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3393 discussions

educational software for children--townplanning
by Kush 28 Jul '06

28 Jul '06

Hi all, Nowadays a lot of kids of middle class, upper middle class and rich sections of society play video/computer games which have a lot of violence etc in them. These games are generally expensive and very addictive plus they make children self centered and unable to think of working in a team or group. (sense of getting inputs from the community is not there as collaboration is not a part of the game) Lincity (or similar games) could be a way to motivate a child to the profession of town planning which is a very specialised job right now and in the hands of an elite few leading to a lot of lost inputs from the general populace. The mess in urban areas is a result of too few fossilised thinkers at the top who have a lot of power but paucity of ideas. Once children are introduced to such games which call for inputs from others (maybe at a later stage) and once such games become commonplace, more and more people will start participating in town and country planning processes far more easily than at present. I hope ngos and software developers can both think of such better ways to educate the newer generation and take away the dread of a specialised occupation by building even better games and user interfaces. Such games taken at a young stage could easily launch a child into a career and give them a headstart. Parents would also like to see children doing something constructive even while playing computer games. Besides several offshoots of such games can take place such as easily designing a place of residence etc (profession of architect, civil engineer, structural engineer, interior designer, landscape artist, GIS planners etc etc) There is a lot of scope in this idea for people in the game/educational software business. Kush -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Fsf-friends] city planning--application software Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 16:34:14 -0400 From: Kush <be_a_sport(a)rogers.com> Reply-To: Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in> To: Principal Support List of FSF-India <fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in> CC: Anil Laul <anillaul(a)vsnl.com>, karmayog <karmayog(a)yahoogroups.com> Hi all, Is there any site which rates open source application softwares in various categories? e.g. I was trying to find applications under town planning etc and I found only one working application software which has not been improved after 2004 or so.(looks like the development has stopped) The application is known as http://lincity.sourceforge.net/ and after playing it in ubuntu one can see it is entry level and not like the commercial simcity game. Still town planning is a very specialised occupation and it will become increasingly relevant as more and more parts of India get urbanised. Allowing such FREE tools in the hands of youngsters and the youth will only lead to better plans, debates, creativity and decision making as town planning impacts so many areas for a better quality of life. Its time we start thinking strategically on key applications such as these to make India and the world a better place. Maybe then such imaginative scenarios can be added to real gis maps etc. http://www.freemap.in/ is an effort in that direction (for the city of mumbai) but it leaves much to be desired as the data used is faulty or outdated. Kush _______________________________________________ Fsf-friends mailing list Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends

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Second Discussion Draft of Revised GPL Released
by James Mathew 28 Jul '06

28 Jul '06

Six-Month International Review Process Leads to Revisions and Clarifications BOSTON and NEW YORK, July 27, 2006 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) today have released the second discussion draft of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 (GPLv3). This new draft marks the middle of a year-long public review process designed to evaluate proposed changes and to finalize a new version of the GPL. The GNU GPL is the most widely used free software license worldwide: almost three quarters of all free software programs (also known as "Free/Libre and Open Source Software", or FLOSS) are distributed under this license. Since the GPL's last revision more than 15 years ago, free software development, distribution, and use have changed tremendously. Since the release of the initial GPLv3 discussion draft in January, members of the free software community have submitted nearly one thousand suggestions for improvement. Many have continued the discussion at international GPLv3 conferences held in the United States, Brazil, and Spain. With the help of discussion committees, the Free Software Foundation and the Software Freedom Law Center have considered all the issues raised by public comments. The new draft of GPLv3 contains extensive revisions in light of these comments. "We have considered each suggestion with care," said Eben Moglen, founder and Chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center, which represents various free software projects and is assisting FSF in revising the new license. "By listening to people from around the world, we are working toward a license that acts consistently in many different legal systems and in a variety of situations." "The primary purpose of the GNU GPL is to preserve users' freedom to use, share, and modify free software," said Richard Stallman, founder of FSF and original author of the GPL. "We depend on public review to make the GPL do this job reliably." About the Revisions The new draft clarifies that the license only directly restricts DRM in the special case in which it is used to prevent people from sharing or modifying GPLv3-covered software. The clarified DRM section preserves the spirit of the original GPL, which forbids adding additional unfree restrictions to free software. GPLv3 does not prohibit the implementation of DRM features, but prevents them from being imposed on users in a way that they cannot remove. Other significant revisions in the new draft include a reworked license compatibility section, and provisions that specifically allow GPL-covered programs to be distributed on certain file sharing networks such as BitTorrent. Additionally, this release includes the first draft of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 3. The LGPL license covers many free software system libraries, including some published by the Free Software Foundation. The text of the new GPL and LGPL drafts can be found on the web at <http://gplv3.fsf.org/>. The site also includes audio commentary from Eben Moglen; a rationale document which describes the changes to the new draft; and further information about the GPLv3 revision process. As with the first draft, community members are encouraged to submit comments online at gplv3.fsf.org. Throughout the remainder of the process, there will continue to be international GPLv3 discussion conferences, including one next month in Bangalore, India. A third discussion draft of GPLv3 is expected to be released this fall, and the final version will be released between January and March of 2007. "Last November, we published a document which outlined the process for drafting the new GPL," said Eben Moglen, chair of SFLC. "As of now, we are still on schedule for a final release in early 2007." -- HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!

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re: rating open source softwares
by Kush 26 Jul '06

26 Jul '06

came across this link too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_revision_control_software

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GPLv3 community in orkut
by प्रव ीण् ए (Praveen A) 25 Jul '06

25 Jul '06

http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=17659738 -- "Value your freedom, or you will lose it, teaches history. `Don't bother us with politics', respond those who don't want to learn." -- Richard Stallman Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr

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asterisk users group in India
by Kush 23 Jul '06

23 Jul '06

Hi, http://asterisk.pbx.in/ (got this address from taug.ca) Its very strange to see the archives of the so called asterisk users group of India started in april 2005. Most of the archived messages are from non-indians and the jun archive is missing. It was quite a pleasant surprise to know that asterisk was known to the tech savvy among us since the group started around Apr 2005 according to what i can make of the archives but the messages show another story. Kush

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SELF project at HBCSE, TIFR
by Nagarjuna G. 22 Jul '06

22 Jul '06

The forwarded mail informs about the project that HBCSE, TIFR will be part of in promoting free software and generating documentation. If free software hackers are intersted in joining the team please send me a mail off the list, with a note saying in what way can you contribute. The link http://www.selfproject.eu/ and http://www.selfproject.eu/kickoff provides more info. Nagarjuna ----- Forwarded message from Wouter Tebbens <w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl> ----- > Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:10:35 +0200 > From: Wouter Tebbens <w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl> > Subject: [Self-l] Completely booked SELF Conference in The Hague (10 july) > To: SELF mailinglist <self-l(a)selfplatform.org> > Reply-To: w.tebbens(a)staff.isoc.nl, > General SELF mailinglist <self-l(a)selfplatform.org> > Organization: ISOC-SELF > User-Agent: KMail/1.9.1 > > Many of you have been there on this very inspiring first SELF Conference and > kick-off of the project. For those of you who have missed it, find here a > short summary, and links to presentations on the website: > > http://www.selfproject.eu/kickoff > > On Monday the 10th of July Internet Society Netherlands organised in The Hague > a completely booked conference about Free Software and education and how the > creation of open content revolutionizes our societies. Vice-mayor of the City > of The Hague, Frits Huffnagel opened the day with an inspiring speech about > the need for innovation through the use of Free Software > > Speakers were amongst others: > > * Jan Willem Broekema (OSOSS) > > * dr. Nagarjuna G. > (project leader Knowledge platforms Homi Bhabha Center for Science > Education, India) > > * Georg Greve (president FSF Europe, Germany) > > See his bio or download presentation PDF > * Mathias Klang (project leader Creative Commons Sweden) > > * David Megias (coordinator Master Free Software UOC, Spain) > > * Wouter Tebbens (Internet Society Nederland, project leader SELF) > > Besides there were panel discussions with national and international experts, > like prof. dr. Paul Klint (CWI), drs. Marja Verstelle (Leiden University), > Joep van Nieuwstadt (Exin), Jonas ?berg (Free Software Foundation Europe), > Martijn Verver (VPRO New Media), Thijs Chanowski, Michael van Wetering > (KennisNet), Leo Besemer (ECDL), Tom Dousma (SURF) and prof. Kees Stuurman > (University of Tilburg). > > The event marked at the same time the official launch of the ambitious SELF > project that will setup an international platform for educational and > training material about Free Software and Open Standards with the financial > support from the European Commission. > > The focus of the platform is on material about Free Software and knowledge > creation about open standards. ISOC.nl leads the international consortium > with strong partners from the rest of Europe (amongst which some universities > and the Free Software Foundation Europe), India and Argentina. S.E.L.F. > stands for Science, Education and Learning in Freedom. > > This first SELF Conference was supported by the Open Source agency from the > Dutch goverment, Programme OSOSS, the city of The Hague and the European > Commission. > > _______________________________________________ > Self-l mailing list > Self-l(a)selfplatform.org > http://mail.selfplatform.org/mailman/listinfo/self-l_selfplatform.org ----- End forwarded message -----

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fsf must rate and talk about application softwares too
by Kush 19 Jul '06

19 Jul '06

Hi all, Right now it is easy to always go to sites which provide certain kinds of application softwares but in the real world people need collaborative softwares. I think the business world is using propreitary applications for distributed work and we don't have sites which give any ratings for such softwares from the open source world. I am talking of the virtual private network applications or CRM or CMS or wiki type softwares where lay people can really collaborate in an office or group setting. We have no rating mechanisms to judge which features are better among a group of softwares. Typically people are interested in knowing 1 whether moin moin is better than (and in what ways) mediawiki or zwiki etc etc in the field of wiki softwares. (I came across Moin moin accidentally thru the dapper ubuntu cd which features it in the opencd.org project.) or whether egroupware is better than other softwares in the same line? (groupware substitutes for lotus notes etc) or whether joomla is comparable to drupal or mambo etc etc in features" (cms applications) or whether openoffice's base application (database) is any good and if there are alternatives available in the open source world at present which can take on msaccess? (or a workaround with a mysql application for ms access) or how does freegis compare with postgis and maxdb etc gis application softwares ? (in the gis world of open source software) or whether ruby on rails will soon outpace python, perl and php in web based application development? (though perl, php, python each have a HUGe body of historical strength) Or whether eclipse is better than kdevelop(c++) or anjuta or bluefish or boa constructor(python or delphi/pascal) or other IDEs? (when newbies have to develop open source softwares) or the merits/demerits of IDE tools which are linked to version control system tools like cvs or subversion etc etc--which are the best tools in version control according to various features/parameters or whether there are better tools than argo UML (poseidon is propreitary) in the field of application development software in terms of high level requirements specifications software and automatic generation of software tools or what are the strengths vs weaknesses in short form and dispassionately analysed etc without advertising jargon. I don't know any place where such information can be easily read and found. and these are the things which really matter for laymen to come to speed in the adoption of open source software in India. Sourceforge.net earlier used to give a maturity rating (development status) for an application but it does not do so now. Even earlier the application software results could never be ordered by the development status (except for paid customers of sourceforge) It would be great if fsfindia or somebody could enhance the work of sourceforge by having some ratings and categorisation of key application development tools/catalysts. Thanks Kush

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Re: [Fsf-friends] Indian governments blocking blogspot, geocities, and other sites.
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 19 Jul '06

19 Jul '06

Die hard bloggers may try http://www.pkblogs.com/

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Indian governments blocking blogspot, geocities, and other sites.
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 18 Jul '06

18 Jul '06

Hi, http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/06/07/17/1732209.shtml http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/17blog.htm http://jace.seacrow.com/ Having gone through all the above sites, it seems that the dividing line between the Indian and Chinese governments has gone down by a level. My knowledge about the issue is restricted to these sites and IRC channels on freenode.net, so I would not make further comments. However it seems that Indian Express is covering the issue, and there has been a coverage on certain news channels. Regards, Debarshi

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The Value of Free Software
by प्रव ीण् ए (Praveen A) 17 Jul '06

17 Jul '06

The Value of Free Software Evolution's usefulness has long been hampered by the lack of a single feature. Because it is free software, one organization knew the feature could be added, either by themselves, or by paying someone to do it for them. Find out what they did, why and how they did it, and how you can get the patch for yourself. http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/64720/index.html Regards Praveen PS: Most people think the freedom to change the software is not useful to them if they don't know programming, this is an excellent example why Free Software is better than proprietary software. see Shreyas' post about it http://blogs.gnome.org/view/shres/2006/07/12/0 -- "Value your freedom, or you will lose it, teaches history. `Don't bother us with politics', respond those who don't want to learn." -- Richard Stallman Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr

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