Fsf-friends November 2005

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Fwd: Call to vote against software patents in "European of the Year" poll
by Anivar Aravind 08 Dec '05

08 Dec '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Sullivan <johns(a)fsf.org> Date: Oct 26, 2005 8:30 PM Subject: Call to vote against software patents in "European of the Year" poll FREE AND OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE LUMINARIES CALL ON WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY TO VOTE AGAINST SOFTWARE PATENTS IN THE "EUROPEAN OF THE YEAR 2005" INTERNET POLL Richard Stallman, Tim O'Reilly, Alan Cox, Rasmus Lerdorf and Monty Widenius endorse Florian Mueller's candidacy "because he runs on a NoSoftwarePatents ticket, and that is the message we want to reinforce" Brussels (20 October 2005) -- A group of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) celebrities has weighed in on the election of the "European of the Year 2005" by calling on "software developers and users around the globe" to vote for Florian Mueller, the founder of the NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign, in a public online poll. The illustrious consortium consists of--in alphabetical order of last name--Alan Cox, Red Hat Fellow and Linux kernel maintainer; Rasmus Lerdorf, creator of the PHP programming language; Tim O'Reilly, book publisher and conference organizer; Richard Stallman, President of the Free Software Foundation (who in 1984 began the work that produced today's popular GNU/Linux operating system); and Monty Widenius, creator of the MySQL database. In a NoSoftwarePatents press release, the community leaders today expressed their support for the voting recommendations that NoSoftwarePatents.com has published in more than a dozen languages: http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/vote.html Participants in the poll are required to make a choice in each of ten categories, and the voting list provided by NoSoftwarePatents.com explains the role that various candidates played in the software patent debate so that voters can reward the opponents of software patents and penalize pro-patent politicians. On 22 September, Florian Mueller was nominated for the most prestigious award in EU politics, the "EV50 Europeans of the Year". The jury thereby recognized his political efforts against a legislative proposal that in his opinion would have legalized software patents in Europe. The European Parliament rejected the bill on 6 July by a landslide of 648-32 votes. Mueller, who stressed that he owes this nomination "to our entire community and especially to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII)", is credited with founding a multilingual campaign website, speaking out in the media and at public events, and lobbying MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) as well as governments and parliaments in select EU member states. The European Voice, a major EU-focused weekly, is now conducting an Internet poll in which Mueller runs against such famous contenders as U2 frontman Bono, Bob Geldof, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and political leaders including British prime minister Tony Blair, the outgoing German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and Schroeder's successor designate Angela Merkel. The poll is open to the worldwide public until 11 November. Mueller's endorsers pointed out that the FOSS community has played a particularly active role in the fight against software patents, but that software patents "threaten us all because they don't discriminate based on programming language, operating system, or licensing model". The group is "disconcerted by early reports" that the EU is now looking at alternative ways of giving software patents a stronger legal basis in Europe, such as an EU community patent regulation. The press release underscored the fact that "this is a campaign for a cause, not for a person": People are asked to vote for Mueller "because he runs on a NoSoftwarePatents ticket, and that is the message we want to reinforce". The NoSoftwarePatents.com label is right next to Mueller's name on the ballot (http://www.ev50.com/poll). The endorsement furthermore stated: "Some other nominees also stand for valid concerns and noble causes. However, those issues and individuals have already received a lot of coverage in the mass media, while the implications of software patents to the whole world, including developing countries, still require much more public awareness. In the sense that software patents monopolize mental steps, they are also a human rights issue." Mueller is confident that he can win the title of the "European of the Year" against his famous competitors in the light of the "indisputable e-campaigning power of the anti-software patent movement". In addition to a campaign statement and voting recommendations, the website provides an email form that allows supporters to spread the information (http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/notify.html), and banners (http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/en/m/ev50/banners.html). The two main slogans of the electoral campaign are "Vote against software patents" and "Vote for your right to program". Should he win the popular vote, Mueller said that "everyone is a winner". He promised "to donate the Microsoft-sponsored prize money to the FFII", without which he says he "probably wouldn't have become involved, let alone succeeded, in this political battle". The EV50 winners will be announced on 29 November. A gala evening at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels will be hosted by former European Parliament President Pat Cox, who was hired by US corporations to lobby for software patents in the build-up to the 6 July vote. The EV50 awards are supported by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. Sponsors include PR and lobbying firm Burson-Marsteller, software maker Microsoft Corporation (a major owner and backer of software patents), and pharmaceutical giant Novartis. The European Voice is a publication of the Economist group. NOTE: Florian Mueller founded the NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign in 2004 with the support of three corporate sponsors (1&1, Red Hat, MySQL AB), and managed it until March of 2005. He then gave his website to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), the leading European pressure group that opposes the patentability of computer programs. CONTACT INFORMATION Florian Mueller florian.mueller(a)nosoftwarepatents.com -- John Sullivan Program Administrator | Phone: (617)542-5942 x23 51 Franklin Street, 5th Fl. | Fax: (617)542-2652 Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA | GPG: AE8600B6 _______________________________________________ info-fsf mailing list info-fsf(a)gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-fsf -- Knowledge is power... share it equitably! http://www.gnu.org

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LTSP for IT@SCHOOL GNU/Linux
by swathantra software 28 Nov '05

28 Nov '05

Hi all, LTSP for IT@SCHOOL GNU/Linux We have got the HCL winbee thin client setup made working on customozed Debian installation for IT@SCHOOL. Few schools in Kannur are using HCL winbee thin client setup by the company. The schools faced problem when they wanted to install Debian customozed IT@SCHOOL GNN/Linux system. There was no proper support from local company vendor who installed the machines. HCL thin client uses a proprietory OS and the bios setup was password protected. There was no details given about the client server setup configuration. The server was based on Redhat 9. After lots of struggle, I could replace the Redhat9.0 system with customized debian installation. After few teakings, the winbee client machines can now communicate over XDMCP to the server, get the workstation loging prompt and the system is working good. We can now run LTSP on IT@SCHOOL GNU/Linux setup. Few more schools using LTSP on earlier versions of Redhat8 has been now upgraded to Debian. All school installation now have Debain customized for IT@SCHOOL. Regards, Sujeevan S2S2, Kannur s2s2service(a)gmail.com --------------------- CDs : Mandriva2006(32&64 bit),CentOS4.2,FedoraCore4,DebianSarge, Slackware10.2,Knoppix4,FreeBSD6,SimplyMEPIS, Ubuntu,Edubuntu,PHOENIX CD,HOWTO CD etc --------------

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E-Governance "best" in Kerala ??
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 28 Nov '05

28 Nov '05

Close on heels of Karat episode, comes another small piece in Hindu, where it states that "some foundation" has selected the Kerala model as the best e-governance model. The link is missing from The Hindu's portal. Pity, if Microsoft has funded this "foundation", then they have lost their deposit. Karat could possibly have been advised by the IKM guys here about this new version of "free software", to which Microsoft India is deliberately trying to give a new definition these days. CK Raju ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using NWebmail, BSNL's Webmail Program

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Karat Releases Tamil Free Software
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 28 Nov '05

28 Nov '05

Karat Releases Tamil Free Software People's Democracy (Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Vol. XXIX No. 47 November 20, 2005 Karat Releases Tamil Free Software PRAKASH Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M), formally released Tamil free software and open source tools developed by Panacea Dreamweavers Software Private Limited, a Chennai-based company. The packages were received by Dr M Anandakrishnan, former vice-chancellor of Anna University at a function in Chennai on November 9. Karat lauded the efforts of the company, stating that the packages and open source tools were a big stride forward in democratising IT, besides making the software available to small businessmen, self-help groups (SHGs) and NGOs. Presiding over the occasion, T K Rengarajan, CPI(M) central committee member, said that launch of Tamil free software and open source tools would go a long way in bridging the digital divide. Dr Anandakrishnan said that college students should be encouraged to develop software using the source code that has been made available to them by Panacea Dreamweavers. R Duraipandi, Director (Technology), Panacea Dreamweavers, spoke on the need to develop free software for regional language computing and called upon members of the developer community to take forward his company’s initiative in other languages as well. The guest of honour, Ms Vasanthi Devi, former vice-chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, commended the team led by Duraipandi on their outstanding efforts. (INN)

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VTU and Free Software
by Krishna Pagadala 28 Nov '05

28 Nov '05

This from LWN http://lwn.net/Articles/160314 "The Visvesvaraya Technological University (the leading technical university in the state of Karnataka) has sent out a letter to over 100 engineering colleges asking them to urge their students to attend FOSS.IN." I think it is time to push Free Software in VTU, given their own circular. -Krishna ===================================== To Reflect, to Inspire and to Empower http://www.employees.org/~krishnap/ The great moral question of the twenty-first century is: If all knowledge, all culture, all art, all useful information, can be costlessly given to everyone at the same price that it is given to anyone -- if everyone can have everything, everywhere, all the time, why is it ever moral to exclude anyone from anything? -Eben Moglen --------------------------------- Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.

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GNU/Linux New Media Awards 2005....
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 27 Nov '05

27 Nov '05

http://www.linux-magazine.com/CustomerService/Exclusive/2005_Linux_New_Medi… Linux New Media Awards 2005 Trend Setters ________________________________________________________________________ Linux New Media put together an international jury to recognize outstanding contributions to Open Source. We'll tell you who brought home the prizes when the 2005 Linux New Media awards were presented at Linux World Frankfurt. ________________________________________________________________________ Linux New Media invited an international jury of some 200 members to acclaim outstanding contributions to free software. Besides developers, authors, and industry experts, the 2005 jury also included representatives from public administration, an area in which Open Source software is steadily gaining momentum. Trend to VoIP The award categories reflect current trends. Linux is gaining ground in new fields such as Internet telephony. The free PBX application, Asterisk (http://www.asterisk.org), attracted a majority in the new "Best Voice over IP software" category, followed by Skype, http://www.skype.com, for many the first program to bring the world of Internet Protocol-based communication to the home. Groupware tools that integrate email, address management, and calendar functions are an essential part of the modern workplace. Open Source groupware solutions are ousting MS Exchange in many companies. Kolab, http://kolab.org, came up on top in the "Best Groupware server" category, followed closely by Open-Xchange, http://www.openexchange.com. Corporate environments have very specific requirements for Linux operating systems. More than half the jury agreed that Novell's Suse products offer the best Enterprise Linux solution. The classic Enterprise contender, Red Hat, attracted about one third of the votes. Although industry giant IBM has sold its PC business, it still consistently uses Linux for servers such as the OpenPower series. The jurors awarded first prize for the "Most Linux-friendly hardware vendor" to IBM. Ubuntu, the Shooting Star A retrospective of the 2004 Awards clearly shows another trend. Last year, Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntulinux.org) was a promising newcomer that took second place in the "Best Newcomer Distribution" category behind Skole Linux, which is also Debian-based. The trust the jury put in Ubuntu was not misplaced: Ubuntu, which calls itself "Linux for human beings," kept to the promised release cycles in 2005, was well-represented at community events such as Linuxtag, and built up a considerable following in the course of the year. All of this led to Ubuntu taking the category of Best Debian Derivative with 43.5 percent of the votes. A KDE variant of Ubuntu called Kubuntu came in third. 25 percent of the votes went to the popular Live distro Knoppix. Against the backdrop of the Ubuntu boom, it comes as no surprise that Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth will take home a personal trophy in acknowledgment of his entrepreneurial spirit. Mark takes the Special Award for "Outstanding Contribution to Linux and free Software," not only for his work with Ubuntu, but also for the commitment he has shown to many other Open Source projects in his home country, South Africa, as well as in other parts of the world. Mark will be sharing the "Outstanding Contribution" award with someone without whom neither Linux nor any free software would exist: "the anonymous developer." The jury was really excited by this nomination, and as a result, a Linux New Media Award for 2005 goes to everyone who contributes to free software, whether as a volunteer, a full-time employee, or a part-time contract worker: "the anonymous developer" is the true heart of the Open Source community. Table 1: Linux New Media Awards 2005 Hardware Most Linux-friendly Hardware Vendor 1. IBM 23.5 % 2. HP 16.3 % 3. AMD 11.3 % Software Best Groupware Server 1. Kolab 22.2 % 2. OpenXChange 21.5 % 3. OpenGroupware 15.3 % Best VoIP Software 1. Asterisk 42.4 % 2. Skype 18.8 % 3. Gnomemeeting 15.8 % Best Debian Derivative 1. Ubuntu 43.5 % 2. Knoppix 23.7 % 3. Kubuntu 9.6 % Best Enterprise Server Distribution 1. Novell / Suse 53.3 % 2. Red Hat 36.7 % 3. Mandriva 8.3 % Special Award Outstanding contribution to Linux / Open Source 1. Mark Shuttleworth 12.1 % 1. The anonymous developer 12.1 % 2. nosoftwarepatents.com / Florian Müller 9.6 % 3. City of Munich 8.92 %

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SFI Demands free software in Education
by Arun M 26 Nov '05

26 Nov '05

Dear all, SFI, one of main students organisation in India passed a resolution to support free software. See below for the details. regards arun. Free Software in Education Free software has proved that it is a means of intellectual self reliance in the field of computing. With the growing pace of usage of computers and internet as a means of encyclopedia of learning resource, the need of softwares has increased at a similar pace. Free software unlike proprietary software allows the users to go through the entire source code and allows us to modify adapt and develop the software for ones requirements. This feature has allowed volunteers across the world to develop the entire operating systems into their own languages. At a time when knowledge is being commodified and concentrated into the hands a few monopolies by patenting and copyrights, free software by virtue of its licensing methods negates the copyrights with copy left licensing. SFI demands that Free Software should be used from School level to the University and research institutions, which not only protects our freedom but allows us to save huge amount of funds being paid for licenses in purchasing proprietary softwares. SFI further demands that the central government should take steps to start research institutions for the development of free software with necessary infrastructure should be started across the country.

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Query from a lawyer...
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 23 Nov '05

23 Nov '05

-------- Forwarded Message -------- From: "Mishi Choudhary" <mishi_c(a)rediffmail.com> 2005/11/21 Mon PM 08:58:30 IST Dear sir This is continuation to my earlier e-mails addressed to youy and the other members of the esteemed chapter fsf india.i appreciate and understand your preoccupation with work related to fsf and other things you are associated with.however as i wrote to you earlier ,i am a lawyer practising in the delhi high court and supreme court of india, had the privilege to meet Prof Eben Moglen during a course in american law.i had expressed my desire to be associated with fsf india and had sent in my enquiries regarding the same.i also had the advantage to meet Mr richard stallman during my visit new york.i wish to know what is fsf india currently involved in and what re the activities i can contribute to .kindly try to squeeze out some time out of your busy schedule and reply at your convenience. warm regards mishi Warm Regards Mishi Choudhary

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Openoffice rollout picks up pace in India
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 22 Nov '05

22 Nov '05

http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/software/stories/130583.html Openoffice rollout picks up pace in India Ingrid Marson, ZDNet (UK), November 18, 2005 The indian government plans to distribute CDs containing Firefox and OpenOffice in all Indian languages in an ambitious project to promote open source. Open source groups are helping the Indian government meet its target of creating open source CDs in all official Indian languages by February 2006. The open source applications included on the CDs, such as the Firefox browser and the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, have already been translated into five Indian languages Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi and Urdu. But there are still 17 languages left to be translated in just three months. The localised open source applications will also be available on PCs soon, after the Indian government struck a deal with a number of PC vendors to pre-install the software on computers sold in the country. The Indian government is trying to encourage the use of computers across the country by distributing free CDs that contain localised versions of popular open source applications. R.K.V.S. Raman, a researcher at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, an organisation involved in the production of the CD, said on Tuesday that the success of the Tamil and Hindi language CDs has encouraged open source groups across India to get involved. "Since the launch of the Tamil and Hindi CDs, a large number of open source groups have an expressed interest in contributing to CDs," said Raman. Before the government started this initiative, many open source groups were reluctant to work with the government as they were unsure of its policy around open source, according to Raman. But the success of this initiative has roused the local open source community, who are now voluntarily carrying out large parts of the work, he said. For example, a Linux user group, known as Punlinux, worked on translating the open source applications into Punjabi, and the Telugu translation work was done in collaboration with the Free Software Foundation India, according to Raman. The Telugu CD was launched at the end of October by the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, a state in south-eastern India where Telugu is the official language. The Punjabi and Urdu CDs are ready for release and will be officially launched in December or January by the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh. The Hindi and Tamil CDs, which have been available since early summer, have already been sent out to around 400,000 people. The organisation initially planned to distribute around 3.5 million copies of each CD, but it claims that demand for the CD has been less than expected as people are often sharing the CD or downloading the software instead. "If one person gets the CD, the whole community or [company] department gets the CD," said Raman. "There are so many channels that people can it from the Internet, their friends, from magazines -- that we don't know how many people have access to it." Although the Indian government has funded this open source initiative, overall it has a neutral policy to open source, according to a recent ZDNet UK article looking at open source in the Indian government.

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[Fwd: [BOAI] More than 20% growth in Eprints Archives]
by V. Sasi Kumar 21 Nov '05

21 Nov '05

Free software dominates the Open Access Institutional Rpository software scene. With apologies for cross posting -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Stevan Harnad <harnad(a)ecs.soton.ac.uk> Reply-To: BOAI Forum <boai-forum(a)ecs.soton.ac.uk> To: jisc-development(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: [BOAI] More than 20% growth in Eprints Archives Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 17:06:21 +0000 (GMT) ** Apologies for Cross Posting ** ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 10:43:44 -0500 From: Timothy Miles-Board <tmb AT ecs soton ac uk> Reply-To: American Scientist Open Access Forum <AMERICAN-SCIENTIST-OPEN-ACCESS-FORUM(a)LISTSERVER.SIGMAXI.ORG> 20% GROWTH IN EPRINTS ARCHIVES The free GNU Eprints.org software is the first Open Access Institutional Rpository software, and the most widely used worldwide. The number of EPrints-based archives now stands at 195, an increase of 22% from the 160 in existence 2 months ago. A list of the new sites is provided at the end of this email. http://archives.eprints.org/eprints.php?action=browse#version Eprints is continuously upgraded in accordance with the expressed needs of the worldwide EPrints user community - the longest-standing usership of any archive software - as well as the evolving needs of the even larger global Open Access community. Recent features include: - RSS feeds of latest research outputs from individuals, groups and institutions - HTTPS support - Default metadata set designed by librarians - Custom search forms - Maximises Open Access (OAI is enabled by default and automatically configured) and is designed to support Google searching - Generate HTML bibliography fragments for including up-to-date publication lists on web pages and portals - Easy mechanisms for research reporting Upcoming features: - Output plugins (BibTex, XML etc.) - Customisable submission workflow - Support for Research Assessment processes http://irra.eprints.org/ Core features: - Stand alone, out of the box - Host multiple archives on one physical server - Designed by researchers (who understand the tasks, OA needs and motivations of researchers) - Email alerts - Scripting API - Comprehensive customisation - Multi-language support Download EPrints for free from http://www.eprints.org/software/ LAUNCH OF EPRINTS SERVICES In order to help sustain the continued growth of EPrints in the future, a new initiative, EPrints Services, has been launched. http://www.eprints.org/services/ EPrints Services offers: * Training for librarians, managers and technical personnel (next event: 18th-20th January 2006) http://www.eprints.org/services/training/ * Advice on OA and IR policy matters The institutional policy created by the EPrints team is recommended by the UK Select Committee, Berlin 3, and Research Councils UK. * Hosting and maintenance * Technical Support * Customisation and bespoke development ALL revenue generated by EPrints Services is being used to fund the continued development of EPrints as a free resource for all. Timothy Miles-Board EPrints Services University of Southampton, UK http://www.eprints.org/services/ ASSC publications (other) http://eprints.assc.caltech.edu/ Caltech Archives Finding Aids Online (institutional) http://findingaids.library.caltech.edu/ Caltech CODA Binary Large Objects and Supplements (institutional) http://caltechblob.library.caltech.edu/ D-Drive Document Server (institutional) http://locutus.cs.dal.ca:8088/ Dryden Technical Reports Server (institutional) http://dtrs.dfrc.nasa.gov/ e-archive - part of elearning tools (other) http://inca03.rz.fh-offenburg.de/ eBooks der ULB Darmstadt (other) http://ebooks.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/ Engineering and Science Online (institutional) http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/ ePrints@ADE (subject) http://ardb4.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/ Epsilon Test and Demo Archive (demonstration) http://test-epsilon.slu.se/ Examensarbeten Högskolan Kristianstad (theses) http://eprints.bibl.hkr.se/ HTP Prints - Welcome to the History & Theory of Psychology Eprint Archive (institutional) http://eprints.yorku.ca/ ICTP Open Access Archive (subject) http://eprints.ictp.it/ Iowa Publications Online (other) http://publications.iowa.gov/ ISU Electrical and Computer Engineering Archives (institutional) http://archives.ece.iastate.edu/ Lancaster E-Prints (institutional) http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/ Marine & Ocean Sciences ePrints @ Plymouth (subject) http://sabella.mba.ac.uk/ Mathematics in Industry (subject) http://www.maths-in-industry.org/ MuLF Eprints: Berlin Centre for Multimedia in Education and Research (other) http://prints.mulf.tu-berlin.de/ National University of Singapore Library (institutional) http://etd.nus.edu.sg/ Sidewalk Repository (other) http://sipubs.dlib.vt.edu:9090/ Swedish Institute of Computer Science Publications Database (institutional) http://eprints.sics.se/ The Atlantic Canada Portal E-Print Repository (subject) http://atlanticportal.hil.unb.ca:8000/ TrustSoft Publications (other) http://trustsoft.uni-oldenburg.de:19080/ University of Birmingham: ePapers (institutional) http://www.epapers.bham.ac.uk/ University of Birmingham: eTheses (theses) http://www.etheses.bham.ac.uk/ University of Pittsburgh Minority Health Archive (institutional) http://minority-health.pitt.edu/ University of Pittsburgh: Clinical Aphasiology (institutional) http://aphasiology.pitt.edu/ University of Portsmouth Eprints Archive (institutional) http://eprints.libr.port.ac.uk/ University of Sheffield: Department of Computer Science Archive (institutional) http://publications.dcs.shef.ac.uk/ University of Strathclyde (institutional) http://strathprints.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/ Verkehrsmodelle (other) http://modelle.clearingstelle-verkehr.de/ Virginia Tech Digital Library Research Laboratory Publications (institutional) http://pubs.dlib.vt.edu:9090/ Weburb Brief (other) http://papers.weburb.org/ http://brief.weburb.dk/ -- V. Sasi Kumar Atmospheric Sciences Division Centre for Earth Science Studies PB No. 7250, Thuruvikkal PO Thiruvananthapuram 695031, India -- V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf(a)gmail.com> Free Software Foundation of India

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Fsf-friends November 2005