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Free Software Foundation of India announces Associate Fellowships
by Baishampayan Ghose 11 Feb '06

11 Feb '06

Hello Freedom Lovers! I am very glad to announce that the Free Software Foundation of India (FSF-I) has started offering associate fellowships to organisations and individuals. This with the primary aim of collecting funds for its operations. The money thus collected will be utilised for running expenses of the FSF-I and to achieve the objectives for which it was established. The fellowship also offers some benefits to the fellows such as FSF-I merchandise and discount on its publications. The FSF-I has obtained 80G status under the Income Tax Act under which all donations will get a 50% Income Tax exemption. We invite you to become a fellow of the FSF-I and show your support for the Free Software Movement in India and beyond. More details about the fellowships can be had from http://www.gnu.org.in/fellowship/ or you can mail us directly at fellowship AT gnu.org.in Regards, Baishampayan -- Baishampayan Ghose Free Software Foundation of India b.ghose at gnu.org.in

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(no subject)
by Mishi Choudhary 11 Feb '06

11 Feb '06

hello everyone some of you might remember me from the basic questions and queries i keep shooting your way.i am a lawyer practising at thedelhi high court and supreme court of india and wish to introduce the concept of free and open software to the legal community in northern india.i am aware that most of you learned ppl are based in the southern part of the country which is also the geek hub,the northern india especially the legal community is unaware ofthe same despite the kinda conferences being organised as linux asia which wound up today only.considering the growth of free software ,the day is not far when all developers would need legal advise to avoid any hassles in their creative work.in view of the same i as a member of the delhi bar association wish to organise a conference on the same and request your contribution in terms of ideas,participation anything and everything .kindly give it a thought and consider my proposal Warm Regards Mishi Choudhary

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Belenix... the crafted-in-Bangalore (partly) OS
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 10 Feb '06

10 Feb '06

Have you read of Belenix, which DeveloperIQ (January 2006) calls the "latest Open Source software product from India". Description: "Belenix OPenSolaris has been built with the enterprise customer in mind. Closer to FreeBSD than [GNU]Linux, it is the more advanced of the lot. The code base has evolved over decades!" S Ramdas, former editor of DeveloperIQ (whom some of us met at FOSS.in 2005) met with some members of the Belenix team to chat on the project and associated technologies. He spoke to lead developer Moinak Gosh, Sriram Popuri and Venkata Kishore... all of whom work with Sun Microsystems. -- ------------------------------------------------------------- | India Linux Users' Group, Goa | | Join the friendly user group | | Mail list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa/join | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teach-yourself-linux | | http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ilug-goa-announce | | http://www.iosn.net/country/india/organizations/ilug-goa/ | ------------------------------------------------------------- , , / \ .-. * SOFTWARE ((__-^^-,-^^-__)) (. .) * FREEDOM `-_---' `---_-' / V \ * SHARING `--|o` 'o|--' // \\ \ ` / /( )\ KNOWLEDGE IS POWER ): :( '.^^_^^.' SHARE IT EQUITABLY :o_o: \_/ \_/ "-"

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Metting today 5.30 to discuss Dollar One Encyclopedia
by प्रव ीण् ए (Praveen A) 09 Feb '06

09 Feb '06

Hi, We will have a quick discussion on details of the wikipedia on CD effort ( http://www.techmag.biz/dollar_one_encyclopedia ) today 6.30 pm at Coffee World, 17th Main Road, Koramangala (Near Canara Bank junction). Looking forward to meeting you Cheers Praveen A PS: The discussion happened on the FOSS EDU mailing list can be accessed at http://lists.wikicities.com/pipermail/fci-l/2006-February/000073.html The discussion thread : http://lists.wikicities.com/pipermail/fci-l/2006-February/thread.html -- "GNU is the system, and Linux is the kernel." A proud GNU user http://www.gnu.org Me scribbles at http://www.pravi.co.nr

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[Free/Libre and] Open-Source Approach Works to Find Stem Cell Fabrications
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 08 Feb '06

08 Feb '06

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200602/kt2006020616301311780.htm Linux, Hwang Woo-suk and Lies Open-Source Approach Works to Find Stem Cell Fabrications By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter Shown above is a captured picture of the Web site of the Biological Research Information Center. The site played a pivotal role in finding out stem cell paper fabrications by cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk. Linux, the open-source software, seems to have nothing to do with South Korea’s disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk, at least at a glance. Yet, a professor points out the fall of Hwang’s once-hailed saga on cloned stem cells does relate to the spirit of Linux -- to improve something using the teamwork of anonymous people. "Look at the process of how Hwang’s purported medical exploits on stem cells proved to be lies. Then you can taste the spirit of Linux," Prof. Min Kyung-bae at Kyung Hee Cyber University said. "Just as glitches in Linux continue to be fixed by developers from across the world because its underlying sources are open, Korea’s young scientists collaborated to discredit Hwang," he said. Indeed, a group of young scientists who casually visited the Web site of the state-backed Biological Research Information Center (BRIC), at bric.postech.ac.kr, played a pivotal role in detecting Hwang’s fakes. A woman fidgets in her bag before getting off the subway without clearing poop of her pet. After this photo was revealed through the Internet last year, she became the target of nationwide criticism. When the public was leaning toward allowing Hwang to prove the veracity of his team’s stem cell research last December, they changed the tide by pinpointing how Hwang doctored data. Their findings prompted Seoul National University (SNU), where Hwang worked, to get to the bottom of "Hwanggate," and SNU finally concluded most of Hwang’s purported exploits were hoaxes. Likewise, Linux, a free and open-source software first developed by Finnish university student Linus Torvals, is the result of numerous people’s efforts. Unlike such disclosed-source operating systems as Microsoft Windows, the source codes of Linux are available to the public and anyone can freely use, modify and redistribute it. Programmers upgrade Linux seamlessly to improve it. Such worldwide collaboration empowers Linux, which now poses a genuine threat to the thus-far dominant Microsoft Windows. "Both cases amply demonstrate that collective intelligence always scores a victory over monopolistic players, such as Microsoft or Hwang," Min said. "That might not be true in the short run. But over the long haul, I firmly believe the power of conscious folks overwhelms power ruled by a handful of secrecy-obsessed inner circle members," he said. Linux-Like Culture & Fall of Stem Cell Myth In Feb. 2004, Hwang dramatically lionized himself by announcing he and his crew had cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells from them in an article in the U.S.-based journal Science. He strengthened his reputation last May with a highly touted follow-up paper, which was also printed by Science, on tailor-made stem cells. The 53-year-old claimed that his team had established a total of 11 stem cells of somatic cells of as many patients suffering from incurable diseases or inabilities. The customized stem cells were expected to open the door to so-called "cell therapy." The cells, when transplanted, are supposed to retain an ability to become any type of cell in the human body. The off-the-rack cells especially draw attention because they were believed not to trigger immune responses in transplantation since they were cloned from patients themselves. However, the Hwang’s star fell as abruptly as it rose: the SNU professor was found to have fabricated data for the papers. Linux Penguin An investigative panel at SNU concluded that Hwang’s team never created cloned embryonic stem cells, and a police investigation is now underway. A local TV network, MBC, initially raised suspicions on the veracity of Hwang’s works late last year but the allegation was on the verge of being discarded due to controversies over the broadcaster’s inappropriate way of collecting data regarding Hwang. MBC was revealed to have threatened some of Hwang's underlings and that drew the ire of many Korean citizens, who lashed out at the TV station and asked them to stop investigating the legitimacy of the stem cell papers. At the time, the BRIC site surfaced and anonymous writers voluntarily subjected the photos documented in Hwang’s Science papers to microscopic scrutiny. A pair of frequenters at the site posted a message saying the Science pictures seemed to be fabricated, and others confirmed the suspicion by showing how the they were cooked. Their allegations were backed with material evidence and gained a broad-based acknowledgement. SNU finally launched probes into the case to eventually uncovered the fakes. "A number of Korea’s no-name scientists did what even keen-eyed referees at the illustrious Science journal could not do during the review process. It amply demonstrates the powers of collaboration and Korea’s Linux-type Internet culture," Min said. Negative Aspect of Korean Internet Culture Although Koreans could detect Hwang’s misconduct through the collective intelligence coupled with its unique Internet culture, some observers say this could be problematic. "Korea's boisterous Internet culture can end up as cyber terrorism at any time because the country’s awareness of ethics falls short of its technical reputation," Prof. Lee Su-jin at Kookmin University said. "Let me take an example. See the so-called dog excrement girl who became the target of an Internet witch-hunt due to a really minor reason," she said. Last year, a woman got off a subway car without cleaning up her pet's poop. Then her photograph was posted on the Web, and netizens relentlessly attacked the girl, turning the event into a kind of nation-wide cyber lynching. She might not be able to lead a normal life afterwards since some netizens revealed her name, age and school, usually under the veil of anonymity. The incident, which showed that ordinary citizens as well as public figures can fall victim to cyber attacks, raised alarm flags for many people who have experienced attacks and groundless criticism on the Internet. "The case reveals the flip side of Korea’s Internet culture. Sometimes it works in the right direction but sometimes it does not. We need to be aware of it," Prof. Lee at Kookmin said. Prof. Min at Kyung Hee concurs. "Our Internet culture is kind of a double-edged sword. It can help Korean society to be transparent and scandal-free as shown by the Hwanggate, but it can trigger scandal itself or spawn innocent victims," Min said.

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[Fwd: Call for Participation Opens for 2006 O'Reilly EuroOSCON]
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 07 Feb '06

07 Feb '06

-------- Forwarded Message -------- Call for Participation Opens for 2006 O'Reilly European Open Source Convention Sebastopol, CA-- EuroOSCON, the O'Reilly European Open Source Convention, is now accepting speaking proposals for its second annual event. This year's theme is "Opening Innovation." With free and open source software use on the rise all across the continent and particularly in governments, EuroOSCON creates a place for developers, sys admins, entrepreneurs, and business people working in free and open source software to come together to delve into critical issues across the spectrum of open source technologies. EuroOSCON takes place 18-21 September in Brussels, Belgium. Proposals are being accepted until 6 March. The program committee is seeking session and tutorial proposals full of actionable information and advice, above and beyond what's available online or in books. Proposals on the following platforms and applications are especially welcome: -Multimedia including voice (VoIP) and video -AI including spam-busting, classification, clustering, and data mining -Collaboration including email, calendars, RSS, OPML, mashups, IM, presence, and session initialization -Project best practices including governance, starting a project, and managing communities -Microsoft Windows-based open source projects including .NET, Mono, and regular C/C++/Visual Basic Windows apps -Enterprise Java techniques including integration, testing, and scalable deployment solutions -Linux kernel skills for sysadmins including virtualization, tuning, and device drivers -Device hacking including iPods, Nintendo, PSP, XBox 360, and beyond -Design including CSS, GUI, and user experience (XP) -Entrepreneurial topics including management for techies, how to go into business, and business models that work -Security including hardening, hacking, root kits (Sony and otherwise), and intrusion detection/cleanup -Fun subjects with no immediate commercial application including retro computing, games, and BitTorrent EuroOSCON co-chairs Nat Torkington and Nikolaj Nyholm would also like to review proposals for EuroOSCON that focus on the specific needs of the European FLOSS community, particularly policy and government roles. Notes Torkington, "We're taking the great response from last year, along with delegates' suggestions, and building a EuroOSCON program that's focused on the issues critical to the professional European open source community." EuroOSCON brings a wide range of technologies, projects, and dimensions of interest together under one roof. Tracks at EuroOSCON include: business; desktop apps; databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Ingres, and others; emerging topics; Java; Linux dernel for sys admins; Linux for programmers; Perl; PHP; programming, including everything that's not specific to a particular language; Python; security; Ruby, including Ruby on Rails; web apps, including Apache; and Windows. EuroOSCON and its US counterpart, OSCON, are where developers, sys admins, innovators, decision-makers, and open source advocates using free and open source software gather to share ideas, discover code, find solutions, and connect face to face. More information on speakers, sessions, tutorials, and events will be available when general registration opens in April 2006. O'Reilly conferences include: the O'Reilly Emerging Telephony Conference (ETel); the O'Reilly European Open Source Convention (EuroOSCON); the MySQL Users Conference, co-presented with MySQL AB; ETech, the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference; Where 2.0 Conference; and Web 2.0 (co-hosted by Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle, and co-produced with MediaLive International). O'Reilly conferences bring together forward-thinking business and technology leaders, shaping ideas and influencing industries around the globe. For over 25 years, O'Reilly has facilitated the adoption of new and important technologies by the enterprise, putting emerging technologies on the map. Additional Information: For convention details and to submit a proposal, visit: http://conferences.oreilly.com/eurooscon For news articles, blogs, announcements, and photos (available for use with attribution) from EuroOSCON 2005, see: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/eurooscon/coverage/ For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at O'Reilly conferences, contact Andrew Calvo at (707) 827-7176 or andrewc(a)oreilly.com. To become a media sponsor at O'Reilly conferences, contact Yvonne Romaine at (707) 827-7189 or yromaine(a)oreilly.com. Upcoming O'Reilly conferences (http://conferences.oreilly.com): -O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, March 6-9 in San Diego, California -MySQL Users Conference, April 24-27 in Santa Clara, California -Where 2.0, June 13-14 in San Jose, California -O'Reilly Open Source Convention, July 24-28 in Portland, Oregon About O'Reilly O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly has been a chronicler and catalyst of leading-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism. For more information: http://www.oreilly.com # # # O'Reilly is a registered trademark of O'Reilly Media, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Re [Fsf-friends] Mozilla & Fedora contributer in Bangalore Y!
by doxa＠sancharnet.in 07 Feb '06

07 Feb '06

Dear Basil, Bangalore news agents are already tied-up with change of political guard there. If trips like these are arranged at least once in other states also, perhaps they can also be helpful in sending across a national message. Keeping such issues in mind, may help the cause in a better sensible way. One of the folks, CK Raju --------Original Message ------- Discard if u guys are already aware Hi folks... Long time Mozilla contributor Christopher Blizzard and Fedora community manager Greg DeKoenigsberg are visiting Bangalore soon and want to meet the FOSS geeks around here.

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Mozilla & Fedora contributer in Bangalore Y!
by b a s i l 06 Feb '06

06 Feb '06

Discard if u guys are already aware Hi folks... Long time Mozilla contributor Christopher Blizzard and Fedora community manager Greg DeKoenigsberg are visiting Bangalore soon and want to meet the FOSS geeks around here. Christopher Blizzard has been a long-time contributor to open source software. He has contributed to GNOME and Mozilla since their inception in the late 1990s and has worked at Red Hat since 1998. He's currently a board member of the Mozilla Corporation, an organization founded to promote and develop the Firefox web browser, and manages the desktop group at Red Hat. Greg DeKoenigsberg joined Red Hat in 2001 as an engineering manager for Red Hat Network. He has been working full-time with the Fedora community since 2004. In that time he has organized several FUDCons, led the Fedora Extras project, and established the Fedora Ambassadors and Fedora Live CD projects. He is currently the community relations manager for Red Hat. You can meet them at the Yahoo! office on M.G Road on Monday 6th Feb at 6:30 PM, i.e., today folks ! For those who weren't there when Mark Shuttleworth had come there - it is near the Trinity circle end of M.G road behind the UTI bank and opposite of Nalli silks. So see you all today evening and have a good time with the Fedora folks. Sorry for the delayed mail. -- \|||/ (o o) ----ooO-(_)-Ooo-------- b a s i l e-mail : basilappackan(a)gmail.com gsm : +91 9880936210 " Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better" ~Albert Camus

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Donations for FSF India, activities in North
by Arun M 06 Feb '06

06 Feb '06

Hi Friends, FSF India is now having 80 G status. That means any donations to FSF India will be tax exempted (50%). We request you to consider providing personal donations to FSF India. Also if you think your company or your employer will be interested in contribution to FSF India please get in touch and help us raise funds for expanding our activities. FSF India is now participating in All India People Science Network meeting organised in Guwahati. We are able to network with several organisations in North India. In coming year we will be organising more programs in Northern part of India. With Regards, Arun.

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[Fwd: [ox-en] "Arctic Monkeys" - breakthrough for Free Music?]
by V. Sasi Kumar 06 Feb '06

06 Feb '06

Sorry for cross posting, but this is really interesting! -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Stefan Merten <smerten(a)oekonux.de> Reply-To: list-en(a)oekonux.org To: list-en(a)oekonux.org Cc: Stefan Merten <smerten(a)oekonux.de> Subject: [ox-en] "Arctic Monkeys" - breakthrough for Free Music? Date: Sun, 05 Feb 2006 23:06:14 +0100 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hi! A few minutes ago in a German TV newscast they said that in Britain the band Arctic Monkeys has a #1 in the music charts. They said that this band started to distribute their music by Internet and still do. This sounds really exciting :-) . Can anyone provide us with some more information on this? Links? Mit Freien Grüßen Stefan -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.2 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Processed by Mailcrypt 3.5.7 <http://mailcrypt.sourceforge.net/> iQCVAwUBQ+Z21QnTZgC3zSk5AQHDmwP9GqBSOeHwyh3tZPivt9TFeTrfEuP2bC+y 27qhAs6LqUm0awJLodC9lJelJJKDLdNcOvxXw28lhZX4eBq5DykNimPdbKZUexbk edR0Sy9uA1Rs8Kfw+7UqTXPW0kmhxKbAjKQnQTwCvbc6Bu/DoyugfP6h0PTqn4SG xs+dK1AuDHM= =YdUD -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _________________________________ Web-Site: http://www.oekonux.org/ Organization: http://www.oekonux.de/projekt/ Contact: projekt(a)oekonux.de -- V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf(a)gmail.com> Free Software Foundation of India

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