuration. Arun M, Secretary, FSF India spoke on "Freedom Matters" as part of FSF Movement's advocacy on the subject. The session explained the larger goals of Free Software Foundation of India. Discussions for funding viable software projects that would be of benefit to the Small and Medium enterprises or to the local community followed the Workshop. Dr M Achuthan, former Professor at IIT Bombay, earlier inaugurated the event. ------------------------------------- Cheers, CK Raju ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using NWebmail, BSNL's Webmail Program

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Software Freedom Day.
by Arun M 05 Oct '05

05 Oct '05

Software Freedom Day Celebration calls for the decolonisation of Indian minds from Proprietary Software. Commemerating the 136th birth anniversary of Mahatma FSF India AP Chapter celebrated the Software Freedom Day. As a part of the worldwide activity to celebrate freedom in software development, Free Software Foundation of India has organised a seminar on "Free Software and India". The seminar aimed at spreading the spirit of Free Software among young minds at Engineering collges throughout the state. Kiran Chandra, Convenor FSF India, A.P. chapter presided over the event. Prof. D.N. Reddy, Pricipal, Osmania University College of Engineering was the chief guest. Arun, Secretary of FSF India and Dr.Ravi Kumar, Director of Geodata Division, Geographical Survey of India were the other speakers. There was a technical session on "Power of GNU/Linux" with the aim of showing Free Software alternatives to proprietory software that we use everyday. Prof. Reddy noted that the availability of source code in Free Software has a potential to greatly impact the learning of technology in engineering colleges. He also listed the four primary freedoms that are the objective of Free Software in letting the user use, modify and redistribute software in any way desired. Arun noted the similarity between the East India companies set up by foreign countries long back and the current proprietary software companies that are a threat to our freedom. He described the proprietary software model as people keeping knowledge to themselves and building walls around themselves which hinders the advancement of science and technology in a knowledge society. Dr. Ravikumar told us how GRASS, a Free Software Geographical Information System, is creating a revolution at the Geographical Survey of India. It is zero costs and much superior alternative to proprietary GIS system that they were using earlier. He also mentioned that GIS software can be used as a key to solving problems and regulating the production of various crops in the A Software Freedom Campaign rally started at 9:35 AM from the University of Hyderabad, Gachibowli and touched the premier institutions like IIIT,JNTU and reached OU College of Engineering at 11.30 AM. The Freedom Campaign Flag was received by two children stating that the Freedom Campaign will continue as and long there is life existing on earth. The Freedom Campaign rally was led by M.Naveen the core member of FSF AP. An Oath was taken up by the one thousand participants. The pledged to take forward the freedom campaign and shall strive for a world with clear stream of reason breaking the narrow domestic walls that curtail this freedom. The pledge was taken from Rabindranath Tagores greatest work Geetanjali. Stalls were arranged for the participants, and they were demonstrated Free Software that could replace the currently being used proprietary software. Seven stalls covering common learning tools used by engineering students were setup. They include compilers like GCC,G++ integrated development environments like KDevelop, Anjuta, Eclipse , 3D modelling and animation tools like blender, installation of GNU/Linux operating system etc. This seminar was attended by one thousand engineering college students from all over the state. FSF AP core members co- ordinated the activity and GNU/Linux Osmania University Campus Club.

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Fwd: [Fsf-web] FSF-India IRC Meet Tomorrow
by Anivar Aravind 04 Oct '05

04 Oct '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Baishampayan Ghose <b.ghose(a)gnu.org.in> Date: Oct 4, 2005 1:58 PM Subject: [Fsf-web] FSF-India IRC Meet Tomorrow To: FSF-India Web Page Developers List <fsf-web(a)mm.gnu.org.in> Hello GNUHeads! This is to inform you all of the date and agenda of the first ever IRC meet of FSF-India web developers, admins & the working group. The date / time and the agenda is as follows -- Date - Wed Oct 5, 2005 Time - 16:30 - 19:30 Hrs. Place - #gnu-india on irc.freenode.net Agenda - o Moving to Drupal - Issues - Sharing responsibilities - Moving the content - Timeline - Integrating the fellow registration system - Integrating the Volunteer & Business DBs o Merchandise - Decide on what we are going to make - Who's going to do it - Timeline o A new private mailing list for the admins - Viability o Other project ideas The actual meet might not be 3 hours long, if we all come at the right time, we will finish within an hour or so, I have kept the time flexible so that people can drop in their own time. This is done only because this is the first meet, and it will not be the case for the next meets. Also, please make sure you all come to the meet. A consensus is necessary to get the things going. If anybody has problems, please speak up now! Have a nice day all, Regards, BG -- Baishampayan Ghose Free Software Foundation of India b.ghose at gnu.org.in _______________________________________________ Fsf-web mailing list Fsf-web(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-web Anivar Aravind -- __ __ gnu /noo/ n. Ox like antelope; (abbr.) /gnoo/ n. (recursive acronym) Gnu's Not Unix.

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Track 4: linking Free Software and non-profits
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 02 Oct '05

02 Oct '05

Can we share this vision in India? FN Track 4: linking Free Software and non-profits http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=1693586 GOA, India -- The Philippines is moving fast ahead in the task of building bridges between non-profits and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). LinuxWorld Philippines 2005, held in mid-September, is the biggest and only nationwide Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) event in that country. In September 2005, APC member Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) coordinated the civil society participation in the LinuxWorld Philippines event, held at mid-month in Makati City, MetroManila. LinuxWorld Philippines is the biggest and only Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) event in the country. This three-day event aims at showcasing and discussing GNU/Linux and other free and open source solutions that the government, private sector, academe and civil society may tap for various purposes, Al Alegre and Nina Somera of FMA said. "The good news is that we have been successful in convincing -- the organizers Media G8Way, the top publisher of ICT publications here, affiliated with the IDG group, http://www.mediag8way.com/events -- to have a separate track for public interest and policy concerns. This would be aside from the usual event tracks: business applications, technical and systems, workshops," FMA organisers told APC News while updating us on the event. The Public Interest and Advocacy track consisted of sessions that tackled the policy issues around FOSS (which is also called FLOSS, or Free/Libre and Open Source Software); the use of FOSS in different sectors such as education, health, and environment; and the implications of FOSS on gender and intellectual property regimes. Similarly, it looked at FOSS-based tools which non-profits can deploy for advocacy, secure online communications; FOSS migration cases and many more. FMA's participation in Linux World is basically a follow up to its ongoing Policy, Praxis and Public Interest forum series. Framing FOSS as a development imperative, FMA organized a forum on the political and social implications on FOSS in last year's conference, then called the Philippine Open Source Conference. FMA also organized one of the first FOSS training-workshops for NGOs last November. Track 4, focussing on Public Interest and Advocacy, was organised at the Dusit Hotel Makati from September 14-16. It was aimed at the people who want to go beyond business applications or technical competency. Aiming to get the traditional GNU/Linux and FOSS crowd interested in public policy and advocacy, it also targets a potential new emerging constituency -- the nonprofit/NGO crowd, who are into GNU/Linux and FOSS for its social and political implications. Organizers extended to NGOs (non-government organizations) and government personnel a discounted rate, to encourage their full participation. Key sessions at this event looked at FOSS@PH (The State of GNU/Linux and Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) in the Philippines). It then looked at FOSS(a)GOV.PH (GNU/Linux and FOSS in government, featuring interesting cases, highlighting learnings from current initiatives, and pinpointing challenges faced by FOSS advocates in government). The aim was to look at government in different levels -- national agencies, local governments, government corporations, and the enabling institutions such as CICT/NCC Commission on ICT- National Computer Center); and e-government applications using FOSS. FOSS(a)EDU.PH was a session focussing on FOSS in education, as its name suggests. This session targetted covering different aspects of the Philippine educational ecosystem: basic public education & private education including curriculum development, teacher training; nonformal education; FOSS migration experiences within schools; use of FOSS in education and learning technologies. FOSS(a)NGO.PH, on the other hand, looked at FOSS in non-governmental organizations. It aimed at giving a report on the state of FOSS initiatives in associative organizations, feature interesting cases and experiments, highlight learnings from current initiatives, and pinpoint particular challenges faced by FOSS advocates in civil society organizations and NGOs. Civil society organizations using FOSS in different development sectors (e.g., health, environment, media, rural development, etc.) were asked to share experiences. FOSS, GNU/Linux, and Gender was another session. Groups like the APC member Womens' Hub and Isis International-Manila have drawn attention for their work on this front. Besides this, the organizers also worked to have a policy forum/dialogue which looked at policy dilemmas and development imperatives, with the participation of key ICT policymakers. "This session will pose one of the most crucial (and controversial) issues in FOSS advocacy in the Philippines. It aims to present an overview of FOSS policy initiatives undertaken in different countries, and its implications in terms of policy options for the Philippines. It will put FOSS advocates in dialogue with policy makers to explore possible recommendations. A multi-stakeholder panel (government, private sector, civil society) will be convened," organizers announced prior to the meet. There was a wealth of angles from which this issue was looked out. One can sense how deep the Philippines has ventured into the task of building bridges between non-profits and FOSS simply by looking at the issues being tackled there. Legal issues in FOSS was another focus, looking at licenses and licensing (OSI, GPL, FreeBSD); legality and enforceability of FOSS (i.e., contract law, IP Code/TTA provisions, international precedents); and some interesting cases (for example, the SCO Case). Other sessions looked at FOSS for advocacy (introducing public interest organizations to basic software tools to fulfill one of the basic functions of development organizations); secure computing using FOSS tools; and moving from open source to open content (alternatives to 'intellectual property' and the public domain). There was also a focus on the FOSS business models for small, marginal and medium enterprises; FOSS in the creative professions (writing for GNU/Linux, and GNU/Linux for writers); adopting a GNU/Linux lifestyle; nurturing and sustaining the Philippine FOSS ecosystem (understanding what needs to be done to promote FOSS in a strategic and programmatic way); and working on an action plan. LinuxWorld Philippines site Originator: --- (APCNews) Date: 10/02/2005 Location: GOA, India Contact: editor(a)apc.org Category: Free Software Source: APCNews

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More details of software freedomday
by Arun M 01 Oct '05

01 Oct '05

http://ap.gnu.org.in/software_freedom_day_2005.html

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Software Freedom Day and the Software Freedom Rally.
by Arun M 01 Oct '05

01 Oct '05

01-10-05 Hyderabad. Invitation Software Freedom Day and the Software Freedom Rally. The program details are : Motor Cycle Rally starting at Hyderabad Central University at 9:00 AM Technical Session on Power of GNU/Linux 9:00 AM Seminar on Free Software and India 11.00AM Venue :OU College of Engineering. Free Software Foundation of India is celebrating 'Software Freedom day' on 2nd October 2005. As part of the celebration FSF India is organising a half day seminar and exhibition at Osmania University College of Engineering,Hydrabad, Andra Pradesh. The motor Cycle Rally starts at Hyderabad Central University touches JNTU and will reach OU College of Engineering. Speakers in the Seminar : Prof. D N Reddy Principal OU College of Engg. Dr. G.Ravi Kumar Director, Geodata GSI. M.Arun Secretary FSF India. Technical Session on Power of GNU/Linux 9:00 AM Seminar on Free Software and India 11.00AM Venue :OU College of Engineering. Free Software Foundation of India is celebrating 'Software Freedom day' on 2nd October 2005. As part of the celebration FSF India is organising a half day seminar and exhibition at Osmania University College of Engineering,Hydrabad, Andra Pradesh. 2nd October is birth anniversary of one of the greatest freedom fighters of the world, Mahatma Gandhi. FSF India decided to celebrate 'Software Freedom day' on 2nd October as a tribute to Mahatma, and to remind people that fight for freedom is never over. Free Software Movement is leading freedom struggle in domain of information technology. This movement is fight for the freedom of knowledge and freedom to communicate. Right to share knowledge, and right to communicate are as important as political freedom for which Mahatma fought. Today we are carrying his fight to new frontiers. Day by day more and more people are realising the importance of software freedom. On this birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi Freedom campaigners from different sections of the society will come together to celebrate Software Freedom day and to pledge to defend freedom in computing,following path shown by freedom fighters around world. Exhibition arranged on the day will showcase commonly useful freesoftwares like GCC,Kdevelop,Blender etc. Special focus of exhibition will be how free software will help students. About FSF India The Free Software Foundation Of India is a non-profit organisation committed to advocating, promoting and propagating the use and development of swatantra software in India. Our goal is to ensure the long term adoption of free software, and aim for the day when all software will be free (swatantra). This includes educating people about software freedom and convincing them that it is the freedom that matters. We regard non-free proprietary software as a problem to be solved, not as a solution to any problem. Y.Kiran Chandra Convenor FSFIndia AP Chapter

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Fsf-friends October 2005