Fsf-friends November 2008

fsf-friends@gnu.org.in

47 participants
72 discussions

Free software is the future. The Future is ours.
by justin joseph 24 Nov '08

24 Nov '08

In the nationanl conference on Free Software at cochin, Slum dweller had put up a stall with Mani's paintings: http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/23/stories/2008112354831000.htm However the report mentions "Open Source". But slum dweller is a Free Software person and understands: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html Yesterday we had a discussion, "are we getting more publicity than we deserve". However it has helped, that is important to inspire youths nearby slums to start such computer centers using Free Software. Though the center itself has a very long way to go and Mani's Free Software paintings are worth the publicity.

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Re: [Fsf-friends] FSFS.in will have a larger controversy
by Mani A 23 Nov '08

23 Nov '08

On Sun, Nov 23, 2008 at 9:55 AM, V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> remain transparent. Corporate bodies can never really be trusted. The >> intent of some 'document freedom camps' for example, are suspect. > You mean, the donor should have some obligations? I thought you meant > that the acceptor should have obligations. But even saying that the I mean the acceptor should have obligations. The specific additional terms agreed to by the parties should be stated. It should be for interested people in the community to try something ... in case of any apparent irregularities. The purpose is to strengthen the free software movements. Hopefully it will help different groups to improve their resources. Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc

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Draft letter to VTU VC - Say NO to vendor lock-in in education
by Vikram Vincent 23 Nov '08

23 Nov '08

http://bangalore.gnu.org.in/index.php/SayNOToVendorLockInInEducation -- Vikram Vincent +919448810822 http://swatantra.org/

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Re: [Fsf-friends] FSFS.in will have a larger controversy
by Mani A 22 Nov '08

22 Nov '08

On Sat, Nov 22, 2008 at 9:42 PM, V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> My point is that the act of accepting donations should have legal >> obligations associated. > > Why should there be legal obligations associated? There will usually be Ultimately the community has to trust a few at any given point of time. So it makes lot of sense. Moreover the whole process would remain transparent. Corporate bodies can never really be trusted. The intent of some 'document freedom camps' for example, are suspect. Best A. Mani -- A. Mani Member, Cal. Math. Soc

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FSFS.in will have a larger controversy
by CK Raju 22 Nov '08

22 Nov '08

"At times, Sun is to Microsoft what Novell is to Microsoft." Looks like a perfect recipe for another round of international controversy at FSFS.in I'm busy re-loading ammunition.... CK Raju

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Fwd: [FSUG-Bangalore] Blog post on National Conference & Boycott Novell Protest (PART- 3)
by jinesh kj 22 Nov '08

22 Nov '08

Vikram Vincent, very nicely written. It is very tough to read as parts, Better post to some blog and provide link. That will help in reading everything as one(hope you got me no offence). I just saw a good comment on Anivar's blog by Dr. P. Madhu. He talks about freedom, i felt it interesting. Freedom is not a favour we receive. It is our right. CUSAT "allowing" expression of freedom is ridiculous! "Freedom" itself is protest against "unfreedom". It is a frontal attack on unfreedom. Free software movement is a protest movement! That is the way it should be. Unfreedom should be opposed. Emotionally charged protests against unfreedom is nowhere inferior to any other forms of protest. When one invests one's self for anything there will be emotion. The vandalism unleashed by the undeserving "Doctors" of CUSAT only reminds the Bush Administration's doctored version of freedom. Bush Administrationwas fighting for the hegemony of oil companies he was representing. Bhasi and his allies were representing NOVELL! Forcing unfreedom in the guise of freedom is a rogue activity. Protest against such a rogue sabotage is ethical response to it. Freedom is not allotted to any one! It has to be grabbed. Why to lament on comments coming against India! A patriotic Bullshit! Unfreedom whether comes through backdoor or front door those who defend freedom have to stop it. Freedom and unfreedom cannot co-exist. Someone was writing about conspiracy. Conspiracy did not come from protesters. It is very much there. Micronovell IS a conspiracy. In a world of unfreedom, fight against it cannot be other than "rash," "impolite," and "democratic" ( what is democracy for Mr.Joseph Thomas?). Nothing unfortunate happened. Something that deserves protest is protested. The protest should continue. Indeed it should gain more force and vigour. Have RMS a say on this issue. That should bring some wisdom to the doctor and his allies like Joseph! The reconciliation Joseph describes reminds me of Stalin-Hitler reconciliation pack! Poor win-winners! Dr.P.Madhu He might differ from your view on many things, but it is better to read through what he talks about freedom, it extends beyond software. Jinesh K J -- My Feelings,Expressions- http://logbookofanobserver.blogspot.com My scribblings- http://logbookofanobserver.wordpress.com SMC : My computer, My language http://smc.org.in സ്വതന്ത്ര മലയാളം കമ്പ്യൂട്ടിങ്ങ്, എന്റെ കമ്പ്യൂട്ടറിന് എന്റെ ഭാഷ

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Mission Mode Project
by CK Raju 22 Nov '08

22 Nov '08

"Through 26 Mission Mode Projects and 8 support components that are estimated to cost over Rs. 23,000 crores over the next 5 years. Major Governmentdevelopmen t programs like NREG scheme will be implemented on an e-governance format. S tates have the flexibility to add up to 5 state-specific projects. The entire effort involves 500 implementation agencies, 2 lakh sites and an estimated 70,000 man-years of effort." Details at http://www.indg.in/e-governance/egov-missionproject/view?set_language=en ========== "Requirements for Customization in the CIPA Software Core, and the additional Local Development, are being discussed with States viz. Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh; and being incorporated/developed." [The link says hardware already delivered for Kerala Police.] Details at http://www.mit.gov.in/default.aspx?id=870 ========== In the "Implementation Guidelines, 2007", "ANNEXURE VI – FUNDING PLAN, it says 50% of System Software would be paid in 9th month and remaining 50% in the 12th month after commencement of the project. Interestingly it also says RDBMS should be SQL 2003 compliant - which Microsoft and Oracle "claims" (who is the authority - they themselves, who else) they are. ========== Thus, in Kerala we are seeing the beginning of another major successful move, possibly initiated by proprietary software corporates - and Kerala Police being made the first victims, if that be the case. The Government IT consultants here should abandon such gross criminal intents, at least for the sake of future generations here. Kerala Police has a fairly umblemished record in administrative matters. Can IT secretarial office of Govt of Kerala shed some light ? CK Raju

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Update 2 on my Blog post: Congrats From RMS
by Anivar Aravind 21 Nov '08

21 Nov '08

Updated the blog post http://anivar.movingrepublic.org/2008/national-free-software-conference-boy… 1. Mail From RMS ============== I received a mail from RMS (Richard Mathew Stallman) , the founder of Free Software movement. He says First of all, congratulations on being the first free software activist to be physically attacked for a peaceful protest. This means our movement is gaining in stature ;-). He also commented about our campaign strategy ANIVAR> Most of the participants in the Conference were newbies and Novell is ANIVAR> the only GNU/Linux distro widely promoted in the exhibition. Our ANIVAR> protest is not targeted at Organizers or Novell. It was just a way to ANIVAR> spread awareness on Novell's evil trends through the posters to ANIVAR> prevent Novell's misguiding new users That's the right way to approach it. 2. ILUG Cochin's Event Report ==================== ILUG Cochin Released an Event Report about the event. The event Report says The series of events that happened was bad in terms of the organizers taking an unnecessary tough stand on the matter and not lending an ear to the actual facts. We were happy to raise our voice and protest with the Free Software community opposing the likes of forces like Novell. Indeed it was good to see a resistance in a programme of such magnitude like the National Conference. Although there is no doubt to the fact that the conference did its job, bringing people from all walks of life and ILUG Cochin did the job telling people the principles behind it, the opposition against Novell has also increased the significance and importance of the event thereby bringing about a lot of questions into the community which would not have been raised otherwise. 3. SMC's Statement ============= <snip> Members from SMC were part of the Programme Committee and the Souvenir Committee. There were no indication that Novell was the platinum sponsor of this Free Software Event. The organisers never communicated about the sponsorship and thus betrayed the whole Free Software community as Novell did. This is evident from the incidents that occurred after the peaceful campaign to boycott Novell by the SMC members & other Free Software Supporters present at the meeting. </snip> <snip> SMC takes this opportunity to deeply condemn the organisers decision to include Novell into the Free Software event. SMC urges the organisers of the event to aplogize to the community on this dreadful alliance with the notorious Novell Corporation and the way the organisers treated Free Software Campaigners. </snip> Also Read Comments http://anivar.movingrepublic.org/2008/national-free-software-conference-boy… Anivar Aravind -- Any responsible politician should be encouraging a home grown Free Software industry because it creates the basis for future jobs. Learning Windows is like learning to eat every meal at McDonalds.

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Re: [Fsf-friends] FSFS.in will have a larger controversy
by CK Raju 21 Nov '08

21 Nov '08

On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 3:30 PM, Nagarjuna G. <nagarjun(a)gnowledge.org>wrote: > Therefore, if we do not mend our behavior or change our standpoint > according to who is supporting the movement (like an opportunist), we > are on the right path. > I thought of sending across this Cliff Richard's lines to Sun Microsystems. When I was young my father said "Sun I have something to say" And what he told me I'll never forget until my dyin' day. He said "Sun you are a bachelor boy and that's the way to stay. Sun, you be a bachelor boy until your dyin' day" Cheers, CK Raju

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Report & Decisions of Community Meeting (20-11-2008) on FSFS exhibition
by Anoop Jacob Thomas 21 Nov '08

21 Nov '08

Hello Friends, We had a Free Software Community meeting at Space Office, Trivandrum. The community has a special privilege of having few stalls in the upcoming conference(FSFS). The agenda of the meeting was to divide the stalls among the participating Free Software communities. The following people took part in the meeting, I doubt if I have left anyone, if so please update me. Ashik Salahudeen, Ranjith S Kumar, Anoop Jacob Thomas(myself), Saral, Mani, Cherry, Joju Joshua, Anoop S, Vimal Joseph, James P Mathews, Adhap, Rajiv S. R, Akhil Sasidharan We have decided to divide the stalls as themes. And 10 themes have been decided. 1. Why Free Software (why anyone should be using Free Software) 2. Install Fest (GNU/Linux install fest) 3. Repository Counter (Distros, distro repos, applications, games etc) 4. Copylefted Materials Counter (Printed copylefted articles) 5. SMC (Swathanthra Malayalam Computing) 6. Developing in Free Software (IDEs,Linux Kernel and device driver programming, Embedded Systems), 7. General Applications (GIMP, Blender, Openoffice.org, etc), 8. Scientific Computing (Scilab, Mayavi, Octave, Stellarium, Marble etc), 9. More Free Operating Systems (showing GNU/Hurd, React OS,OpenSolaris etc,for information to the student community as they can help further in development) 10. Fosstronics (Fedora electronics lab, Open Hardware etc) The main aim of the public event at Kanakakunnu(exhibition) is to educate the public. So we must be providing informative materials also. We need volunteers for this effort. We will be having a poster exhibition at Kanakakunnu Palace, we need posters for that purpose and few people have shown interest in creating posters. Others if not able to meet us personally need not worry, you can send the posters to my email id and also post it in the group. Eventhough themes have been decided we have not split up the themes among the communities. Members please throw in your ideas as to what all can be showcased among the 10 themes. So friends all of you can be a part of this Mega Event, you can take up any of the above themes. We can add more applications to theme 7 (general applications) if needed. And if anyone is ready to take a seminar on any topic related to Free Software please contact us. In Why Free Software, Install Fest and Repository Counters we wish to give out fliers(notice) which will contain neccesary information about Free Software, Contact Information of volunteers who can assist in installation, Equivalent Softwares etc. The copylefted articles counter will give information about Wikipedia. Printed copylefted articles will be showcased and we will be giving out a compilation of copylefted articles on CD or USB. SMC will assist a common man on all queries regarding Malayalam Computing. We can give notices so that people will be provided with a reference material. Developing in Free Software will showcase the IDEs like eclipse, anjuta etc. Linux Kernel and device driver programming will also be demonstrated. So infact we need volunteers who can take up each activity in the stalls. Communities please come up with your ideas. Those who have not joined FSFS-discuss please join the mailing list and be a part of the event. http://www.fsfs.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsfs-discuss Friends please post information about the conference in all communities you know and pass it to all you friends and family members. Anyone can contact me for information and suggestions. Please call me only on or after the 26th of Nov(as roaming incoming charges are high [:(]), but you can mail me. -- Anoop Jacob Thomas Mobile: 9846670945 Email: anoopjt(a)gmail.com Join: http://www.fsfs.in/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fsfs-discuss

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Fsf-friends November 2008