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[offtopic]Free software activists/developers wanted
by Vimal Joseph 10 Nov '05

10 Nov '05

Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment is is an intiative for promotion of Free software in Kerala. We are looking for candiates with basic knowledge of GNU/Linux Operating System and philosophy and good organisational skills. Applicant must have conversational skills in Malayalam language. Programming skills in GNU/Linux Operating System is advantageous. Send your resume to contact(a)space-kerala.org -- Vimal Joseph www.space-kerala.org Free Software, Free Society <http://fsfs.hipatia.net/wiki>

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First and only magazine for the new [GNU]Linux user....
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 09 Nov '05

09 Nov '05

TUX is the "first and only magazine for the new [GNU]Linux user". See http://www.tuxmagazine.com Currently issue number 8 (November 2005) is available on "the stands". What more, it's available for a free download. I did download the issue of May 2005. Just as an illustration, here are some of the easy-to-understand articles it contains: * Can anyone use [GNU]Linux? * Viva La [GNU]Linux Desktop Revolucion * Q&A with Mango Parfait. Mango Parfait introduces herself, answers her own questions with astounding facility and invites you to ask her your own questions. Don't be shy. There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. * Home Plate: Movies and More -- Life with Xine * Suited up: The Cuts and Pastes of OpenOffice.org Productivity * Tux Explains: Linking Users with Their Data * Tux Explains: Be the Master of All You Survey: Using Konqueror for File Management and Domination. * Tux Explains: All about Screensavers, and Why you Want to Run Them * Tux Explains: Going Guru -- Michael's Top GIMP Tips * Reviews: Adding PDF Power to OpenOffice.org * Abiword * Gaim * Rhythmbox * Totem Movie Player * The light and dark side of [GNU]Linux multimedia... Did you know that all these films include computer animation rendered using GNU/Linux? The movies are: The Incredibles, Shrek, Shrek 2, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Titanic, Ice Age, Spawn, Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron, Sphere, Peter Pan, Bunny, Barbie of Swan Lake, Joe Fly & Sanchez, Los Gringos and The Night of the Headless Horsemen. -- ---------------------------------------------------------- Frederick 'FN' Noronha | http://fn-at-google.notlong.com Saligao, Goa, India | fred(a)bytesforall.org Independent Journalist | +91(832)2409490 Cell 9822122436 ----------------------------------------------------------

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How to help Free/Open Source Projects
by gaurav 06 Nov '05

06 Nov '05

How to help Free/Open Source Projects I am writing this article after I took into account if i was doing something for promoting Open/Free Source Projects . How many times has that rescue CD we use has saved Us? How many times has the free/Open source software that comes bundled with some Gnu/Linux Distro proved a lot to us or that Live Gnu/Linux Cd helped us and we have felt proud of possessing that Software/Distro? How many times we have been able to stand up against pirated software with our help high along with the Free/Open Source software that works along with other copyrighted Platforms as well ? How many times have we been helped by some expert on any forum? I hope not many of us can take into account the above in pure numeric terms . What Have we done to promote Free/Open source related projects? Very few of these projects have the support of sponsors(maybe 2%-5% of these projects)These projects do require some encouragement and some monetary encouragement also to survive with the resources required to keep them running. Good projects receive some donations in form of Money or resources such as Internet Bandwidth (Mirror for downloading software),Computer Hardware for their development or Server . I do not know about any team that has been making big profits from the donations they receive . These just suffice them to keep their projects alive and kicking. Helping these projects is necessary as they provide this premium collection of software for free .Else they will also start charging for the premium version or to sign up for some help forum.Already some Distros and Software Vendors have started following this strategy.After all they too need to upgrade themselves to survive. These projects can e helped in some way or the other some of them that i could think of Donate some Money directly to these Organizations. A good way can be through affero.net ,from where you can choose various organizations who will benefit from any money you donate.(the minimum amount you can donate is 5$) Buy the Free Cds that are available for download, directly from these Organizations ,that way also you can help them and you can get some more premium service. Many of these Organization carry ads of their sponsors, these can fetch some some money(although meagre) for the User Clicks they generate.Visiting their sponsors can also help them. Help them while offering a Download Mirror for their Software/Distro, this wil reduce the Bandwidth Cost for such Organizations.In india there is dearth of such download mirrors.Corporates/Educational Institutes can get involved here if they provide the required bandwidth for non-office hours only. There are many other ways for helping these organizations. I do not know how many of us might have helped such Organizations but i think a sum of 5$-20$ can be donated on a yearly basis to any such Organization. gaurav masand linux4all[at]gmail.com -- my site:http://www.gnulinuxclub.org my blog:http://linux4all.blogspot.com my project:http://masand.sourceforge.net

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Some Differences Between Free and Proprietorial Software (by Guido Sohne)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 05 Nov '05

05 Nov '05

An interesting article from Guido Sohne guido at sohne.net on the GKD mailing list. -FN -----Original Message----- From: On Behalf Of Guido Sohne Sent: November 4, 2005 6:26 PM To: gkd(a)milhouse.edc.org Subject: [GKD] Some Differences Between Free and Proprietary Software Dear GKD Members: I wrote this with the intent of informing decision makers who are facing a decision of 'open source' versus 'proprietary software' to understand the choice they are making by explaining the context in an approachable manner. -- G. ************************************************** Some Differences Between Free And Proprietary Software * Introduction This article is an attempt to dissect some differences between free and proprietary software in an accessible manner, free from jargon and the techno-gobbledegook dialect favored by some technical people. * Two Different Worlds Proprietary software is created by organizations that seek to maximize profit by restricting production. The usual and common objective of such organizations is to operate and maintain a continued revenue stream, for maximum profit. Restricted production and the continued revenue objective result in a dependency syndrome for users - they can't ever stop paying. Proprietary software is mainly provided by companies that use the access-restrictions of copyright laws to maintain well-defined segments across their markets as well as to maintain barriers to market entry by competitors as a means of maximizing revenue across market segments by trying to minimize the costs of dealing with competitive threats, thus helping to maximize profits. >From a modern microeconomic perspective the business secret aspect of intellectual property is only one part of a multi-faceted set ofprofit-maximization tactics firms can and do employ, in either freely competitive, oligopolized or monopolized markets. Other related tactics include marketing and support expenditures that can make market entry more expensive or that can help lock-in consumers. Firms engaged in such behaviour, often are unwilling to share their technologies, especially those beyond the development capacity of most of the market, as an additional means of restricting competition by restricting the availability of the product. Free software, on the other hand, has no profit motivations as its basis for organization. Instead, free software seeks to ensure that there are as few restrictions to software production as possible. Free software does not make a distinction between the level of access granted to the product given to its users and that given to its developers. Free software maximizes the potential for production to occur. Unfettered by the profit motive and guided by higher ideals of freedom, sharing and communal ownership of knowledge, free software is more oriented towards the product and its development and far less attuned to anti-competitive business strategies, necessitated by its goal of minimizing restriction to the software product. It is important to note here, that this sort of anti-competitive behaviour described is not limited to the software industry but rather permeates much of the status quo for business practices in industries that produce digital goods (software, music, film). The popular grassroots movement that is the basis of the increased usage and utility of free software is at the core, a rejection of this anti-competitive behaviour and this is evident in their clarion call for increased freedom. * Licensing of Software Software licenses are contracts attached to the software, either in raw or finished form, that determine the expectations, rights and obligations of the parties to the contract. As used by software producing organizations, licenses are primarily a means to either restrict, or ensure access to the product in both its raw and finished form. Restricted production licenses usually differentiate between access to the product in its raw form and in its finished form. Such licenses often only grant access to users on the basis they are the only permitted user of the finished form of the software product that has been given access to the software. Other users must also buy licenses for continued revenue and maximum profit. Free software licenses operate by removing the distinction between raw and finished form, emphasizing the raw form as the actual software product. If the software comes in finished form, the raw form of the software must be present or readily accessible. This is in line with the free software objective of ensuring that there are as few restrictions on production as possible. Free software licenses often block restriction of the software product by restricting use of the software to exclude scenarios or situations that result in restrictions being placed on the software that would have adverse effects on production. * Locked In Competition For Users Software licenses are almost always centered around the user of the software. On one hand are organizations seeking maximum profit and on the other hand are organizations seeking maximum access (unrestricted access to the software product). However, developers are those with the ability to utilize unrestricted access. In the free software world, the user can be a developer too. In the proprietary software world, other developers are often 'the enemy' because it is only other developers who can create a competing product. And in between this war between worlds of developers, stands the hapless user ... Significant resources are devoted to proprietary software in order for it to appeal and compete for the expenditure of users. Restricting users' access to the software by supplying it solely in finished form causes more effort to be placed into making the software usable by ordinary users (as opposed to developers). In this manner, proprietary software evolves to be biased heavily to the ordinary user, often at the same time making it hard or impossible for other developers (who are also users of the software) to work with the software in its raw form. The proprietary software approach of restricting production to finished form also biases the productive options available to overwhelmingly favor the organization owning the software product. In the case of companies like Microsoft, whose software comes preinstalled on the vast majority of computers being sold, the user often has no choice but to use the software. Any other route often results in more work for the user. They have to go and find some other software and get it installed. When they do so, they encounter incompatibilities, which incidentally, are in favor of Microsoft maintaining its monopoly by making it easier just to stay with Microsoft products, which of course, work well together. The resulting state of affairs is in total contradiction to the free software goal of ensuring minimal restrictions on software production and software choice for the end user or individual developer. Free software accomplishes this by predominantly taking a 'laissez-faire' approach to ordinary users as well as to its developers. The only restriction faced by developers when producing free software is in integrating their own improvements to the source code. This restriction arises from the free software goal of maximizing the efficiency of software production. If there are no restrictions on changes to the raw form of the product, it quickly becomes buggy or unstable unless the developers are of equivalent skill or are familiar with the code involved, otherwise it devolves into a hodgepodge that just doesn't work. Only well thought out and well tested changes should ideally make it into the software product, and even this is best done in a gradual, incremental manner. This necessary mechanism for restricting software production in a manner that maximizes efficiency takes the shape of the other developers of the software, who by fiat, consensus, war, politics or rewriting the affected code constitute a peer review mechanism operating around the goal of production efficiency within their common visions and objectives. Developers have the choice to do what they please and often prefer to do what pleases them at the expense of the ordinary user, who is assumed not to understand the specific benefits of the particular improvement. On the other hand, users or organizations have the opportunity to encourage developers by giving them incentives to work on improvements preferred by the user. This interplay between the two types of users (technical and non-technical) of free software evolves into a symbiotic relationship, where the developer has no reason to work if no one will use his work, and the users have no choice but to depend on a developer to do what they cannot do for them. Both benefit, each contributing to the resources needed for production. * Differences in Organization of Labor The mode in which labor (developers working to maintain or enhance the product) is organized differs between the proprietary and commercial approaches. Organizations producing proprietary software, being mostly driven by the profit motive, and restricting production need to be able to control ownership of the software and at the same time utilize developers to make changes or improvements to the software while maximizing profit. Organizations producing free software are often places where individuals interested in producing the software are employed because the organization and the individual have aligned interests for the software. This is because the free software development process is organized on the basis of individuals. Organizations are represented only by an individual, and such individuals have influence proportionate to their contribution to the software product. Free software often operates as a self organized, developer centric culture resting on individual reputation and esteem in the eyes of the rest of the team. Comparing the two methods of production, it could be concluded that proprietary software developers seek to maximize income while free software developers seek to maximize their contribution to, and influence over, the software product itself. * Mode Of Production In order to achieve this, these organizations hire developers and pay them for their contribution to the software product. Done as a work for hire, the ownership of the product, primarily exercised through copyright, remains with the organization that hired the developer. The cost of developers and the general cost of doing business translates into a total cost for production that must be recouped by sales to users. The price at which the product is sold depends on how many users choose to use the software, or how many users are compelled or coerced to use the software. With free software, the general cost of doing business is often incidental and not central to the objectives of people or organizations producing it. Maximum access to successful free software products often results in multiple organizations making changes or contributions to the software. If one of the organizations participating in the free software development process disappears or changes its objectives and abandons the software, the other organizations are not affected. At the same time, the developers working on free software are often still available to different degrees of availability even when their organization collapses, because the raw form of the software product is not restricted to the organization only. They can continue working and may even join the organizations remaining. Due to this, the free software development process results in software products that exhibit robustness even in the face of adverse economic circumstances. In such cases, the efficiency of development is even increased because the developers will have more time to work on changes to the products that they prefer, while being underemployed with respect to potential output. The ability to utilize underemployment effectively is a strong contributing factor to the efficiency of the free software development process. Additionally, free software development reduces the perceived cost of developing software by distributing the cost of development across all the participants in the process. This is in contrast to the proprietary software development process, where the cost of development is distributed across the user base and results in lower prices for the user. These lower prices are partly due to the increased supply due to the absence of restricted production. * Conclusion Proprietary and free software are different approaches to producing software products that are competing for users and resources. Proprietary software development restricts access to the software product by prohibiting copying but free software development encourages access to the software product by prohibiting restrictions on copying. Proprietary software development is most efficient at maximizing profits but free software development is most efficient at maximizing production. The choice is always up to you, the user of the software, in how to exercise your interests. ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <gkd(a)mail.edc.org> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <majordomo(a)mail.edc.org>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>

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GNU/Linux CD
by Arun M 04 Nov '05

04 Nov '05

Hi Friends, KSTA, school teachers union in Kerala is distributing custom debian CDs and installation manuals around Kerala. More and more schools moving towards free software. regards arun.

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[Fsf-friends] Lintux newsletter: Issue 51 (Nithin Kamath, Mangalore)
by Frederick Noronha (FN) 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx LINTUX NEWSLETTER "Spreading the Spirit of GNU/Linux" xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ISSUE 51 | November 3rd 2005 http://groups-beta.google.com/group/lintux xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Linux Newbie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------- Everybody's Guide to OpenDocument ------------------------------------------------------------- Sorting out the facts from the errors and omissions in recent reaction to Massachusetts' announcement to use OpenDocument. A lot of misinformation about the OpenDocument digital format has started to appear in the mainstream media and interest groups. Answers to many questions on the topic already have appeared, but they are written by techies for techies. This article is different, however. You can print out this one and pass it on to everyone, regardless of their computer skill level... Read Full:- http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8616 ------------------------------------------------------------- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx General News & Views xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------- MySQL 5.0 Ready To Download ------------------------------------------------------------- The newest version of the open-source MySQL database went final Monday, and is now available for free download, its developer' said. Swedish-based MySQL AB said that 5.0 of its namesake database boasts new stored procedures, views that will protect sensitive information from unauthorized users, and an information schema to give companies access to database metadata. Other new features include a migration manager that helps users move data from SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Oracle, and other databases; updated, high-performance editions of ODBC, Java, and .Net database drives; and a tool that lets administrators stop or start a MySQL server from a remote location... Read Full:- http://www.linuxpipeline.com/172900016?cid=rssfeed_pl_lxp ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- Sun releases Jini with open-source license ------------------------------------------------------------- Jini was originally released in 1999 as a way to link consumer devices to Sun's Java software. But companies using the Jini software have been using it mainly for corporate computing jobs such as grid computing and clustered servers, according to Sun executives. The software is specifically designed for building Java applications that rely on widely distributed components. For example, Sun uses Jini as part of its radio frequency identification software, which runs in small warehouse RFID readers... Read Full:- http://tinyurl.com/95y5t ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- Quake 4 for GNU/Linux is available now ------------------------------------------------------------- Quake 4 for GNU/Linux is available now! The installer has been uploaded to our ftp and on the bittorrent tracker. We're very pleased to announce that this it with both a dedicated server and a native client. A licensed copy of Quake 4 retail for Windows(r) is required You will copy the assets files from it and use the CD key ( a CD key is not required to run a dedicated server ) .. Read Full:- http://zerowing.idsoftware.com/linux/quake4/ ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- America's Army 2.5.0 for Linux is out ------------------------------------------------------------- Visit: http://tinyurl.com/79yyv ------------------------------------------------------------- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Software Corner xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------- openSUSE inspires derivative distros ------------------------------------------------------------- Just two months ago, Novell opened the development process behind SUSE Linux, creating the openSUSE project. Novell's move gave developers a chance to be involved in SUSE, which previously had been developed privately without community input. In the short time since openSUSE was unveiled, developers have begun work on several new and interesting SUSE derivatives... Read Full Details:- http://tinyurl.com/ajnsy ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- CLI Magic: GNU find ------------------------------------------------------------- Don't you just hate it when you can't find a file you need, but you know it's on your computer? Wouldn't you like an easy way to track down files anywhere on your computer? If so, I have good news for you, a command available to you at the friendly Linux CLI called find. You know what they say, the CLI is such an essential part of the operating system that running an OS without one is like traveling blind. Getting to know the GNU find command can help you better understand why that is true. Climb down out of your GUI for awhile, and let's see what we can find... Read Full Details:- http://enterprise.linux.com/article.pl?sid=05/10/26/1621220 ------------------------------------------------------------- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Resources: Hands On xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------- Quick and Dirty Data Extraction in AWK ------------------------------------------------------------- Need to pull some data from text--maybe e-mail messages--and sort it, graph it or otherwise manipulate it? Here's an AWK script to use as a starting point. Many years ago, probably close to 20, a regular point was made on the comp Usenet newsgroups about using the minimum tool to get the job done. That is, someone would ask for a quick and dirty way to do something. The followups often included a C solution followed by an AWK solution followed by a sed solution and so on.... Read Full Article:- http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8627 ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- What to do when apt-get fails ------------------------------------------------------------- When you install an application package in a Debian-based system, sometimes prerequisite application packages are unavailable. These missing packages are known as broken dependencies. Left unresolved, they can cripple your system's ability to install new packages. They're a disaster that isn't supposed to happen in Debian, thanks to the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) and the scripts contained in Debian packages. That makes broken dependencies all the more devastating when they happen. Some users have even been known to reinstall the whole operating system, despairing of otherwise having a functioning package management system. However, depending on how the broken dependencies arose, you have several options to try before you consider reinstalling... Read Full Details:- http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=05/10/12/1952217 ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- So You'd Like To Use MySQL... ------------------------------------------------------------- n this article, Jon Stephens shares how you can obtain and install a MySQL database for your Linux system. He provides lots of beginner instructions including use of the MySQL Monitor, a tool for using and adminstering MySQL that's part of the basic distribution. The article also delves into the introduction for securing your MySQL database. Written to encourage further use of LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP), the article helps anyone apply the power of MySQL in their business... Read Full Details:- http://www.reallylinux.com/docs/basicmysql.shtml ------------------------------------------------------------- ################### Reviews & Opinions ################### ------------------------------------------------------------- Why do people switch to Linux? ------------------------------------------------------------- During the last month, we conducted a survey of readers who use Linux. We asked them why they switched to Linux and received a plethora of answers. Surprisingly, anti-Microsoft sentiment had less to do with the choice than one might imagine. Could the pundits have it all wrong? Is it possible that Linux stands on its own merits? Most Linux users would yes. Use of Linux does not represent a rebellion against Microsoft and Linux stands on its own as a user preference. In this article, we will look at excerpts from the survey and see why people have adopted Linux. You might find the reasons interesting, maybe fascinating and probably not what you thought... Read Full: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8231 ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- A Firefox Fan's Perspective of the Flock Browser ------------------------------------------------------------- If you're a Mozilla Firefox user, you will probably notice the close resemblance Flock has with Firefox. Though the browser is in fact based on Firefox, Bart Decrem, the team leader of the project, says Flock won't be forking the Firefox codebase. Still this Flock preview on the outside looks like Firefox but with a different theme. So would a Firefox user be missing anything by sticking with Firefox? Let's explore some of the features that makes Flock different from the rest... Read Full: http://tinyurl.com/d7wgd ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- Google Opens Up About Open Source ------------------------------------------------------------- Google Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. will release a Web-based StarOffice desktop suite. Google will soon announce a new operating system. The truth isn't anything as dramatic, but it does show a company that not only supports open source, but relies on it every day to keep the best-known search engine and allied businesses running... More At: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1877924,00.asp ------------------------------------------------------------- ####################### Resources ####################### ------------------------------------------------------------- Free and Open Source Software for E-learning ------------------------------------------------------------- During the discussion held from 1-25 June 2004 over 200 links were shared and proposed by the participants. More links have been identified and added as the discussion continues. This reference list of links is an outcome of your inputs and has been compiled to provide some guidance on the wealth of resources related to FOSS for e-learning on the web. An attempt has also been made to direct the attention of the more technically advanced user to specific resources. In such a case, the category is marked... More At: http://tinyurl.com/cd5or ------------------------------------------------------------- #################### India Specific #################### ------------------------------------------------------------- FLOSSAsiaIndia ------------------------------------------------------------- India, with its population of one-billion plus, has a rich tech talent, considerable interest in Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), and a network of some 80-plus user groups across its landmass (some active, some less). This offers wide potential. There are many links to what's happening in and around India on the FLOSS scene. Compiled and edited by Frederick Noronha (FN) More At: http://www.wikiwikiweb.de/FLOSSAsiaIndia ------------------------------------------------------------- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx AVAILABLE ON THE NET @ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx HTML: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/lintux TEXT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lintux/ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subscription Information xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx - To join, just send a blank email with subject as "Join linux newsletter" to: lintuxnews(a)gmail.com - To unsubscribe send a blank email with "unsubscribe linux" as subject to: lintuxnews(a)gmail.com xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Disclaimer xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This newsletter may contain links to sites on the Internet which are owned and operated by third parties. I am not responsible for the availability of, and/or the content located on or through, any such third-party sites. All Content may or maynot be By their Creators xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Copyleft 2004-05 Nithin Kamath, Mangalore ========================== Visit: linux-mangalore.org and nithinkamath.info

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Re: [eGovINDIA] Public documents should be in a Open Format
by Joe Steeve 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Note: I have CCed this email to the mailing list of `Free Software Foundation`, so that you can get more inputs on the same issue. eGov INDIA <egovindia(a)yahoo.com> writes: > Can you write exactly some of the things need to be adopted by > GOI to get all documents in OPEN STANDARD DOCUMENT. Which > programs are vailable on OSS and other formats. The most commonly used open format for publishing documents is the PDF format. It was formerly proprietary but has become open. HTML is yet another format. Recently, some corporate and community initiatives have brought about the Open Document Format (ODF) standard., which aims at stardizing the document format and keeping it open across all platforms. One approach would be to use the OpenOffice.org (OO.o). OO.o is a popular 'Free/Libre Open Source' Office suite which can handle a number of open formats including the ODF (since version 2.0) onwards. The OO.o has support to convert documents written in the ODF to HTML, PDF and other supported formats. This would be as easy as typing the content in Microsoft Word and then doing a `Save As` to various types of outputs. The above approach would be suitable for a technically not-so-capable person to publish the document in a open format. A more professional (and recommended) approach would be to use the LaTeX document preparation system. This would require a person skilled in LaTeX. In this model, the document is typed using any text editor and is similar to HTML. Then the LaTeX document is processed using the 'latex' program with suitable commandline parameters to convert it to a PDF or HTML file. The LaTeX document preparation model has been standardised, and there are various implementations to process the LaTeX files., and covert them to required forms. 'MikTex' is a Free Software latex implemention on Windows. A LaTeX implementation is a vital part of every GNU/Linux distribution. The presentation for all related documents can be customised using one single 'style file'. LaTeX is basically a macro language built over the TeX typesetting system written by Donald E Knuth., and is used around the world for publications of all kinds varying from books, letters, technical documents, etc. So., what can be done is., - A style file should be created to give a common layout and look-and-feel for all the related documents. - The documents should be written using the LaTeX document preparation model. - Then using programs like 'pdflatex', 'latex' and related tools., the LaTeX documents can be converted to PDF, HTML, DVI and other such presentable formats. I would personally recommend the second approach (of using LaTeX), since it is more flexible towards the maintenance of the documents in the longer run., as all the actual source files would be just plain text. Thanks Sincerely, Joe > Joe Steeve <joe_steeve(a)gmx.net> wrote: > This is in similar note to the post by Mr.Kush Singh. The > Constitution of India (COI), is available at the > http://lawmin.nic.in/coi.htm. However, the files are available > only the Microsoft Word format. > > The COI and other related documents should be easily reachable > by all citizens of the country. The Microsoft Word Document > format is a proprietary format which is controlled by Microsoft > alone. And, Microsoft has changed the format a number of times > from MS Office 97 to the latest Office XP. Each, time it has > forced the users to move to the new format because of features > and incompatibility reasons. Microsoft office is an expensive > software. Its standard edition costs close to Rs15,000., and > another low priced student/teacher edition costs somewhere near > Rs7000. That cost is still high for many people of India even > when they can afford a computer and Internet. The pattern in > which the change of format over the various versions of > Microsoft Word clearly signals the business motive of the > company without regards to its user base. These are some of the > reasons for the recent choice of Open Document format in the > state of Massachusetts in the USA. And., I'm sure many other > governments would follow. > > When important documents such as the COI are released in a > proprietary format like the Word Document format, it becomes > inaccessible to a large scale of citizens. And., morover it is > shows a government bias towards a private body. > > Hence, it is very necessary that all government documents be > provided in Open Formats such as PDF, OpenDocument, XML, HTML, > etc. I was happy to see some recent documents > (http://lawmin.nic.in/legislative/Bills_RS_Bud2005.htm), > (http://lawmin.nic.in/legislative/Bills_LS_Bud2005.htm), being > published as a PDF. But all the older documents need to be > converted to a Open Format. Also., it would be really nice if > these documents where available for online browsing in HTML > format. I know it is hard to maintain two formats., but there > are ways to do this using Free Software tools (using LaTeX, > TeXinfo, ..). > > I hope someone in the related departments would take note of > this. Thank you. -- .O. A proud GNU user ..O OOO http://www.joesteeve.org/

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Politics & Software
by balachandran c 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Interesting news: http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=836 Regards, Balachandran.

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Re: Fsf-friends Digest, Vol 30, Issue 24
by joy syl 03 Nov '05

03 Nov '05

Hello list Happy Diwali !!! fjsylvester > _______________________________________________ > Fsf-friends mailing list > Fsf-friends(a)mm.gnu.org.in > http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-friends > > > End of Fsf-friends Digest, Vol 30, Issue 24 > ******************************************* > __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com

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Re: Re: [Fsf-friends] FSF Participation in FOSS.IN Expo/Projects
by Kanti Jadia 31 Oct '05

31 Oct '05

>I had posted a message on the foss.in discussions >list regarding the Phoenix project yesterday - have >you seen it? I think it's a nice project which we can >put >up as part of the FSF stall .. let me know what you >think about it. > i could not make out the license for the software part of Phoenix project.Opened the code files as well. As a project Phoenix is very exciting. I would encourage you to put it as a separate demo on its own. Note: I do not represent views of FSF-India.These are my personal views. You could engage gnu(at)gnu.org.in for details Regards Kanti ----------------------------------------- Enjoy your Freedom,use GNU/Linux. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html -----------------------------------------

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